To think you do have to do more than read with your child?

[areyousurre]

I’ve read a lot on here and other resources that all you should do with primary aged children is read to them / with them, and I suppose I’m questioning that a bit.

I’ve always read widely with my children but I’m not sure it’s made any real discernible difference in terms of language development or progress academically. And I now feel guilty that I haven’t done more!

I’d be interested in hearing what people honestly think. I don’t mean I’m going to stop reading to them but I do think I should be maybe doing more.

We do worksheets, either bought or created. There is math daily for the girls and an extra task be it reading/spelling worksheet just whatever is printed and ready. They don't seem too fussed about it. I mark and repeat/move up etc but I don't tell them scores as that's not important just tool where I need to work on with them and with math they can repeat as math is just repetitive and memory.

Reading is the best thing. But you have to check their understanding, their ability to anticipate the story, understanding who is telling the story etc etc. Far too many parents let their kids sound the words and are then furious they haven't moved onto the next book when the kid can't understand it or relay the story at all.

I think reading to them, taking them to museums and plays and other cultural activities is more important than giving them lots of work books. Unless you have a child who loves doing workbooks! But if you have a kid who loves castles you'd be better off visiting a castle or reading about them. It's all about their overall cultural capital but also having some down time at home to develop their own interests.

I work with year 5 children. Have done for nearly 15 years.

reading is definitely the single most important thing that you can do for your child to help academically.

of course you can do other things…. But if they struggle to read fluently , they can’t access the work as well as their peers, and the gap grows. Even more so if they have to have extra reading practice in school, which can take them away from lessons (if lucky enough for a ta of course! )

we can’t tell which child was bottle or breastfed, but we can tell which kids read regularly!

there are always parents that grumble their children aren’t making progress and all you want to do is shout ffs crack a book with them time to time !

Reading is such a powerful gateway to vocabulary and creativity.

Teaching pupils with weak oracy and no imagination is so hard.

It's not the only way. I have dyslexic reluctant readers who do well at school, but they were always read to in the primary years, we've used audio books, we've done lots of outings including free/ cheap places like the local museums, walks to woods and rock formations. We've talked a lot. It's not obvious now that my teenager had a speech delay as a young child.

But reading is a simple, cheap way to bring so many benefits together.

It may or not be the only thing you need to do - but it is the best thing you can do, and it will be helping them in every way (academically, emotionally, cognitively etc). There is so much research to support the benefits of reading with a parent, and of reading widely and developing a reading habit. Google it and be reassured!

My children are still pre-schoolers but i agree with you. The school set the expectation that you only need to read to them, and that's convenient for the parents so accepted as such.

My siblings have children ranging 5-18 - not in the UK - and they do a lot more than reading. Mainly the school sets weekly homework which the parents supervise, and they also help them review their lessons (just reading through the content and asking questions to check their understanding, and re-do some of the exercises if need be).

Our school doesn't set homework at all during primary, but they provide work sheets for all levels, it's completely up to the parents to use them. Maybe check with your school if they have this available.

I honestly don’t do much at all. I do the absolute bare minimum. I’m an academic with a PhD. Critical thinking and curiosity come through developing interests in things and having the passion to pursue them. They don’t come from being forced to read 5 pages a night or do worksheets.

What I do focus on (with primary age dc, secondary is a bit different) is supporting areas where they are struggling. I never want them to feel behind or feel lost. So if they feel anxious about something, we focus on building confidence in that area. I have one child who loves maths and does times tables and maths for fun, so I support that.

But I rarely do all the homework that is sent home. Sometimes I don’t do any of it. I weave a bit of learning - and much more importantly, critical thinking - into food shopping or days out. But we definitely don’t read every day. That’s worked really well. My secondary school one is in top sets, confident, has a good grasp on what interests her and got offered a little job at 13 related to her career interests.

I think fostering a love of storytelling, creativity and being curious is more important than reading per se.

DS(7) has PDA. You’re never going to get him to sit down and fill in worksheets or recite times tables (even though he’s been able to do them since he was 3). However, if you engage him about one of his special interests he will research, read, write and draw for hours. He wrote acrostic poems about Greek gods the other evening.

@Bearbookagainandagain that’s interesting, as mine are only very young and their school definitely encourages practicing the phonics and tricky words (as they are called.)

