Reading for Pleasure

Managing Director, Education, Rebecca Durose-Croft talks to Literacy Consultant Sarah Loader, about reading enjoyment in children post-pandemic.

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Rebecca Durose-Croft 0:01

Hi, and welcome to Westchester words. I'm Rebecca Durose Croft content and services director at west Chester education services. We speak a lot about phonics and the importance of learning to read and what we as parents can do to support that at home. So it's important to think about reading enjoyment today, perhaps particularly post pandemic. Today, I'm talking with literacy consultants, Sarah Loader, about what might have changed since we went into and came out of lockdown in terms of children's reading enjoyment. Thanks for joining me today, Sarah.

Sarah Loader 0:31

Thanks Rebecca.

Rebecca Durose-Croft 0:32

So what would you say has changed with regards to this aspect of reading?

Sarah Loader 0:36

I think probably quite a lot has shifted and that's certainly what the research has indicated. Uh , reading for pleasure has moved up the agenda and it's currently one of the highest priorities for teachers post pandemic, which is really interesting in itself.

Rebecca Durose-Croft 0:49

It is, you're right. So why do you think that is?

Sarah Loader 0:51

Well, I think with the pressure everyone was under at home during lockdown reading for pleasure was, was just one of the casualties. I think , um, that it's something that is actually pushed down the agenda quite a lot in favor of skill acquisition. So things like phonics, as you mentioned, but during the pandemic specifically , uh , I think the combination of homeschooling and those blurred boundaries between school and home and the lack of resources for lots of people resulted in a significant shift away from this activity for many children. I also think that because of the increased reliance on digital reading resources, particularly during the pandemic and now , um , we're out the other side, the notion of reading for pleasure has become a bit more challenging. It's not as yet something that many digital libraries have successfully tackled. And I think that's what lots of schools are wrestling with now.

Rebecca Durose-Croft 1:39

That's interesting, isn't it? So with that in mind, then how do we go about instilling a lifelong love of reading in children? What would you say your headline top tips or suggestions in terms of that?

Sarah Loader 1:49

Well, I think there are lots of ways that you can do it actually on a very simple, basic level. And it might sound obvious it's about making reading enjoyable, cozy, comfy, snuggling up with your child on the sofa or in bed in a den, or just making it feel relaxed and calm. Mm-hmm <affirmative> luxurious even, or indulgent. Yeah, we've spoken in the past about all the things that books and reading have to compete with nowadays. So be prepared to just put a bit of thought into it, make your child feel special, a bit spoiled to reinforce that this is a pleasurable activity. We're not in lockdown now, so perhaps we can allow those moments to feel more precious. Again, it's important to help children become more and more confident and assured about reading. And often that's about rereading, which might be a bit boring for us as parents, but it's great for them. It reinforces their learning and significantly, it really helps with their confidence giving your child the power to choose their own books with no conditions is a really important element of reading for pleasure because not only does that empower the child, but it respects and it validates their reading instincts and it gives you both the best chance of enjoying the experience. If you want to develop it a bit, you can always talk to your child about why they've chosen specific books and what they like about them, so that they begin to understand their own reading preferences, which is really useful. I think understanding what your child likes generally in terms of reading is really important and revisiting those favorite books often, because that just helps you to create really happy reading memories and makes the activity safe and comforting and pleasant. Helping children to find friends in books, so to speak will help stand them in really good stead as they develop as independent readers.

Rebecca Durose-Croft 3:29

And that's such a nice idea, but it's one thing isn't it to read with children to listen to them read and to read to them. But how do you go about getting to really enjoy a book to be properly engaged and excited by it?

Sarah Loader 3:41

Yeah, that's a really good question. And so many of us will have sat with a child reading a book they're completely disengaged with it, it's demoralizing to say the least. And actually not forcing a book on a child is a fairly good place to start if they're not enjoying it. I mean, not because of the word reading, not because of their competence, but because of their interest. I think it's okay to find an alternative, obviously you'll know, as a parent, whether they're just procrastinating from a task, they find difficult or challenging, or whether they're genuinely disinterested in the content , but some books, are dull. So don't labor on with something that no one is enjoying. And the second point I'd say is that it's really useful to talk about what you're reading, pause, ask questions, actively try to engage them in the content, worry less about flying through the pages and more about what children are getting out of each page.

Rebecca Durose-Croft 4:33

That's such a good point, isn't it? Um, on a personal note, as a , as a mom of a four year old , who's just being introduced to that world of phonics, how do you feel that phonics fits into reading for pleasure given that it's the methodology most children are practicing at school now,? Does it have a place in this discussion, do you think?

Sarah Loader 4:49

Yeah, absolutely. Phonics is about learning the skill of how to decode text, which is complicated and hard, but those basic word reading skills are fundamental, completely critical to reading success. It is widely accepted as the most effective pedagogy for learning to read and the quickest, most efficient route to fluency. And it's really important to take on board that comprehension is based on fluency and engagement is based on comprehension. So the relationship between cognition and motivation, proficiency and engagement is, is tangled and, and really entrenched. They're very wrapped up in each other. So although it's a bit dry and quite technical, phonics does on the whole work and support children to become fluent from where they can start to understand what they're reading and if it's the right content, really engage with it and enjoy it. Mm-hmm

Rebecca Durose-Croft 5:40

<affirmative> . So would you say that not being fluent is a barrier for reading for pleasure then?

