Children now spend more time watching TV than reading with parents.
Daily reading aloud with children has decreased over the last two years, according to a report by Booktrust.
In 2006, 43% of parents with young children read to them daily, but this figure dropped to 33% in 2008. Lack of time, tiredness and a preference for television were given as the main reasons for this decrease.
The study also claimed that "the average four- to five-year-old spends twice as long watching TV than reading with parents." This fact is of great concern to experienced teacher and headteacher Helen Hadley, who says, "Reading is at the root of all learning so the earlier children learn to read the more they will gain from their education. Also, sharing reading with their parents brings closer parent/child relationships."
Helen's primary focus during her years as a teacher was on the importance of children being able to read fluently by the time they left her infant department, an achievement that was greatly helped by the child's experiences of reading at home.
With this in mind she has published a beautifully illustrated book to encourage parents and children to read together. The Snowcat: A Story for Christmas is a fun, read together book for young children, which tells how Puss helps Father Christmas to deliver his presents when the reindeer go down with flu. The book is laid out like a play so that the story can be shared by two people - each reading a different character's part.
In the run up to Christmas this book is guaranteed to appeal to children and inspire a love of books and reading. The Snowcat makes beginning to read fun, as well as giving parents and children the opportunity of reading together.
November 2008
Helen says:
"I wrote The Snowcat as a read-together book for parents to share with their children. The delightful pictures have lots of detail to explore together. Making reading a joint activity encourages children to take an active part in the telling of the story and helps them to realise that reading can be fun. The research used here was conducted between 12 August and 8 September 2008 and 1507 UK parents of primary school aged children took part."
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Give The Gift of Life This Christmas