It’s quite hard fitting it in but I really want to make more effort and not rely on ‘just’ reading stories. As lovely as that is I’m no longer sure it’s helping academically (it’s nice thing to do of course.)

My dyslexic child has very high scores on assessment (by dyslexia assessor) for comprehension and I put this down to reading daily to her, her reading daily to us (even if its only 2 or 3 pages) and her listening to audio books almost constantly when she is at home. So to me, reading is of the utmost importance.

How old are your DC? I have a DC in year 1 and I read to her, she reads to me, we do phonics flashcards and phonics and maths workbooks together. Other than that we just make sure she has lots of experiences and variety of day trips, sometimes we tailor to the topic she’s learning at school, for example she did space last term so we took her to the planetarium.

Reading should lead to conversation and curiosity not just reading the words on the page. I'm sure you do a lot more than just reading, you might not realise it. Chatting, listening, observing, interest in their hobbies - that's how kids learn.

My dc1 is only in reception. Dc2 is only two so obviously not doing academic work as such yet!

How can you tell it’s made no difference? Because you don’t have your children raised without reading to compare

Reading is definitely the most important thing and a big factor in a child’s progress.

You can definitely tell the children that don’t read in a number of ways.

But reading doesn’t just mean listening to them read - it means checking and developing their comprehension of what they have read. Ask them questions about what is happening, how characters might feel, what might happen next and why, what are they enjoying and so on….

Discussing storylines is great for developing imagination and you can also help build their vocabulary by asking if they know what words mean and what a synonym could be etc.

Obviously, this is meant to be done in subtle and fun way so reading is still fun and enjoyable. A love of reading is priceless!

But is there any evidence that educational outcomes are any better for children who do homework and worksheets? I know dc who went to prep schools and did proper written homework from small, their outcomes at GCSE are no different to my dc who did none.

There is consistent evidence around reading and the advantages it confers.

My dc missed loads of primary school due to covid lockdowns. They did not easily or willingly do home learning but they were read to, read independently, listened to audio books etc.

They're in secondary school doing brilliantly now. Reading well with good comprehension is a essential at GCSE as so many of the questions are long form.

My youngest's parents' eve this week was interesting - the teacher talked a lot about how ds has an imagination, vocabulary and understanding of what good writing for the reader should be like - all because he reads and listens to stories as a regular thing.

I work in reception and there is already a gap showing between those who are regularly read with at home and those who aren’t. It makes a massive difference.

Beyond reading the most important thing is talking to your child and exposing them to language, encourage curiosity.

Mine are 25 and 22 now and both did well academically. We always listened to them read most nights- just a few pages. We read to them. We used to practise times tables on the school run, I would do quick- fire sums in the car too. I remember my youngest was struggling with fractions so we’d do a few extra at home. They always did their homework and we bought all the study guides that school suggested.
Outside of that we talked about everything like seasons, palaces, who the prime minister was, why certain things happen etc. I see that as a parent’s job but now I work in school I am amazed at how little children know about the world. It’s really obvious which kids get the double whammy of school education and home education. School can’t do it all.

Absolutely this and talk, talk, talk about their interests. Not worksheets.

It’s a fair point because without reading their language, etc could be much less developed. But I have actually noticed my ds is getting less engaged with books, despite me trying to encourage. It’s definitely now becoming a chore rather than pleasure despite it never having been a chore (if that makes sense.) Phonics seems to be a little all over the place. He can’t read yet so he can’t read to me but I think me reading to him has become a little dull which is such a shame.

Cultural capital is the term. Give them experiences of places( local is fine) like museums, castles, farms, reservoirs, canals and further afield if you can. It’s all fertiliser for their imagination, something to draw upon.

It's literally been proven by research that reading to your child makes a big difference. Your sample size of one is irrelevant tbh, in the kindest way. Keep reading together until they just are reading harry potter by themselves and want you to go away. It looks like you're just bored and want a way out. Get better books that you enjoy as well. And don't give up this early!

So how could you possibly tell just reading is doing no good?

@MrsJamin i suppose I mean more that if that is all you do it’s not going to be the huge thing that it’s made to be. I never thought I’d be too fussed about encouraging learning at home but maybe this approach was misguided.