24 Don't Pull Your Hair Out, July 2010 Hobbies


Holiday reading is so important H


OLIDAYS can featureheavily in childhood –asdohome- work, spelling tests and recit-


ing my maths times tables. At the time, children can think


they have the meanest parents around –surely this was the time they aremeant to be running around, making sandcastles and scoffing ice-cream –forgetting all about the classroom? But parents areright to continue


their child’seducation even though it was school holidays –interspers- ing bike rides and swimming with reading and diary writing. And it seems there’salot to be said for kids continuing to learnontheir holidays. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has revealed that reading for pleasureisthe most important indicator of achild’sfuturesuc- cess –even moreimportant to a child’seducational achievement than their family’swealth or social class. Other studies have shown that


children who arefamiliar with books and have basic reading skills beforethey start school are better at coping with the demands of literacy teaching when they do


duce morewords and often include rhyming text that can be read out loud by parents to make the experience fun and exciting. Again, they use plenty of colour and the illustrations arenormally have lots going on to maintain a child’sinterest. Make sureyour kids have easy access to books in the home and reading with them on adaily basis is one of the best things you can do –especially when silly voices and accents areused! Ensurethe kids get to see the


start in education. Not only that – but it can be great family bonding too It’snever too early to get children


interested in books and babies and toddlers areprime candidates. Books for babies arenormally packed with vibrant pictures and they often have elements to touch and feel, such as different textures or noises to listen to. Books for babies areusually very durable and practical. Books for toddlers start to intro-


pictures and ask them to describe what they can see. Once they have an interest in books, no doubt you’ll be asked to read the same story over and over again!


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