Posts Tagged with reading

Reading Aloud to my children: some reflections on the first 9 years

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Promoted by a number of bookish discussions I have had on twitter recently (you will find me @melissacreate15), I have been reminded just how great reading aloud to my kids has been and continues to be, and how it is about far more than sharing stories, it’s also about sharing timing together, and creating memories.

I started reading aloud to my daughter every night when she was 10 months old, each night she would choose 3 book for myself or my husband to read to her. It was and still is one of my favourite times of day.  When I was pregnant with her brother I was often tired and we would cuddle up on the sofa on my days off from work and listen to her favourite Barefoot Books sing along ‘The Journey Home from Grandpa’s’ and in the run up to Christmas we had a great Christmas carols CD which you could follow along with a book. We continued reading picture books at bedtime nearly every night until she was 3 and half, when our fairy loving pre-schooler decided she wanted the first 20 books of the Rainbow Magic series (we had acquired a box set at a nearly new Sale) read aloud to her. Afterwards we continued to read picture books to her nearly every night, and sometimes a chapter book. What we had established from a very early age was that quality time with mum or dad and sharing stories was part of bedtime, and lot’s of happy memories. It was only later that we realised that my daughter had aways been particular about the books she wanted read aloud, and that we had been a bit of luck that we came across in those first few years some stories she loved, but which were also the kind of story that grew with your child.

My son as a 1 to 2 year old sometimes enjoyed being read aloud a story with his sister, and in particular our all time favourite family read ‘Who Took the Moon for A Walk’ by Alison Jay. And his fascination with the moon and the night sky probably stems from this time. But, it took him longer to settle to the idea of regular bedtime story. The break through was at 2 and half finding a handful of stories and books which was specific to him. One of which was ‘Bear at Home’. This had a picture of keys on the inside of the front cover and at that point he was obsessed with keys. There was a period of several months I would sit on his bedroom floor and read him a book, and he would look at some of the pictures and then move around the room whilst I kept reading. One really useful thing said to me was that: ‘a child doesn’t have to be sitting still to be listening to a story’. At the age of 4 we gave him a Usbourne Lift the Flap book on Recycling, in theory the book was aimed at 7+ years but he absolutely loved it. He is now 7 and it is still his favourite non-fiction book.  When my son was nearly 5 his sister was getting rid of her Rainbow Magic box set, and much to my surprise my son decided he wanted it (he had never shown the slightest interest in fairies). But, he did love numbers, so a set of books with numbers 1 to 20 in a box was a definite attraction.  He absolutely loved the 5 books about the weather fairies and was fascinated with the idea that things could get so mixed up that it could snow in summer.

Over the next few years I started to realise that there were certain sort of picture book stories that both my children loved. To find book that: ‘lit up the eyes and curiosity of both my children in equal measure ‘ was not as simple as it sounds. But, by a process of trial and error we found a number of books that we all really enjoyed, this was helped by me being an independent bookseller which meant I found and stumbled across all sorts of books I might not have otherwise known about. You can read about some of the books here.

TV programmes and Film have also been a good way to introduce my children to stories. For my daughter it was the CBBC drama Hetty Feather, that enabled her to make a giant leap in her reading and got her reading books she wanted to read. See my blog post here. In the Summer of 2016 both my children loved watching the brilliant adaption of the BFG. Then on the way to our family holiday in Wales we listened to the entire audio recording of the BFG, I have never know my children be so quite on a long journey! This winter we went to see a great theatre production of the James and the Giant peach, as a result of which my son wanted the story read aloud to him.

Live author events attended as a family have also been an important way to introduce my children to new authors and to keep the magic of stories alive. You can read about a few of them here.

We have discovered some chapter books (that were new to both of them) that have made great stories to read aloud.  Two of our favourite’s so far are:  Dottie Blanket by Wendy Meddour and Perijee and Me by Ross Montgomery.  As my children get older our shared reading time is evolving. Last summer my daughter read me some of the Hobbit, which I had always expected would be the other way round! It was one of my favourite stories from childhood. A few months back my daughter took ‘Saving Sophia’ out of the library which she then decided she wanted me to read to her, it turned out to be an action packed story perfect for reading aloud.  So this time my daughter was introducing me to a new story.  The other weekend we were on our way back from a days biking and my daughter had brought a couple of the Diary of Wimpy Kid books in the Car, my son decided he liked the look of them too, so we had both kids reading a book on the way home. I am not sure where our next shared reading adventures together are going to take us, and as they get older this is a constantly evolving process, but I am looking forward to finding out.

