Literacy

Reading Every Day

As busy parents, with potentially more than one child at home, we know getting into a good routine for reading can be difficult but… Reading every day matters because:

Even 5 minutes a day exposes children to 300,000 words a year

-10 minutes a day increases children’s exposure to new words to 600,000.

-15 minutes a day results in expose to 900,000 words 

-Meaning 20 minutes a day results in 1.8 million word exposures in just one year.

This is sometimes called ‘The Million Word Gap’ to signify the difference between those students  who are reading and being spoken to  at home and those who are not being exposed to read and spoken vocabulary.

Top tips to help everyone in your family build a daily reading habit:

1. Create a routine, set a specific time each day to read that works best for your family. You could set up a cosy reading corner at home or be out and about!
2. If your child is an independent reader, make sure you grab your favourite book to read as well to show them how important reading is to you.
3. Set a timer to help you all hit 10 minutes.
4. Turn off your phone or TV so there are no distractions.
5. You could pop to the library to find the perfect book, magazine or comic for you and your children.
6. Create a Take 10 reward board where everyone gets a star for every 10 minutes they read, and at the end of the week everyone can get a treat.
7. Create a bookmark based on your child's favourite book or character.
8. Get creative with technology and set up a Zoom call with loved ones who live far away. What better way to share the Take 10 challenge with family?
9. Why not go digital and try one of many audio books to stir up creativity with reading?
10. Read a book as a family and then find the movie that matches it so you can watch for family movie night.

Sarah Watkins

Learning Specialist - Literacy