English -Reading

Reading over the holidays

We all love our holidays and being free of the restraints of going to school every day and being able to relax is a valuable part of growing up. However, research clearly shows that when children put down school books on their break, their reading ability also drops with it. Therefore it’s vital that we continue to encourage our children to read widely and regularly whilst they are on holiday.

Here are some ways to help your child stay engaged with reading and enjoy books over the break.

1. Make reading time fun

It is easy to make reading together the most fun time of every day. Read together with funny voices, choose books that your child has an interest in and don’t read for too long. Aim for ten minutes reading together – just enough to encourage the kids to come back tomorrow. Set a timer if you need to, it will encourage them to ask for a minute or two more when reading time comes to an end.

2. Visit the local library

Make regular visits to the local library part of your family’s routine. These trips are simple ways to drive reading passion. Many children are amazed with the diversity of books in a library and are often excited when they discover that they can borrow sometimes up to twenty books from their local library for free (and probably will the first time).

3. Allow children to choose what they want to read

Book choice is a vital component of the reading process. As adults, we very rarely read anything that we either don’t love or enjoy. If we read a book and it takes a while to get going, or we lose interest, we simply put it down, or lend it to a friend. Why then do we insist that children must read cover to cover something that they don’t necessarily enjoy or like? Often these imposed choices on children come from a place of love – we are trying to support the children in accessing a text that is at their reading level. It is often hard to let go and let children choose their own books, however it is vital to developing strong, self-sufficient readers. If you are picking up a book at the bookstore or library for your child during your lunch break, grab a few different titles. Having a choice to choose from will allow your children to have control over their reading process.

4. Have a ‘screen free night’ each week

Make a screen free night part of your family’s regular routine where everyone in the family picks up something to read. Having your children see you read and talk about books adds value to this reading time.  

5. Read together using supportive strategies

When you are reading together with your child, it’s a great idea to give them the option of how they would like to read. Provide the opportunity for children to choose whether they would like to read aloud or silently. Check if they would like to try paired reading if they feel like they need extra support with the book. Children often love being read to and this is just as beneficial as them reading to you.

Working with your child to maintain good reading habits over their school break allows you to not only establish your family as active readers, but will give them the best possible start for when they return to school.

Adapted from  ‘Top tips to keep kids reading over the holidays’ by Ryan Spencer, University of Canberra.