Parents, please read with your children.

[aliceBB]

the oldest, who is six, would read for hours if allowed.

 

Allow him!

[Pixie824]

I don't have to restrict television times in my house because the children, right down to the youngest at 3, are more likely to be found with a book than sat watching TV.

I would do bedtime stories but often find that my eldest girl beats me to it and reads to her little brothers.

My 5 year old got a sticker at school for his reading today, he was so proud, and so am I

[Ms Macbeth]

Allow him!

 

Its a her, and she is allowed - except when its well after her bedtime. She's already 'free' reading at school.

[Mr Bloom]

Can I add to this that it's better to spend 10 minutes 5 days a week reading with your child than 20 minutes 3 times a week. Frequency is important.

 

Can I also add that we know lots about dyslexia now, and it's a crime how many schools are not implementing this information for the benefit of all dyslexic children.

[Eater Sundae]

Well, it is all the better for not having Janet and John in it.

 

And although I would love to see more parents reading to and with their kids, it wouldn't be anything to do with improving Britain's performance in international league tables....it would be because it's one of the best ways of bonding, encouraging good speech development and interaction, giving individual, high-quality attention, cuddling up and showing physical affection and firing imaginations.

 

It makes 'em cleverer, an' all, but that's a side effect.

 

I couldn't agree more.

 

My daughter is nearly 9. I still read with her/to her nearly every night, together on her bed. When she was younger, I was reading and she was watching. Sometimes we would share the reading, as she became better.

 

More recently, we read quiz questions to each other, in turn, or I read general interest/ "facts" type books which can be read in little chunks. (Although she watches over me and corrects any mistakes I make ). We can then discuss the subject, including what she has learn't from school and/or TV, and what else I know, or don't know, on the subject. It sometimes leads on to us making a note and researching the subject later.

 

The current book is called "You wont believe it but..." A cheap encyclopedia type book with little factlets about a whole range of subjects. IMO, it doesn't matter much what the book is, as long as it is of interest to the kid

 

Reading like this is probably good for my daughter's general education, her reading and speaking skills and her communication skills. But more importantly, it is a nice piece of "our time" between father and daughter, and it is FUN for both of us.

 

---------- Post added 09-10-2013 at 09:22 ----------

 

I love reading with children and some of the very few photos taken of me in recent years have been taken with a child propped on each side of me in a big armchair, reading Harry and the Dinosaurs or Room on the Broom (my nephew likes that one with lots of different accents!).

 

I always used different accents for different characters when reading to my daughter. I wasn't very good at it and my daughter would pick me up when I got the accents confused.

 

---------- Post added 09-10-2013 at 12:38 ----------

 

Further to my post above.

 

At the moment, she wants it and so do I. I can't see me changing.

 

There will come a time when my daughter will no longer want to read with her dad, before sleep. When this happens I will be inwardly disappointed.