Do you read regularly to your children? I remember enjoying a bedtime story almost every night of my preschool years. But apparently that’s not the norm today…
Read: More than half of teachers say ‘many of our pupils have never heard a bedtime story’
The poll found 55.7 per cent of primary school teachers have taught children who have never been read a story.
The Oxford University Press survey of 300 teachers also found 72 per cent of them believe primary school children are less able to tell stories than they were 10 years ago.
Literary expert and former primary head teacher Pie Corbett said: ‘To develop children as writers, reading is absolutely essential.
‘Every teacher knows the best writers, the most proficient writers, are always readers. It not only gives children language, it also develops their imaginations.
I don’t believe that a lack of bedtime stories alone is responsible for the lack of storytelling ability in children. In our computer age, even preschoolers spend an inordinate amount of time playing video games. While many such games have an educational component, they can’t replace the value that reading books adds to a child’s language development.
Still, it’s sad that so many kids are missing out on one of my favorite things: bedtime stories. I truly believe it helped instill in me a great love for reading that continues into my advanced middle age. It may be a sign of our fast-paced lifestyles that parents just don’t have the time or energy at day’s end for reading stories to their little ones. If that’s the case, maybe it’s time to slow down the pace. An extra 15 or 20 minutes per day set aside for reading to preschool children can produce numerous long-term benefits. Instill the desire for reading early, and the kids will continue the pattern once they’ve learned to read on their own.
It seems like a small sacrifice to make for a very short period of time. And really, is spending a little extra time with your child much of a sacrifice?
Comments on this entry are closed.
{ 1 trackback }