It’s been a hard year for everyone, and sometimes it might feel like there is no good news in sight, but here’s something positive I recently read from the National Literacy Trust:
During lockdown, their research found that children were getting more enjoyment out of reading than before lockdown. You can read their findings here.
3 in 5 children and young people told them that during lockdown "reading makes them feel better.” They found that "Children’s enjoyment of reading has increased during lockdown (from 47.8% pre-lockdown to 55.9% post-lockdown), having reached a 15-year low before lockdown." This is brilliant news!
Having books in the home is essential during these times. If libraries and schools are closed, children need to have access to books in order to reap the many documented benefits that reading for pleasure can bring! Here at The Reading Network, we are in the process of collecting donations from people who have pre-loved children's books that they no longer need or that their kids have grown out of. We hope to be able to pass them on to other children who will love them again.
What do you think is behind this increase in reading for pleasure?
Perhaps it was just having the time at home to engage with a book, when there were no play dates and no birthday parties on the weekends, no after school sports or clubs. Maybe children who had to look at screens all day for school turned away from them in favour of a book.
I don’t know the answer, but it’s encouraging to think that a good thing can come from this scary and uncertain time. I hope children who may have been reluctant readers before have discovered a new passion that can open up new worlds to them for the rest of their lives.
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