Children too busy to read

The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) shows England has fallen from 3rd to 19th place in a global league of reading among ten-year-olds, 3rd place was achieved in 2001.

Ed Balls the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families said children have more choice on how to spend their leisure time and parents should do more to promote reading. He said that parents should make reading part of a child's daily routine. The results from the study showed that British children spend one of the largest proportions of time on computer games with 40% of 10 year olds spending more than 3 hours a day playing them.

Schools spokesman David Laws said: "Despite the success of books like Harry Potter, there is still a worryingly large group of our young people who have absolutely no interest in reading."

Your Views

Posted by: Liz Posts: 16 From: Hampshire		Children Reading My 2 small children (3 and 1) love books. I hope I will always be able to spend the time with them to encourage their enjoyment as they get older. It worries me when I hear stories from other parents about how much homework there is at school from an early age, which includes reading. I wonder whether they then start to view reading as something they have to do rather than something they choose to do. Another thing, is that when children do have reading time at school perhaps it would help if they are able to sit around on bean-bags or comfy setees...this might make the differentiation between hard school work and sitting enjoying a good story in comfort. Maybe some schools do this?.

	Posted: 11/Dec/07 at 15:45:10

Posted by: Snazzysarah Posts: 6 From: Harrow Middlesex		Replies Hi Liz Our school is fantastic for 'comfy reading' with many cushions and a dedicated 'reading corner'. All my children have been sent home reading books, but have never (thankfully) viewed it as a chore although if they were overloaded I can see that it would soon become one. In fact, the school is well known for giving lots and lots of homework, however, I review it and if I think that it will feel too laborious, I customise it so they can learn and enjoy. For instance, my 10 yr old daughter had over 70 science questions to answer to have in the next day. Granted, they were short ones, but I felt she would be too worried about getting it done and miss the point of actually learning/revising them all. I answered them all (yes, I did have to go on BBC Bitesize to get some answers!!!) and then tested her on them. That way she could learn and hand the answers in. You are quite right, there is a delicate balance to be struck when homework is concerned. Does anyone else have a lot of homework? I definitely feel stressed at weekends with all three of them needing guidance with it all!

	Posted: 17/Dec/07 at 17:38:35

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