Every year in the UK, one in four children leave primary school unable to read to the required standard. This has long term consequences for the child’s academic outcomes, employment and health. In this blog, we take a look at why reading at home matters and the difference parents can make by reading regularly with their child.
Why reading matters
Reading is the foundation of a good education. Children who can read are more likely to succeed in school, achieve better qualifications and are more likely to be employed in adulthood.
We know reading has huge benefits for a child’s wellbeing and outcomes, but even before the pandemic, one in four children left primary school unable to read to the required standard – 200,000 pupils every year.
Without intervention, children who cannot read well become adults who cannot read well. 7.1 million adults in England can be described as having ‘very poor literacy skills’. That’s one in six people. Adults with low levels of literacy have worse health outcomes, earn less, and are even more likely to die early.
The impact of reading at home
It’s hard to overstate the impact of reading with your child at home. Research shows that regular reading at home leads to:
- Higher levels of literacy
- Widened vocabulary
- Improved mental wellbeing
- Higher levels of empathy
- A stronger sense of imagination
- Improved sleeping patterns
One key study found that a child who is read one book a day will hear 290,000 more words by age 5 than a child who doesn’t regularly read with a parent or caregiver. As a result, these children have a huge advantage when it comes to starting school.
It’s not just about literacy though – taking time to read with a child tells them that they are important and deserving of attention. This has positive effects on confidence and self-esteem.
Reading at home and the attaiment gap
DfE data shows that by the age of 15, children from disadvantaged families are on average almost three years behind their peers from the most affluent backgrounds when it comes to reading.
Although we know that reading at home has a massive impact, pupils who receive free school meals are less likely to read outside of school. A recent National Literacy Trust report found that FSM pupils are also less likely to say they enjoy reading and less likely to be encouraged to read by their parents.
Consequently, supporting disadvantaged families to read with their children is critical if we hope to close the literacy gap between FSM pupils and their more affluent peers.
Supporting all families to read at home
At Learning with Parents, our vision is for every child to be supported at home to achieve their potential.
We have spent the last year speaking to teachers, parents and school leaders to find out more about how reading currently works in schools and to identify areas where our support could make a big difference. Based on this, we designed We Read, a reading log that addresses some of the problems identified for both parents and teachers.
We Read makes it fun and simple for disadvantaged families to engage with reading. We use research-informed nudge technology to support parents to build habits of regularly reading with their child. Our audio recording and photo sharing tools act as a strong incentive for children, as they are excited to share their home reading with their teacher.
Having successfully piloted the log with a small number of schools, we are now excited to be expanding our offer to all partner schools. We believe the log will make a big difference at schools by ensuring that parents of all backgrounds are supported to read regularly with their child at home.
You can learn more about our digital reading log here, check out a case study from a partner school, or book in a demo to find out more about how we can support your school.
