Reading Matters

DO

• Read to your child every day at least until the end of primary school
• Listen to your child reading daily as soon as he or she starts to read
• Play word games in the car and elsewhere (eg 'let's think of 'fr' words...')
• Let your child see you engrossed in books - it teaches that reading is exciting and important
• Point out words on notices, hoardings, shop windows, etc.

DON'T

• Stop reading aloud to your child as soon as he or she can decipher a few words
• Write in capital letters for a child - it blocks out the natural shape of a word like 'elephant' or 'happy'
• Try to apply phonic rules to non-phonetic words. You cannot sound out 'Charlotte' using the 'c' 'h' 'a' method as you can 'Elena'

TALKING POINT: Are books on the way out?

Schools often use computer generated activities and worksheets instead of books. It is cheaper and, in some ways, more convenient. Many schools now have a book budget of less than £10 per child per year.

TV and DVDs provide fictional entertainment (although so, to millions, do children's authors like JK Rowling, Jacqueline Wilson and Philip Pullman). The internet is an all-encompassing source of information.

Are we going to need books at all in ten years time?

Michael Morpurgo, Children's Laureate 2003-5 and author of over 90 books such as Kensuke's Kingdom and Private Peaceful, is worried that books and reading for pleasure are being sidelined in schools. He wants much more money to be spent on school books and for teachers to read aloud to children for at least half an hour every day. 'There is clear historic evidence that those who read are more likely to achieve and fulfil their potential,' he says.

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