I just want them to read …….

Before I was a mum, when I was a keen and energetic young teacher, I imagined what my little family might be like in the future. In my mind, I imagined the scene of a roaring fire on a cold, winter’s night, snuggled up with my children under a cosy blanket, sharing one of my favourite childhood books. I have to say my favourite book of all time as a child was ‘The Enchanted Wood’ by Enid Blyton. and even to this day, my sister and I still squabble about who the book actually belongs to! I always thought how wonderful it would it be, with my teacher knowledge, to be able to nurture and instill a love of learning with my own children. As I write this now the reality is so far from that image, it is laughable! When I even mention the word “reading” to both my boys they look at me with such disdain and I can only compare it to the look I gave my Mum when she served me Gooseberry Sponge Pudding as a child.

With Noah, reading has and I imagine always will be a struggle! Finley, however is the perfect reader and yet he would rather poke his own eyes out with a stick than sit and read a book. I guess, in retrospect, perhaps I pushed this agenda too soon, who knows! There is no rule to this parenting malarky. He was my first born, he seemed to pick things up so quickly and easily, so naturally I encouraged him in his pre-school years to learn to recognise his letters and pick up a book (normally Thomas the Tank Engine if I remember). One day, I came across the Reading Eggs programme when I was flicking through a free magazine and he just loved it! He had such a thirst for learning and by the time he went into his Reception year, he was already able to read with ease! As the years have gone by, this love of learning has dwindled and now he will do only what is expected of him at school, dare I say the ‘minimum’. He is not alone, and the sad statistics concerning boys and reading are trully appaling.

Three out of four (76%) UK schools are concerned about boys’ underachievement in reading. In 2011, an estimated 60,000 boys failed to reach the expected level in reading at age 11 (The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Literacy’s Boys' Reading Commission and The National Literacy Trust, 2011)

When parents get in touch with me, often they are concerned with their child’s ability to read and write or their willingness to do so. The school curriculum is so jam-packed with expectations that the joy of reading is often missed and it has sadly become a task to be assessed and measured through rigorous and sterile tests. I believe this is where we are losing our childrens’ love of learning ( I certainly believe this is true for my son!). I am passionate about reading and determined to give the children I work with a different perspective. At BeeBizzy Education seeing progress in children who struggle to read is magical and this is why I love what I do. Helping children to read opens doors to new opportunities and I feel privileged that I can help children on their ‘reading’ journey.

Over the course of the next few weeks, I will be discussing many of the different elements that are needed to make a fluent and enthusiastic reader, including:

What is Synthetic Phonics and how can I help my child?

An Overview of the ‘Science of Reading’

What is Dyslexia and what does this mean for my child?

Boys and Reading - Is there an answer to the problem?

I hope you enjoy and feel these blogs give you some understanding and ideas to support your child and hopefully a renewed love of learning.