The Green Parent

By The Green Parent

16th September 2021

It’s never too soon to start reading together, even while your baby is still in the womb says Alex Johnson. Getting started with books early can ensure your child has a lifelong love of reading

The Green Parent

By The Green Parent

16th September 2021

The Green Parent

By The Green Parent

16th September 2021

Research indicates that reading to your child before they are born (especially during the third trimester) not only appears to relax them, but might also help with early language learning. Don’t get too excited about giving birth to a baby genius, though, because it’s more a matter of stimulation and help with brain development – playing music is also a good idea, but doesn’t ensure they will be writing operas at playschool.

Once they do emerge, you can start with rhymes and simple stories. Obviously they will not understand everything you are saying, but they will enjoy the sound of your voice and the images from books you are showing them. They will also learn how books function and will certainly want to grab them – especially if they make a noise or have a mirror – and probably nibble them too.

READING TOGETHER
Before you start, make sure there are no other distractions in the room, such as the radio, television or other screens. You want this to be dedicated reading time, not something to be rushed through or interrupted to deal with texts and emails, which can wait until you’ve finished.

However much you’ve been looking forward to reading The Wind in the Willows to them, that’s a bit much for a six-month-old (I read bits of Samuel Pepys’s diary to my eldest to try to soothe him to sleep – he has not turned into a Pepys fanatic in later life). It’s better to start off with board books: wordless books made out of cloth or sturdy cardboard. Our earliest ones were essentially half a dozen pages of colourful or black-and-white patterns and shapes, with bits hanging off them to pull or rub to make a noise. All three of my children loved these, and they are certainly good for showing how books can be pleasurable items to enjoy from a very early age.

“It’s good to get children to take part in the reading with you, so ask them what they think, or get them to join in with lines they remember”

DON’T GO TOO FAST
As your child gets a little older, instead of jumping straight in, it’s better to chat about the book’s title and what’s on the cover. While you’re reading, don’t be afraid to stop the flow every now and again to comment on what’s happening or draw attention to a picture – pictures can tell a story as vivid as the words on the page. Richard Scarry’s books are especially good for looking at closely, with plenty of action in every square inch. Writer and illustrator Rob Biddulph’s books are also a treat for little eyes to examine. As well as plenty of detail in the illustrations, they feature accessible rhyming texts and plenty of opportunities to join in and guess what happens next. His first book, Blown Away, is particularly lovely.

Indeed, research with three- to five-year-olds indicates that going slow can be very effective, and that pausing to give your child time to predict what word is coming next – and then pausing again after speaking the word, to let them consider it improves the ability to remember and use the word again in a different scenario.

As a general rule, in the same way that you usually need to talk more slowly when you’re speaking in public to make yourself clearly understood, don’t go too fast. Conversational speed is faster than audiobook speed so you should aim for the latter, especially when you start and are less familiar with the characters and the action. Sometimes you’ll want to speed up to add excitement to the story, of course, or slow down where it’s warranted, and you can also adjust how fast the characters you’re acting out speak, a helpful variant when you’ve run out of accents. But in general, if it feels like you’re reading too slowly, you’re probably actually going at about the right pace.

Slowing down is also helpful since it allows children more time to understand unusual or old-fashioned words and complicated passages. As a trainee journalist, the first lesson I was taught when writing was to think like a reader. Similarly, when you’re reading out loud, think like a listener – your son or daughter doesn’t want this to be a broadcast performance; they’ll enjoy it more if there’s plenty of interaction and it feels like you’re doing something with them rather than at them.

Try to read for at least ten minutes a day (though don’t beat yourself up if you miss a day or can only do less than that). If you can do more, that’s great, but start at an achievable figure so that it becomes a regular habit and take it from there. Even ten minutes a day is more than an hour a week. If you make reading a regular part of your children’s bedtime routine at a young age, you yourself may also find the later part of the day more manageable when it comes to turning out the lights. The Book Trust recognises this and has some excellent suggestions on its website as part of its Bath, Book and Bed campaign.

If you’re reading a long book, don’t be tempted to work out how many pages you’re getting through a night, and how long it’s therefore going to take you, in case it puts you both off. Some books you’ll read in a single session (you might even read them twice or three times in one go), but others might take a week or even a month. And of course you don’t have to read just one title: you can read a few shorter books at one sitting, or a short book and part of a longer book – any mix you like!

REREADING
It’s good to get children to take part in the reading with you, so ask them what they think, or get them to join in with lines they remember or act out certain parts when you’re rereading favourite titles. When I read The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson to my boys, I always used to pause to let them finish a stanza. We read Each Peach Pear Plum by Allan Ahlberg so many times that in the end it became a feat of memory. I would turn the pages and they would speak the accompanying descriptions which they’d learned by heart. Sometimes I would deliberately get the order wrong so that they had the opportunity to scold me and show me how it ought to go.

Studies of language acquisition show that children whose parents read them the same book over and over again are better not only at picking up new words, but also understanding them, compared to children who moved on to new titles quickly. Research also indicates that when children reread books, how they talk about them becomes more sophisticated as they gain a better understanding of their complexities.

So grin and bear it, and although you’ll be relieved when you can move on again, it’s worth keeping some favourites around in case they fancy revisiting them.

BLACK LIVES IN BOOKS

It’s important that you try to offer books that are diverse so that children can see themselves and their peers mirrored in what they read, through characters who are similar to them or issues which are immediately relevant to their day-to-day lives.

The Centre for Literacy in Primary Education’s Reflecting Realities report is the first UK study to look at representation in children’s literature, and was first published in 2018. The aim of the study is to quantify and evaluate ethnic representation and diversity in children’s publishing in the UK. Of the 11,011 children’s books published in the UK in 2018, only 7 per cent featured black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) characters, up from 4 per cent in 2017. Of these books only 4 per cent had a BAME main character, up from 1 per cent in 2017. Over a quarter of the books submitted only featured BAME presence in the form of background characters. BAME pupils make up 33.1 per cent of the school population in England. Consider race, gender, social status, disability & religion. Look especially for work from authors who write about these issues from their own first-hand experience.

MORE INSPIRATION

READ How to Give Your Child a Lifelong Love of Reading by Alex Johnson (£12.99 CLPE)

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