Additional note:

Without realising that is what we were doing we have created a family reading culture, with many opportunities for informal book talk. All of which there is much evidence based practice that this helps create children that want to read. However, even in this context neither of my children made an automatic transition to reading independently, nor was or is it automatic that having found books they want to read that the will easily on their own find their next or subsequent reads.  To help them find book they want to read they need introducing to a variety of stories, encouragement, support and space to find books that have meaning to them in that particular moment in time. Which has led me to the firm believe that all children both at home and in school should have a basic entitlement to support with reading for pleasure.  In terms of motivation to read, one of the biggest difference that both reading aloud and sharing stories has made is that it has given my kids and me added determination to over come any difficulties they have faced and may face in the future on their individual journeys.

If you are parent reading this and thinking I wish I had read aloud more to my child or children. My advice would be don’t focus on the past, but start with the present and finding books to share with your child now in a way that works for you and your family.  In the 10 years before my daughter was born I worked for Hertfordshire Connexions and Youth Service, mentoring teenagers. One of the most crucial things I learnt from that time, is it is never too late to make a difference, and there are multiple points in a child’s and young persons life in which with the right support they can change direction. The final point I want to add is I don’t think I would have kept reading as much aloud to my children as I have done if I hadn’t found ways to read and/or share stories with both my children.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reading for pleasure: becoming a reader for pleasure is a dynamic process with ups and downs

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One of the wonderful things about being a parent is seeing your children grow in confidence, you don’t always notice the small changes, but when all those small changes add up to a bigger change you do. One of the things my nearly 9 year old has grown in confidence in is her reading. This includes her confidence that she will find another book she likes and her increasing ability to accurately choose books she does like. Both are essential skills in reading for pleasure: a belief that there are stories out there you will love and, the ability to find them. It has been a two year journey to get to where she is now. It is only as she moves into a new phase in her reading that I realise just how far we have come. I say we, because in parallel to her journey I have re-discovered a love of fiction, after reading mainly non-fiction for 10 years. I have discovered I much prefer reading children’s fiction, to adult fiction, and that I especially like middle grade fiction!

My daughter and I have, over the last two years, both become readers. We have discovered authors we had never heard of two years ago, and that there is so much more variety in children’s chapter book fiction than we could have possibly imagined. Yet, what is interesting is that until a month ago, there weren’t any books I had read or suggested to her that she had picked up and read. We have read different middle grade stories.

As an indepedent bookseller I was initially interested in reading children’s books, so I could tell my customers about them. But, then I quickly realised I was picking stories out of my selections that I really wanted to read. Through becoming a reader myself I have a new understanding of what it takes to become a child  who wants to read. Most importantly I realise that becoming a person who wants to read is not a linear journey. It is instead a dynamic process with up and downs. I have also discovered that there a multiple routes to becoming a reader, and for many children (adults) this is something that has to be worked at.

It was about two years ago this month, that my daughter discovered the first book she loved reading for herself. That story was Hetty Feather by Jacqueline Wilson, and was very important in getting her reading. You can read about it in my blog post. However, as we were to discover that was just the start of her journey towards reading for pleasure. Along the way there are many things and people that have helped. My decision last May to book us into our first live author events at the Linton Book Festival was one of them, and I will be talking about this in my next blog post. We hope that by sharing some of the things that helped us, that more people will realise there are many ways to becoming a reader and that you may find out something that will help a child you know, in their journey to becoming a reader.

One child’s journey towards reading for pleasure: finding that spark

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In this post I tell the story of how my daughter became a reader. She is a bright child who has loved picture books since she was 10 months old, but her transition into reading chapter books was not straightforward.  I believe some of the factors which made it a bumpy ride may be relevant to other children of all abilities. We hope sharing our story will help other parents and educators support their children.

About a month before her 7th birthday my daughter was considered to have reached a good competence in her reading. This meant that she could now ‘choose’ what she read, first from books that bridge the gap between school readers and chapters books and later chapter books. It may be relevant to note that this is done earlier in my daughters school than in other schools, with the idea if you have choice about what you read you will be more enthusiastic. At first this seemed to work, and she enjoyed the books she brought home. However, quickly she said she could not find a book she liked. At that time the schools selection of early reader’s and first chapter books was poor. With the knowledge and experience of fiction for 6 to 12 year olds that I have acquired in the past 13 months I now realise just how ‘limited’ the choice of books was. As a growing school the funding for new books did not come through until 6 months after she had made this transition.  Choice matters and lack of choice did make that journey more difficult. However, we did by an unexpected routes get there in the end. This experience inspired me and my daughter to find out more about children’s fiction. We have learnt that engagement (and disengagement) with reading is a fluid process, and that there are more great books out there than I could have possibly imagined!

