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Reading for Pleasure
At Tabor this term we are encouraging all of our students to read for pleasure. On a Thursday afternoon, all students are required to read for 20 minutes silently and we’d love for all of our students to get in to the habit of reading regularly. We would like to think that this ethos of reading for pleasure does continue when students leave school, however, some students need a bit of encouragement and support when it comes to reading. Each week, in this segment, we will be giving parents top tips, useful websites and a quote of the week for each key stage to help you encourage your child to read for joy.
Our KS3 students have weekly class reader lessons where they are immersed in a variety of diverse literature. In addition they have timetabled lessons in the library on a three week rotation where they can use this time to read for pleasure. During these library lessons they our Year 7 and 8 students have assigned log ins for Accelerated Reader. This is a programme which motivates students to read more through engaging quizzes, goal setting, and suggests personalised recommendations. As students increase their reading volume, they develop greater reading stamina, word recognition, and language comprehension skills.
Why should we read?
Children are individuals who necessarily progress, develop and grow in a myriad of ways. As they do, and whether consciously or otherwise, the wide-ranging life skills children gain from books of all types can never be underestimated. While reading independently, sharing a book or listening to someone read to them, children can:
- be transported to other places
- begin to form opinions (and gain an understanding of others’ opinions)
- develop a sense of humour
- become acquainted with people and characters (personified animals who talk and behave
- like humans) and their emotions
- develop empathy
- ‘visit’ parts of the world (and other worlds!) they had no idea existed
- develop their imagination
- learn facts
- make links between their own and others’ lives
- become discerning readers, make informed choices
Top tips for reading with your child
- Read yourself! It doesn’t matter what it is – pick up a newspaper or magazine, take a look at a cookery book, read a computer manual, enjoy some poetry or dive into a romance or detective novel. And get your children to join in – if you’re cooking, could they read the recipe? If you’re watching TV, can they read out the listings?
- Give books as presents. And encourage your children and their friends to swap books with each other – it’ll give them a chance to read new stories, and get them all talking about what they’re reading.
- Visit the local library together. It’s always fun choosing new books to read, and keep an eye out for special author events at the library or local bookshops – children love meeting their favourite authors. Jacqueline Wilson and Anthony Horowitz always have signing queues that are miles long!
- Create a reading area at home. A cosy reading corner could be somewhere with bean bags, fun accessories, a variety of books or just somewhere they like to sit in the house.
- Encourage children to carry a book at all times. That way, they’ll never be bored (this is something you can do, too!)
- Have a family bookshelf. If you can, have bookshelves in your children’s bedrooms, too.
- Keep reading together. Just because your children are older, it doesn’t mean you have to stop sharing stories – perhaps you could try the Harry Potter series or A Series of Unfortunate Events.
- Don’t panic if your child reads the same book over and over again. Let’s be honest – we’ve all done it!
Reading for pleasure
