There’s a captivating power of a beautiful picture book. Children gaze at the pictures while listening to the story, absorbing the deeper layers of information they convey. Pictures can communicate so much more than words alone and most children learn to read visual images long before they learn to read the printed word. Picture books are also universal. They let…

“We know that teachers are under immense pressure to deliver results, and can find it challenging to make time within the curriculum for fostering reading for pleasure. But the social, emotional and cognitive benefits of reading for pleasure are unquestionable …” Teresa Cremin Professor of Education (Literacy), Open University These were Professor Teresa Cremin’s words when she expressed her worry…

“We have an obligation to read aloud to our children. To read them things they enjoy. To read to them stories we are already tired of. To do the voices, to make it interesting, and not to stop reading to them just because they learn to read to themselves”Author, Neil Gaiman So often, once children have learned to read independently,…

Hart and Risley’s landmark study found that each year, early years providers work with 3 year old children who may have heard 30 million fewer words spoken to them than their most word-rich peers. The children with this vocabulary advantage will be better prepared to access those words when they start school and ultimately they are able to pick up…

Teachers, not just in early years but all the way up to and including secondary school, are expressing concern for a stark and growing vocabulary deficit. The Word Gap has been widely used to typify the difference between children raised in language rich families where talk is everywhere and children who are not. Hart and Risley suggest this Word Gap…

The transformational impact that reading has on a child’s life is well documented. Recent research suggests that learning to read and reading for pleasure can influence a child’s academic success, vocabulary development, mental health, ability to empathise, accept other cultures and even life expectancy. However the data is interpreted, this makes the Department for Education’s report that 25% of children…

Reading aloud with fluency and expression, or prosody, is not a new concept in Primary education. But a closer examination of the reasons why we teach it, its features and relationship to other reading skills is needed to make sure we’re teaching prosody effectively. Fluency, prosody and comprehension Fluent and expressive reading (prosody!) is inextricably linked to comprehension. Why? Because…

People have been telling stories since the beginning of time. They challenge us, connect us, help us make sense of the world, and activate both our imagination and creativity. As a species, story may very well be our greatest invention. This is what makes story time so important to a child’s development. Reading stories aloud helps children fall in love…