Reading for pleasure
At Westlands we know that reading for pleasure is highly important to developing children’s reading skills and that those that do well at reading, will do well at school and beyond. We do everything we can to foster a love of reading at school, but love the children to continue reading at home, on holiday and wherever they can find the time!
This guide is for parents, providing some useful links and information to encourage your child to read for pleasure. Reading for pleasure opens up new worlds for children. It gives them the opportunity to use their imagination to explore new ideas, visit new places and meet new characters. Interestingly, reading for pleasure also improves children’s well-being and empathy. It helps them to understand their own identity, and gives them an insight into the world and the views of others. Read on to find websites with free reading resources for all ages and interests, research into the importance of reading at home and the impact it has on learning success across the curriculum, tips on how to encourage your child to read, advice on reading with them at home including the impact this has and it provides a range of suggested texts based on their year group, to help make book selection easier and age appropriate.
At the end of the guide, you will also find details on where to locate the local libraries in the area. We hope you find it useful.
Recommended Reads and Branching Out
Choosing a book can be a daunting task with so much to choose from. Here are recommendations for each year group at Westlands including an array of non-fiction texts. For those parents who want their child to move away from an author they love, take a look at the Branching Out suggestions to find similar books to those they love written by other authors.
Ideas for encouraging your child to read for pleasure:
- Set aside a special time – just a few minutes a day is enough to create a reading habit.
- Get caught reading yourself – show that reading for pleasure is not just for children.
- Read to each other – if your child really doesn’t want to read on their own, then read together. You read a page, then they read a page. Or one of you could read any dialogue. Be brave and put on different voices.
- Value the books they choose to read – all reading is valuable for a child’s development. Some of us prefer non-fiction; some of us prefer comics. One child might like superhero books; another might a book of football statistics.
- Set a challenge – can they read ten books before they’re ten? Can they read a book from six different genres: a comic, an information book, a funny book, a sci-fi book, a classic and an instruction manual?
- Reading buddies – reading to a younger sibling can boost your child’s self-confidence and communication skills.
- Audiobooks – audiobooks allow children to experience a book above their own reading level. It also allows you to share a book together or make the most of those car journeys. Listening to a story over and over again can improve vocabulary and encourage deeper comprehension.
- Read-a-thon – join a sponsored reading event to raise money for charity.
- Stage and screen – use your child’s favourite films or games as a springboard into reading. Knowing the characters and storyline can be a helpful bridge into reading a longer story. Book club – find out about local book clubs.
Book Chat is a valuable tool. Check out these links to find out exactly what it’s all about:
Link to Book Chat poster and A Guide to Book Chat PDF at the bottom of this page
Free Reading Materials
www.lovemybooks.co.uk/
An excellent site for ideas and information, all about reading for pleasure with advice from the experts and a whole world of suggested reads. If you want ideas for which books to read with your child, no matter their age or interest, then this website is a must!
Storyline Online features accomplished actors and actresses reading some of their favourite children’s books. Each story comes with a free Activity Guide and can be viewed on YouTube or SchoolTube.
Freechildrenstories.com’s mission is to offer traditional, meaningful storytelling to every child, parent, or teacher around the globe with access to the internet, for free.
Storynory features a collection of original, fairy tale, and classic children’s audio stories. Students can follow along with the story as it is read to them, as the text is also included on the site.
www.oxfordowl.co.uk/for-home/find-a-book/library-page/
Children not into story books? Try the free Oxford Owl website that has plenty of nonfiction ebooks for your children to be engaged with.
Other useful websites you may wish to visit:
www.monkeypen.com/
www.oliverjeffers.com/
www.researchrichpedagogies.org/
www.booktrust.org.uk/
Hints and Tips:
Top Tips for Reluctant Readers:
Some children have all the skills for being able to devour books but are reluctant to do so. This website has some excellent advice about encouraging reluctant readers to become reading machines!
www.oxfordowl.co.uk/reading/reluctant-readers/
Top Tips for Struggling Readers:
For those parents concerned that their child struggles with reading, here is some more excellent advice that can help you and your child develop their reading skills.
www.oxfordowl.co.uk/reading/struggling-readers/
Top Tips for Encouraging Boys to Read:
Convincing your young boy to read more may not be as difficult a task as you think. This link will give you some very useful hints tips and tools for encouraging your child to pick up the right book for them and get reading!
www.oxfordowl.co.uk/reading/encouraging-boys-to-read/
Reading for Pleasure: The Research
Recent studies have suggested that children who struggle to read can fail to access 85% of the school curriculum.
The link below is an informative study and makes for an interesting read. If you don’t have time to read it, here is a summary of the key points:
- Reading for pleasure at an early age links to positive performance in tests that measured verbal learning, memory and speech development, and at school academic achievement.
- These children also had better mental wellbeing, showing fewer signs of stress and depression, as well as improved attention and fewer behavioural problems such as aggression and rule-breaking.
- Children who began reading for pleasure earlier also tended to spend less screen time during the week and at weekends, and also tended to sleep longer.
- Reading for pleasure at an early age showed moderately larger total brain areas and volumes!
Sittingbourne Library:
The local library can be found on Central Avenue in the town centre. It is bursting a the seems with books but also offers a range of other services and activities that you may wish to engage with and it is FREE to join.