Getting children to read has been a great debate for many years. There has been so many researchers that have tried and claimed to know how to help children learn to read.
To me, a child’s love of reading and a child’s first educator -their parents have a significant influence on a child’s reading development. Not to mention us as the teachers too!
As part of my MA and my interest area of reading in school, I will be researching and carry out action research on the parental involvement of children’s reading.
I will most likely publish the action research on my blog after the submission as I don’t want to plagiarise myself! But I am looking forward to putting in place new strategies for reading in school.
My first strategy is to invite parents in every Monday morning to read with their child for 10 minutes. When I reflect on the mornings it involves parents and children stood outside waiting for the doors to open in the cold and us teachers rushing around like crazy.
Why not let them in and invite them to snuggle up with a good book to start the week off? That way teachers can also address and catch any parents about any issues too.
What are your thoughts and strategies for parental support and getting children to read?
I would love to hear them!
#MissPinnock
TeacherTalks 
One of the things I did with my children was read to them from the time they were little babies. I’d snuggle them on my lap and we would experience a book together, talking about the pictures, pointing things out, and of course enjoying each other’s company. I’d read to them at snack time (when they were a captive audience), and I also encouraged audio books and picture books. Reading with kids is such a great way to have discussions and connections!
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Aww that’s great. Thanks for sharing. I always think reading with children right from their baby stages really helps too!☺️☺️
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I started reading to my boys the day they came home from the hospital and both are avid readers. Some thoughts that you can do as teachers to get families motivated to read together that have worked for me in the past: send home reading buddy bags (this is a stuffed animal with a few books in a bag. I always included a notebook for the parents to write in that can be shared with the class), write class books based on a picture book then send home the class book and actual book for the child to “share” with his/her family. Send home a book and the cd that goes with it and encourage them to listen to them in the car or at home. These activities and ones similar to it are motivating because the child will go home excited about it and therefor the parents will want to do it. great topic!
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Aww I love these ideas. We send a reading log and book home every day! The children choose a book each morning as part of their routine. But I love the idea of CDs too!! Thank you for sharing ☺️☺️
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Best wishes with your research and other activities.
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Thank you very much Cynthia. ☺️
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Nice post. I couldn’t agree with you more. I think parents are a child’s first and most important teacher and I always let them know that at conference time. Parents want written homework or it isn’t homework. I always had as part of my homework 15 minutes of “Nightly Reading” with the parents (1st grade). I always stressed the importance of reading TO children even after they can read on their own. Chapter books are so fun and encourage rich discussions in and out of the classroom.
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Yes I think reading to children is equally as important. I like the way you set the reading as ‘homework’ as such! Thanks for sharing your thoughts ☺️x
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Good luck with your research. Personally, we have always read to our children before bedtime, ever since they were babies (they’re 7 and 4 now). Today I read a chapter book out loud to them, before they went to school, just to see how it would go. I wrote about it here: https://mrmatthewruddle.com/2018/02/20/kids-listen-even-when-theyre-not-listening/
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Thank you very much. I shared your blog on twitter. How amazing! What an amazing parent you are to read out loud! I am sure your children will go very far ☺️👍🏾its an idea I will share with parents too!
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Oh, thank you very much!
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