Literacy News

Reading at Home-Why is it so important? 

With the school holidays coming up, this is a good time to remember the importance of home reading. Home life can be busy and hectic with lots of after school activities going on. Quite often, the home reading is what gets left out. Sadly, this has far-reaching effects on your child’s academic and cognitive development. 

A study done by the Victorian Department of Education in conjunction with Melbourne University found that the frequency of reading to and with children at a young age has a direct effect on their schooling outcomes regardless of their family background and home environment. Children who are read to and who read more frequently at an early age, enter school with larger vocabularies and more advanced comprehension and overall cognitive skills. The research has not only proven a causal effect between the frequency of reading to a child and his or her development, but has also for the first time, measured the benefits.

Children four to five years old who are read to three to five times a week have the same reading ability as children six months older. Reading to children six to seven days a week puts them almost a year ahead of those who are not being read to. It was also found that reading to small children has a positive effect on the development of numeracy skills. If your child comes home exhausted and does not want to read their book, rather than battle with them, read the book to your child, or take turns reading a page or paragraph each. 

Over the upcoming holidays, don't forget to make time for reading. Make the reading a fun, enjoyable and special time for you and your child and it will become a time that you will not want to miss!

Wishing all our families a very happy, holy, and safe Easter break.