Why is reading at home with your child so important?

It has astonishing benefits for children: comfort and reassurance, confidence and security, relaxation, happiness and fun. Giving a child time and full attention when reading them a story tells them that they matter. It builds self-esteem, vocabulary, feeds imagination and even improves their sleeping patterns.

Reading is a great habit. Like all habits, it needs repetition and regularity to establish itself. Because it needs quiet time, and our lives today are very short of this, parents need to create it for their children. This means consciously making time and keeping interruptions to a minimum.

The earlier parents can start, the better, as it allows the maximum time for their child to grow up with reading and for the love to take root, grow and become part of their life. And what an enriched life that will be!

"Strive For Five"

In school, we encourage all children to read with an adult at home at least five times each week - or 'Strive for Five'! Children who achieve this weekly are rewarded with a special 'Strive for Five' certificate. 

In addition, those children who 'Strive for Five' consistently across the term also receive a little 'reward' at the end of each term - this could be an extra playtime, or a movie, or even a sweet treat!

Please support your child with reading regularly at home and achieving Strive for Five - reading at home really does make such a difference to children's learning right across the curriculum.

More information on reading, for parents & carers

Click the link to go to our Curriculum Page on Reading and Phonics, for more help and advice