I know that this time of year parents are rushing around packing pencil cases, backpacks and lunchboxes getting their kids ready for the first days of the school year (make sure you keep your receipts to claim the Education Tax Refund). But I hope that the mums and dads out there can take a minute to participate in this blog on the important issue of improving children's literacy.
When launching Jasper and Abby and the Great Australia Day Kerfuffle I was surprised by the attitude of some people that children's books were not important or that children's literature was not serious. Let me say that teaching kids to read is deadly serious. That's why I wanted to run this blog to talk, seriously, with parents about how we can best help kids to read by taking action at home and by giving us your thoughts on what else the Government could be doing.
The Government has been doing a lot to support parents, teachers and schools to improve literacy in Australia:
- We have put some $540 million in over four years on the Smarter Schools national partnership on literacy and numeracy with focus on key areas including improving how we teach literacy and numeracy, better identifying those 'at risk' kids who need help to improve their reading and writing and encouraging our best principals and teachers to support their colleagues.
- We know that schools are great innovators and teachers and principals often have the best ideas about what will work for their students. That's why we have invested $41 million for 30 Literacy and Numeracy Pilot Initiatives across the country so we can gather an evidence base of what works and share it with other schools.
- For the first time we can compare how all children in Australia are performing in the basics, this allows teachers and parents to direct support to students that need it most using data collected from the National Assessment Program - Literacy and Numeracy tests. It also means schools that aren't meeting the minimum standards get the support they need to improve.
- Developing a National Curriculum so that every kid from every state or territory has the essential skills they need. The first phase comprising English, Mathematics, Science and History will be implemented from 2011.
This is only half the story - we know that what happens at school and in the formal education system is important, but what parents do at home is just as valuable. Last week Julia launched the My School website - to give parents the information they need to improve the education of their kids. We are also investing in home tutoring, books and other resources in partnership with the Brotherhood of St Laurence for children between three and five years old in disadvantaged communities.
So that's a bit about what we are doing, but I am interested in what are people doing at home, how you involve young ones in everyday reading tasks and how do you find the time?
Our kids are now grown up but Thérèse has been active as the patron of the Indigenous Literacy Project which aims to combat the crisis of illiteracy in remote indigenous communities.
There are also some great local projects being run by parents who are passionate about getting kids to read. At the Community Cabinet in South Australia a few weeks ago I met with parents who run the Little Big Book Club. They help parents choose age appropriate books and in some cases even provide free book packs for parents to read with their kids.
It can be really hard to find the time to read to your kids every night. But even if you set a goal of a couple of times a week then that is a great start.
I know there are lots of great ideas out there - over to you.
Kevin's response to your comments
Thanks everyone for your great comments in this discussion.
It probably won't come as much of a surprise that, like Morris, the school library was also a big part of my education. I agree that the role librarians and teachers play in helping kids find the right books and learn to love books is vital.
Julia already has 3,061 new school libraries going up as part of the Building the Education Revolution.
And today Julia and I visited Amaroo School in Canberra to launch Australia's first National Curriculum for consultation. The Australian Curriculum has a strong focus on the basics, particularly rigorous literacy and numeracy learning.
It's been developed by curriculum experts with assistance from teachers and subject matter experts - and now we are releasing it for public comment prior to introduction into schools next year.
I have no doubt that the content will - and should - spark some fierce debate and feedback.
The comments from parents, teachers and librarians through this blog discussion have certainly stressed the responsibility which lies with all of us to encourage the love of reading in our young ones.
It has been great to hear that some parents are benefiting from Let's Read developed by the Centre for Community Child Health and other local programs, including in SA and WA.
Some really useful ideas that came through in the blog:
- Reading to your kids is a great, free, way to enjoy time together,
- Leave books all over the house - the kids will pick them up eventually,
- Be a role model - make sure that your kids see you enjoying books, and
- Get your kids involved in public library school holiday programs
And this comment from one of the posts says it all: "My eldest daughter's only complaint after Christmas was that Santa didn't give her a book."He must know I love to read".
It struck me after reading some of the comments just how important books are to kids. We do a lot to celebrate Australian authors who write for adults but I realised that there is room to celebrate and encourage authors who focus on providing exciting stories for young children and teenagers.
With this in mind I am pleased to let you know we have decided to create two new categories in the Prime Minister's Literary Awards - for children's and young adult fiction - to give due recognition to this important part of our literary landscape.
