Ok, we get it. Sometimes you just need a few days to really relax, unwind and develop some kind of unfortunate egg-shaped confectionary dependency. It’s pretty natural, and during the first week of the Easter holidays, the last thing that a lot of people are thinking about is cracking on (no egg pun intended. Really, we mean it-) with their to-read pile.
However in 2022, we are unfortunately still dealing with the aftereffects of a global pandemic that has had a powerful impact on reading all over the world. Extended time home learning and learning under large amounts of stress has meant that many children’s reading age has actually slipped, and that for a fair amount of individuals, progress has not been made during the expected timeframes for developing reading skills. This can be a problem, especially when we consider the impact that literacy has on our daily lives – not only does it open the door to further education and achieving the results that we need to succeed, it also makes up a huge part of how we communicate on a daily basis and can even have an impact on the quality of our later life.
Whilst taking a break is important- and it is important, especially with time in school set to increase in the UK and children and young people’s stress levels soaring skyward in the wake of the pandemic- how to keep kids reading whilst they spend two weeks out of school might be on many parental minds. Consistent reading is one of the best ways to develop reading skills and expand vocabulary, and it’s a great hobby for children to pick up.
But it’s not easy: reading errs fairly close to the idea of schoolwork for a lot of children, and it’s the last thing they might want hovering on the horizon of their Easter break. If they haven’t developed a strong love for reading- and whilst it’s unfortunate, many children don’t- as a hobby and part of their personal lives, they might feel like they’re being penalised, or receiving additional homework if you try to introduce reading into their time away from the classroom. Even dedicated readers might be feeling the strain after the past few terms, and might prefer to hang out with friends, paint and draw, or play video games; and it’s difficult to incentivise reading at home when there are so many other ways to spend the time very close at hand.
But there are ways to make reading a part of Easter recreation in a fashion where it doesn’t necessarily feel like school work. Read on for some of our tips on creating a reading environment in your home that could encourage children to focus on the written word, and bolster their reading skills in a way that doesn’t take away from the fun of the Easter holiday.
🐰 Keep it Topical. Planning a day trip to a castle or a farm, or spending the Easter break on vacation at the beach or at camp? Look for book titles that reflect what children are seeing, doing, and becoming interested in in the real world and it could help them to maintain interest and focus in their reading. Reading feels like less of a chore where interest is being stoked, and especially with young readers, it can be a fun and exciting way of preparing for a trip.
🐰 Try having a screen-free night every week. This one might be tricky when we consider just how many of our recreation activities and communications take place using a screen, but many people do find that it’s worth the effort. You can help break the feeling of monotony that might descend when we try to live screen-free for a few hours by arranging activities that bring your household together, and group reading- whether that’s all spending time on reading individually or reading one thing together- can be added to activities like games, jigsaws and quizzes to keep it going.
And don’t forget, screen-free fun means parents, too – no sneakily WhatsApping your best friend a picture of your treat day takeaway or finding out the name of that actor who was in that thing you were talking about. Try to set an example, and remember that taking a break from the screen once in a while has been linked with a lot of positive benefits for stress levels and mental health for adults too.
🐰 Track progress and use challenges. Adding a tracking or a challenge element to a reading initiative in your home is a great way of keeping reading at the forefront of kids’ minds this easter. Try sticker charts, with stickers for every book read, or even set a challenge for a number of books or an amount of time spent reading throughout the period. Try not to encourage competition, especially if you’re in a multi-child household, as this can leave younger, slower or less developed readers feeling disheartened – instead, reward with whole-group activities and structure it as all children working together towards a target. And make sure that there are rewards for hitting their targets, such as days out, gifts or even just quality family time spent somewhere that they enjoy being.
🐰 Take a trip to the library or the bookstore. Sometimes, even though they’re confident and developing readers, children can get bored of the books they’ve got on offer in their home and this can lead to boredom when it comes to the idea of reading. Stimulation is one of the key mechanisms for keeping attention on reading, and books that are outside of an interest range or feel ‘too young’ for a developing reader might be all it takes to put them off the idea of reading a book. There isn’t much worse than having to read something you’ve read eight times before, especially if it isn’t one of your particular favourites, and libraries in particular can provide access to a world of books for sometimes as little as your transport costs.
🐰 And remember- reading doesn’t look like one thing any more. Maybe back when our parents and grandparents were growing up, reading looked like settling down a chunky, well-loved hardback copy of Just William, The Magical Faraway Tree or Watership Down (if the latter happened to you, we’re so, so sorry that we chose these bullet points). But these days, reading is everywhere – and although we’re talking pretty big for people who have just suggested a screen-free evening to spark some reading magic, screen-based activities can actually be one of the best ways to get kids reading.
Not every video game is full of reading, but many are – look for games with extended, character-based narratives and questlines to bolster in-game reading, and encourage kids to play with subtitles on for ambient dialogue and voiced sections. And turn on the subtitles when they’re watching TV, too- as the UK campaign Turn on the Subtitles claims, making this small change can actually double the chances of a child becoming a strong and confident reader. Even- dare we say it- scrolling through social media is reading, especially on platforms like twitter and LinkedIn (fine, we don’t know many school-age children with a LinkedIn, but you never know) where words tend to take precedence over video and images.
An effort towards global reading recovery is in full swing, and whilst there may be some mountains to climb when it comes to getting each and every child up to where they should be, it’s important to remember that fostering a love of reading outside of the classroom is a great way of keeping those skills developing, confidence climbing and vocabularies increasing. And if you're looking for more ways to make Spring 2022 the one where you get back to books and focus on making reading accessible for everybody, don't forget to check out our DEAR for Dyslexia Campaign!