This National Year of Reading, with the national focus on encouraging reading for pleasure, Learning with Parents has embarked on a collaboration with University College London’s (UCL) Institute of Education to help us evolve and improve our Digital Reading Log.
Our Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP), enabled by funding from Innovate UK, the UK’s innovation agency, will see an academic researcher embedded in the Learning with Parents team, who will be able to dive deep into our data, while drawing on the expertise of the wider UCL team, led by Professor Rachael Levy.
Introducing Yasir
Yasir is the KTP Associate working with Learning with Parents and the UCL academic team to strengthen the Digital Reading Log and apply academic rigour to the platform data to better understand what supports parent-child shared reading and helps parents find enjoyment in reading with their children.
He has a background in programming and data science, has previously worked in educational settings as a learning coach and learning facilitator, and also within the IT team.
He finds it rewarding to support young people and help them have a positive start in life. What attracted him to Learning with Parents is its focus on tackling educational inequality and supporting reading for pleasure.
Enhancing the Digital Reading Log
Our Digital Reading Log is already a valuable tool, supporting parental engagement in children’s reading, providing teachers with useful insights and collecting a wealth of valuable data. However we know it can do more to support parent-child enjoyment of reading.
Yasir has been tasked with conducting a thorough analysis of the Digital Reading Log and developing its capacity to encourage reading for pleasure among primary school children.
Drawing on Yasir’s coding skills and the UCL team’s knowledge, we here at Learning with Parents hope to greatly enhance the reading log’s ability to promote family reading and significantly improve its data collection and analysis functions.
These enhancements will improve the experience for the thousands of parents and children already using the platform, whilst laying the groundwork for sustainable growth. Equipped with better tools and evidence-based insights, Learning with Parents will be well placed to expand its reach, supporting many more schools and families and making an even greater contribution towards reducing educational inequality.
Speaking of the collaboration Professor Levy stated:
We are delighted to be working closely with Learning With Parents in this important project. Parent-child home reading can be quite simply life-changing, so it is a privilege to be able to encourage enjoyable shared reading activity in the home through the enhancement of this log.
Why is reading for pleasure important?
As children’s reported rates of reading for enjoyment hit an all time low, it’s never been more crucial to encourage reading for pleasure. The benefits of reading for pleasure extend far beyond simply improving reading skills, though it certainly does that too. When children read for enjoyment, they’re developing a whole host of valuable skills and qualities that will serve them throughout their lives.
Research consistently shows that children who read for pleasure perform better academically across all subjects, not just English. Indeed, the OECD found that reading for pleasure can be more important for academic success than socio-economic status and be a powerful lever in addressing inequalities.
Perhaps just as importantly, reading for pleasure helps children develop their emotional world. It helps nurture empathy by allowing them to step into different characters’ shoes and experience the world from new perspectives. It introduces them to new ideas and cultures and provides a fab way to relax and unwind in our busy, screen-filled world. All of this contributes to greater self-esteem, resilience and all-round wellbeing.
How can we encourage reading for pleasure?
The good news is that we already know plenty of practical, fun ways to foster a love of reading, both at home and in school. Here are some approaches that really work:
Encourage choice
Children are far more likely to engage with a book when they’ve chosen it themselves. This sense of ownership makes reading feel more like a treat than a task. Similarly, it doesn’t matter so much what they’re reading, be it a comic book or a Dickens’ novel; what matters is that they are enjoying it.
Make space for reading
Weaving reading into daily life, whether in the classroom or at home, gives children the time and space to explore the reading they most enjoy. Making physical space, such as cosy, comfortable reading corners can be helpful too.
Make it social and celebratory
When reading becomes something to share and celebrate, it can encourage everyone to get involved. Schools can foster a culture of reading through book clubs, fun reading challenges, or rewards, such as books to keep. Modelling can also be important; both teachers and parents can read aloud to children and talk about books that they have been enjoying themselves.
We are excited to embark on this partnership with UCL and look forward to seeing what we can achieve together. Keep an eye out for updates on our findings, enhancements to the reading log and top tips to encourage reading for pleasure.
Read more about how our Digital Reading Log encourages reading for pleasure:
