We all want children to love reading, but how does it happen?
Well, it happens because of the adults that surround us: Mum, Dad, Aunty and Uncle, Grandma and Grandpa.
Everybody has a part to play.
I am so often asked, 'What do you want us to do?'
I've got some top tips for you and they are top tips that all of us can achieve.
Unless you can talk, you will NOT be able to read. And if you can't read you're not
going to love it. So we have to give children the tools for reading. Any child that has
a wide vocabulary, we know is at an advantage.
So where do you acquire your words and language?
You acquire it from people talking to you.
You don't acquire it from a screen, you acquire it from human beings.
So from the moment your child is in the womb, and I mean in the womb, we should be singing,
enjoying rhymes and talking to our children.
Talk as you walk.
Talk as you do, talk as you cook, fill your children with vocabulary and language for
later use.
Of course, you'll also be developing their curiosity, their imagination, alongside this.
Where better place to talk, than when you're playing.
We know that research shows us that children that played faired better in life. And developed
as whole human beings.
Play is vital and essential, but of course what play does is encourages you to talk.
In fact, some of my best talking was when I was playing.
Often on my own even. It still encouraged me to talk.
Children that read as adults, almost all of them came from homes where other adults read.
It's vital that you are the best advert for reading yourself.
Your children have to see you reading, otherwise why would they want to do it?
It can be the newspaper that you're reading, magazines, the cereal box, books, it's lovely
when they know that you read in bed for hours and you couldn't put the light out.
You have to be a role model for reading, because it's infectious. They will catch that bug.
We now know that the single most important activity for giving children a love of reading,
is that they were read to aloud regularly.
Sadly we have discovered that almost one in five children have rarely been read to by
their mums and dads.
And only one in five parents read regularly to their children.
So there is a lot still to be done.
And, it's got to be a rip roaring story and it has to be as often as possible.
Sometimes snuggly at nighttime sometimes in the daytime when we're all singing and dancing.
Everyone of us that enjoys being with children has to be a performer and a performer of stories.
So as often as you can, and when you're in the mood, remember don't do it when you're
not in the mood, read aloud to your children.
And don't be frightened to make up silly stories, we have discovered that dads (and I don't
know why) are better than mums at making up stories.
They are the ones that are in the car making up those silly stories. But what I guarantee
is, if you make up a good story. Your children, even when they're 60, will remember when mum
and dad told them that silly story.
Please make sure that your children have as much access to books and magazines and comics
- Yes, comics are great!
A lot of people think, Oh Comics? But Comics are great, they're full of action and full
of wonderful vocabulary, full of sound effects, and really good for children.
But please make sure your children have access to as much reading material as possible.
We know that books can be expensive but there are second hand sales and public libraries
that will lend you up to 12 books in one go.
So make use of those of public libraries.