Sarah Loader 5:44

In simple terms? Yes. I , I think it is. There's an expectation of accuracy when children read independently. So without any support, I think it's about 98%. So being able to accurately decode almost every single word they come across and that below that, the level of fluency is not sufficient for enough, meaning to be made from the content. The accuracy expectation drops a little when children are reading with guidance with a teacher or a parent, but not by as much as you'd think. Um, it's just down to about 95%. So that gives an idea of how fluent children need to be in order to understand the material they're reading and without understanding, of course, there's very limited engagement. And then, you know, very little enjoyment. If you've ever experienced reading in a foreign language, it's really hard to stay motivated when you're struggling over every other word, progress is so slow and you miss so much that it's, it's very hard to keep a hold of and make sense of any of the content. Personally, I find it pretty demotivating and depressing, so it's worth reminding yourself of that feeling when your child is learning to decode English.

Rebecca Durose-Croft 6:48

Yeah. That's such a good point. It's so easy for us to forget that they don't read the way we read isn't it? Mm ,

Sarah Loader 6:53

Absolutely.

Rebecca Durose-Croft 6:54

So what do you think we can do to support that?

Sarah Loader 6:56

Well, the fact is that phonics, you know, it does need to be persevered with and ultimately is likely to be successful, so you are right to want to support it at home. There's lots of ways you can do that in terms of helping children to become familiar with the sounds, practicing, blending, learning the tricky words and reading decodable readers as often as possible. So they get that exposure. Um, the element of applying the skills is really important. So children constantly see the purpose of phonics and put it into practice, but I do think it's important to keep up other reading practices alongside that approach at home as well. So, you know, playing games to do with books, reading aloud, creating cozy, relaxed reading opportunities, so that during the early stage, when decoding is challenging for children, they can experience some of the more pleasurable sides to reading at the same time. But you know, all in all, there's no getting away from phonics. It plays a pretty crucial role in reading for pleasure.

Rebecca Durose-Croft 7:49

Okay. So in your opinion, then decodable readers can be pleasurable?

Sarah Loader 7:52

Well, there is a huge range now, and it's an evolving area of literacy with more and more reading schemes, each producing more and more books every year, while once decodable readers were only in fiction. That's not the case anymore. Thank goodness. And there's really high quality nonfiction as well as poetry collections and drama and graphic novels and fairytale re fairy tale retellings. So as we've already spoken about a little bit, let them find the books that they're gonna get the most pleasure from. That's a no brainer for a start. Also, um , and crucially, although learning to decode is hard. Once the skills are embedded, it's enormously rewarding. I've sat with lots of children who are learning to read both professionally and with my own children and seeing the joy that they get from being able to master a word, Quicken their reading pace, tackle long unfamiliar words, It's incredible. It really does feel like seeing a light switching on in a child's mind and it just makes anything and everything accessible and possible for them. It's genuinely exciting to see. I think also it's worth touching here on the role of reading schemes and book banding a bit. Just in the sense that that system supports the accuracy guidelines that we, that we mentioned earlier. And it means that no charge should be reading a book at the wrong level, either too easy or too hard. It shouldn't be boring and it shouldn't be demotivating. It should be exactly what they're capable of, stretching them to the right extent, whatever the content or the genre have a conversation about what your child is reading. That's really important. The notion doesn't just apply to really visual, engaging picture books, any book, you know, any book that they're bringing home in their book bag can be made interesting by the sort of questions you ask about it.

Rebecca Durose-Croft 9:39

Mm-hmm <affirmative> absolutely. So just on the book bands, then what do parents need to know about them?

Sarah Loader 9:43

Well, I think the most important thing is to understand the structure. So at key stage one, there are around 14 levels. And the idea is that the progress is really granular and seamless. Children should hardly notice the distinction between each level, which means that they're able to constantly increase the challenge, but ever so slightly. So it never feels like a big step or like , like they're going backwards in terms of their fluency. They're constantly moving forwards. In terms of decodable books, the sounds and tricky words featured are tied in with the program used at school. So they're only reading what they've been taught and quite literally applying those skills to a, if you like a real reading experience. Obviously because the books are designed around the phonic learning, they can feel a bit stiff or unnatural in terms of the story itself, because in the most part, the phonic compatibility has to trump the narrative. So it's important in terms of developing a love of reading to supplement them with other sorts of books. And of course, recognize that sometimes those books would need to be read to children. Though having said that actually, if you know what stage your child is at in their phonic learning, you can still get them to practice specific sounds and words and tricky words as you come across them in your reading. So they get that little bit of application work in within a story that they might get more pleasure from. Um, I know from my own experience, when my eldest was starting out with phonics, I used to get him to read all the tricky words, which were at his level. So initially that was just the, and he, and she in the books, I was reading to him because these just have to be learnt by sight . So the more you see them in context, the better. But there are lots of little things that you can do that all help with phonic learning while creating positive, enjoyable reading experiences. So just trying to mix it up, create variety, read different things in different ways, trying not to get too stuck in a rigid routine that will all keep it interesting and engaging.

Rebecca Durose-Croft 11:34

That's such a good point, Sarah. Okay. Before we go, last question, then I'd like to revisit that idea of how digital reading resources impact reading for pleasure, which we touched on at the beginning.

Sarah Loader 11:44

Yes, of course. I think there was a significant change in how reading resources were accessed, shared and used during lockdown. And those trends are unlikely to be reversed. So as digital libraries increase in popularity and functionality, we need to be asking where reading for pleasure fits in. If it's on this platform, then brilliant, what an exciting opportunity, the content and functionality possibilities are expansive and reading for pleasure. Shouldn't be excluded from the digital experience far from it, but let's really think about how that platform can be exploited to achieve the best experience. And having said all that, I don't think we should disregard the power of the physical book. One doesn't need to be at the expense of the other. We're at a moment in time when we could see really exciting innovation. So let's embrace it.

Rebecca Durose-Croft 12:30

I couldn't agree more, Sarah , thank you so much. That was a really interesting discussion.

Sarah Loader 12:34

Thank you very much, Rebecca.

Rebecca Durose-Croft 12:36

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