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Primary Times Birmingham
Launching the
love of reading
From Reception class to a lifetime of stories, we team up with the BookTrust
on the importance of reading at home… and we creep inside ‘The Cave’
Tips for reading
at home with them:
Set aside some time
Use funny voices
Find a quiet spot without
screens
Let them choose the book
Point to the pictures
Research shows that reading frequency
and enjoyment often drops as children
get older and regular story-time at home
stops. Without the support of shared family
reading, kids’ interest can easily decline and
starting school can be a key time for this to
happen – particularly when books begin to
be associated with the challenging task of
learning to read.
Practical tips for encouraging reluctant
readers and how to make reading at home
a happy habit include creating a reading
corner (if you have the space) and a reading
hour, and campaigns like ‘Time to read’
offer additional ideas. Parents and carers
are encouraged to keep making that allimportant
time to read with their children in
order to keep their love of stories alive now,
and as they get older. As we all know, this can
sometimes be a struggle when screens and
toys are competing for our children’s attention.
As we go back to school, the BookTrust takes
on a huge challenge to help children and
parents everywhere read more at home – it
distributes a book to every single reception
age pupil, which is around 700,000 children!
Local authorities receive the books and share
them with Reception classes and Reception
aged children who are home schooled.
“Each year we distribute around 3.4 million
books to children and families. But it’s not
just about reaching children with books –
it’s about engaging families and children
in reading; reminding them why it matters
and encouraging them to find the time
for reading for pleasure because it makes
such a difference to children’s lives and
development,” the BookTrust told us.
What could be a more joyful way of
kickstarting a child’s reading journey than
receiving a free book in the first few days at
school? Feedback from parents and schools
has flooded in since the free books were
first handed out four years ago; proving that
receiving a physical book makes a difference
to a child’s reading journey.
“The feedback from teachers and families is
incredible. Every year, parents get in touch to
tell us how much their children loved the story
and how excited they were to talk about it.
“One parent even told us that her son loved
his Time to Read copy of The Bumblebear so
much that all he wanted to speak about for
months afterwards was bees!”
Sometimes the Time to Read book is the
first a child has ever owned and teachers
often recount how proud their pupils were
to receive their very own book, something
special just for them.
Maybe your Reception aged child
has their copy? We hope you enjoy
reading it together and sharing it with
any older siblings.
The Cave is a
clever and fun
book. It has a
clear storyline
which keeps
the reader
guessing until
the end and
has lots of
detail in the
pictures, so
it’s one that
will be read
time and
time again.
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BACK TO SCHOOL 2019 | www.primarytimes.co.uk/birmingham