The Importance of Reading

Reading is something that I have always been VERY passionate about with my kids. Reading opens the world to you. Reading stimulates your mind. Reading let’s you escape into fantasy worlds. “Reading” is everywhere.

If you want the world to be your oyster, then you HAVE to be able to read. And to enjoy reading makes the world an even richer place.

When my kids were born, I went overboard on the “book buying front”. I couldn’t resist a picture book or children’s novel, even if they were far too young for it. I wanted them to love reading as much as I do and I wanted them to “Get into” it as early as possible. Books were never frivolous in my eyes. The result: we have 100s of (kids) books. Which I think is wonderful … now we just need to make and effort to read them all regularly and not the same 3 all time.

But there is the point. Whether you have 3 books or a 100, you can still instill the love of reading in your children from an early ages.

Read to them.

Read with them.

Read your own books in front them.

Make reading exciting. And when it comes to learning to read at school, support them (however dreary or boring or frustrating it is to read the same early reader books with them over and over again).

I was late to start reading,  I somehow managed to get “overlooked” at primary school and I suffered for it throughout my school career. On the reading front, I was constantly playing catch up.

It was only in my late teens, that I properly discovered reading for myself and since then I devour books at a rate that makes it prohibitive for me to buy them. I borrow everywhere I can and read anything you give me (well, so long as it is fiction).

But I digress. The reason you get this massively long preamble, is because I am supporting the “Born to Read” campaign by Save The Children.

My kids and I are privileged. We are lucky that I get to stay at home with them and that I HAVE THE TIME and the ENERGY to help them learn to read. But there are many children in the our own countries, that do not have the additional support they need.

Save the Children are taking action by joining forces with the Beanstalk charity to try and give every child a fair chance because:

  • Many poor children in the UK today start school already behind their better-off peers – through no fault of their own.
  • Last year, 1 in 4 poor children left primary school without basic skills in reading and writing.
  • The years between 4 and 7 are a crucial opportunity for children who started behind to catch up. Reading is one of the keys to unlocking a child’s potential.
  • If they don’t get the help they need before they leave primary school, another generation of children will face lifelong penalties for being born poor. No child should be left behind.

What can you do to help? Become a Change Maker: Save the Children aims to recruit 20,000 ‘change makers’ over the next 4 years who will help us reach children in their first chapters of life, giving them a better chance of fulfilling their potential.

If you love reading, if you believe in reading and if you believe in the fact that every child deserves the same start in life, take action now and sign up!!

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