You make a difference to your children’s reading journey. Your role as an advocate for your
children’s reading success cannot be overestimated. It has a direct impact on the ease and
confidence with which they pursue their reading and writing.
It is the joy and love of sharing a good book on a nightly basis that sets the foundation for
their reading success and ensures that reading is given the priority it deserves. Reading
regularly with someone who cares is the inspiration that all readers deserve.
As parents and carers, you create the home context for reading and set the tone for how
reading is valued. Fear, anxiety, stress, and humiliation have no place in the reading
experience. The ‘payoff’ for reading together has to be worth coming back to night after
night after night. When reading together is the best time of your children’s day and the best
time of your day, it is worth turning up. The right book infused with fun, laughter, and love
goes a long way in creating life-long readers who in thirty years’ time recall with being
snuggled on the lounge with you and their favourite book.
The proven benefits of reading with your
child
Parents and carers who read aloud with children in a secure, safe, and comfortable context
motivate their children to read.
Parents’ perceptions, values, attitudes, and expectations play an important role in
influencing their children’s attitudes toward reading, and subsequent literacy development.
When children share a book with someone who makes them feel special, the attitude that
reading is pleasurable is transferred to other reading encounters.
Relationship building
At the core of reading is a relationship and it is the bond between children and parents that
is enhanced through reading together. It only takes ten minutes a day to build this
relationship.
Children’s reading improves
The research is conclusive: When parents successfully support their children’s literacy learning from an early age, everyone benefits. When teachers and parents work together to support children’s reading and academic success, learning outcomes for all children improve.
Children read more
Students who read with their parents are better prepared for school. They begin school with
knowledge of book language and familiarity with concepts of print. They understand how
books work and have many more exposures to text types and vocabulary.
Children’s self-esteem improves
Knowing someone cares enough to take time out of a busy schedule to give you undivided
attention around a book makes a significant difference to how students perceive themselves
as learners and readers. When parents show an interest in their children’s learning, children
respond positively.
Reading unites families through shared stories
Not only does parent involvement have a specific and profound impact on children’s
reading, but also on children’s language and literacy learning in general. It is through
interactions with parents and carers that children learn new vocabulary, seek clarification of
new understandings, and learn to comprehend their expanding worlds. Talk is the key to
reading and writing success. Talking with children (walking to school, at the table, in the car,
bedtime) has a significant effect on literacy learning in general.
Please use the link below if you would like to read about strategies that help with reading,
from the author K. Lowe.
Link: PETAA - Parent Resources
