ACTIVITIES
ENCOURAGING KIDS TO READ
Katie Mayers is at The Priory CofE School in Wimbledon, the only school in
Blue Peter Book Awards. With years of teaching under her belt, she explains why reading encourage kids to read.
A love of books is one of the greatest gifts anyone can give in life. Reading boosts brain development, builds literacy, helps people bond with others, teaches knowledge and grows language and communication abilities. And you can’t start too early. The number of words that a child knows when he or she starts nursery or school is the most important predictor of a child’s success or failure.
If you read with your child for words a year. Up reading time words a year and hugely improve their standardised test results.
My grandson saw the value of learning to read when we took him out for a crepe. We offered him a cheese and tomato pancake but he spotted the word ‘chocolate’ on the menu and said he’d prefer that. Sarah, grandmother
20
Twenty minutes a day equates helps children reach the ninetieth percentile in tests.
It’s about much more than test results though. Through reading, children learn how to express Talking about what children read helps them build bridges between what they read and what they experience in real life. It helps them understand their own lives.
I couldn’t answer my child’s questions about nuclear energy or half-life when we read The Element in the Room, one of the Blue Peter factual books, but he realised it doesn’t matter if you don’t know everything. We learnt together.” Laura, mum
AT THE PRIORY WE OFFER PARENTS SEVEN TIPS FOR READING AT HOME:
1 2
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6 7
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It helps children concentrate and means they’ll associate feeling happy
Get ideas from bookshops, libraries, teachers and online, including book awards like the Blue Peter Book Awards. As well as stories, look at information newspapers like First News.
read adverts, food packets, menus, bus timetables, labels… everything!
Put technology away at reading time and really listen. Ask questions to make them think and you’ll be rewarded with funny views and classic comments.
Keep reading to them, even when they’re ten. It helps increase their vocabulary, with understanding punctuation and tone of voice. Don’t worry
Praise your child’s efforts to read
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