So you can choose what you want to read? So finding the something you want to read will be easy?  We found it wasn’t quite that simple! What if the kind of story you liked to be read isn’t the kind of story you want to read yourself? What happens if the books your friends are reading don’t interest you? What if some of your friends are at a different stage of reading so not reading chapter books yet? What if your comprehension of language and story structure is great than your reading ability at that time? All of these things put together certainly add to the task of finding the right story.

A good librarian can help, but, even with the help of our local library we still felt like we were guessing. My daughter often learns by ‘doing’, so maybe the only way to find out what books she liked was trial and error. Many of the books were quickly rejected. It was quite a bewildering time as a parent. My daughter went in a few months from being enthusiastic about reading to beginning to loose interest altogether. I remember talking to a friend who had a daughter a year older . She said “there was a period where her reading seemed to stand still, but she is enjoying reading now”. So maybe this is a phase that lot’s of children go through? It was a reassuring to know. But, something was telling me that wasn’t quite the whole story.

Then two things happened,  One was we started having conversations about the books she has rejected, the ones’s she would not read and the ones she got half way through. The quotes below are written with hindsight and may not have been as clear at time, but the suggestion was there.

“That series of animal stories that x is reading has no plot”
“That humorous story that y likes jumps around a lot and doesn’t make sense”
“ This looks like an interesting book, but I don’t understand what it is saying”

The second thing which happened was my daughter was loving a new CBBC drama, called Hetty Feather based on the book by Jacqueline Wilson. Through which she became fascinated by the character Hetty Feather and the Victorian era. She liked it so much that she re-watched it many times. She got all 4 of the Hetty Feather stories from her grandad on her 7th birthday, along with an Victorian outfit. The look of joy on her face was priceless.

We then shared reading Hetty Feather. My daughter would read a little, then myself or my husband would read some more of the story. This suggestion was made by another parent and it worked really well. The fact that she could already identify with the main character from watching the TV drama helped in wanting to read the story. Familiarity with the story helped her to access a book that was a little above her reading level. Finding that first book a child enjoys reading is so important. We now know she could read a book with a complex plot and that she could find a book she wanted to read, neither of which should be underestimated. It was however, only the start of our journey into establishing the foundations for reading for pleasure. I’ve heard some parents say “once they found that one book they were of reading.” In our experience it wasn’t quite that simple!

Reading and Pebbles: thoughts on children’s reading experience’s Part 1

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Reading pebbles is the name I have called my blog because it brings together two things I am passionate about children’s books and nature. I am particularly interested in how we can help every child to love books and reading and, ways we can re-connect children and adults with nature. It occurred to me that comparing a pebble with a reader could be an interesting analogy to consider. So here are some comparisons.

Pebbles come in lots of different shapes and sizes. So do books. So do readers

A pebble is a small round stone. You can be hold one in the palm of your hand.

Books are rectangular with straight sides,most cannot be held in the palm of your hand.

But, the experience of reading you can take with you. Books can foster curiosity and imagination. This together with the meaning and understanding the reader takes from the story you can carry with you.

A pebble began its life as a large piece of rock, and its journey to becoming a pebble can be a long one. It is constantly re-shaping and reforming as it goes. When you read a good story you can feel like you have been on a journey to real or imagined places (sometimes both!). The process of becoming a competent enthusiastic reader is a ‘fluid’ one, it may have its twists and turns, rather like a piece of rock bumping along a river bed!

To understand how a pebble has become what it is, we need knowledge about the factors, which have shaped it. Two are particularly important: Firstly, the type of rock. Different type of rocks will erode at different speeds and in different ways. Secondly, several environmental factors interact to break rock into smaller pieces and then smooth the edges into a round stone. These include: rain, wind, waves and sand. Could this analogy be used to consider a reader? Let’s have a go.

Firstly, there is what a child brings with them in terms of life experience and individual reading skills. In this scenario this could be the ‘type of rock’. Secondly, there is the environment in which a child experiences books and reading, I am going to call this the ‘book environment’. I am particular interested in the encouragement of life long readers so imagine in this scenario that the child is aged 6 or more years. The ‘book environment’ is two fold. There is the book itself. Then there is the wider environment, which includes: access to books, knowledge about them and others perceptions (parents, school and society) which can directly or indirectly encourage or discourage a reader.

For me using a natural system as a lense to view a complex human process has been useful. I hope your found it interesting. From this viewpoint you can start to ask all sorts of interesting questions. One of which I will consider in my next post.