Thanks again for your contributions to this debate, I have really enjoyed reading them and following the discussion. We're going to keep working on how we can actively support parents, teachers and librarians to help our young ones learn to love reading - and keep reading to your kids!
Guest blogger
Morris Gleitzman says...
Good on you, Kevin. All of us who spend our lives encouraging kids to read appreciate your efforts on this. And it's timely too. The previous PM preferred to encourage kids with their maths (or as he called it, cricket), so it's wonderful to have you encouraging them to read.
As an author, I'd like to raise a particular aspect of this important goal that urgently needs a champion.
There are precious creatures among us who are facing extinction, or at least amputation. They're called school librarians.
I visit a lot of schools, and for years now I've been bumping into weary over-worked individuals who introduce themselves as 'point six of a librarian' or 'half a librarian' or, in particularly tragic cases, 'point two of a librarian'.
This isn't the result of over-zealous self-assessment, nor am I having conversations with disembodied heads on library trollies. It's the result of a system that burdens school librarians with teaching duties. That asks them to wear two hats at once to the detriment of both roles. A system that doesn't believe school libraries are important enough to have full-time librarians.
I think this is tragic and silly. I hope you agree, Kevin, because it would be wonderful if you could do something about it.
OK, I am biased. My school library was my third parent. But libraries don't only nourish future children's authors. Scratch the surface of any happy fulfilled literate adult Aussie and chances are you'll find happy and grateful memories of a childhood library.
These days not every school has a compromised librarian, of course. Some schools don't have a professional librarian at all, not even a tiny fraction of one. Their libraries, such as they are, function thanks to the efforts of volunteer parents. These efforts are often superhuman. But the students in these schools can still get the message that reading isn't really that important.
I've visited over a thousand schools in my career, and I can usually spot the ones with a fully-functioning library just by meeting the students. They have a little more of those qualities we'd wish for all our kids. A confidence with words. A sense of unimagined possibilities and their access to them. A capacity for empathy. An assumption that problems can probably be solved. A taste for adventure. The ability to feel good about themselves without taking themselves too seriously.
Of course this is also the result of good teaching and good parenting. But libraries, those ever-evolving powerhouses of paper and pod, of Bruegel and Google, are an essential part of the process.
And full time professional school librarians are at the heart of it.
All three of my children love to read. I have made reading stories together part of their bedtime routine since they were babies.
I like to leave bedtime stories for something that the children have chosen themselves, so when the kids have school readers, they join me in the kitchen and read them to me while I prepare dinner.
We visit our local library and I let the children choose books that interest them. For my older son this is often adventure stories, my daughter loves all sorts of stories and my younger son is happy with any book that includes pictures of trains.
I have encouraged the children to take part in the NSW Premier's Reading Challenge each year and this is a great way to find new Australian authors. The older two have also taken part in the MS Readathon and have enjoyed being able to help others by reading.
As a book reviewer, I love being able to promote Australian authors and books. Having a constant supply of interesting books at home has been the best way that I have found to keep my children interested in reading.
Dear Kevin,
It's exciting seeing you give reading such high profile.
Last night, on my evening walk, I saw a loving encounter between a toddler and her Mum sitting together on the verandah enjoying the end of the day with a book.
The toddler was engrossed in the book and was learning about how books work, expanding her oral vocab and have a lovely cuddle with her Mum. It was uplifting to witness just for a few seconds. The book being read was from the Better Beginnings program in WA that gives books to babies.
A friend of mine has a one year old granddaughter that lives interstate. Grandma and granddaughter interact via Skype with Grandma reading such classics as Where is the Green Sheep and The Very Hungry Caterpillar. A two generations interacting in a very high tech way.
Looking forward to some exciting ideas being generated.
I am passionate about getting my daughter to read - she is 2 and 4 months and is already starting to read. We have been reading to her every night before bed since she was born - takes about 10 minutes and is worth every one of them. We now have invested in an entire reading curriculum sourced from the UK because I was really disappointed in the ones available in our local library and she now has the confidence to read the first books in the series by herself.
Reading is the most important gift I think I can give my child - it opens up whole new worlds of imagination and information. People think I am mad for teaching her to read so young but we make it fun - we only do about 5 minutes a day and we spend the whole time laughing and cheering when she gets words right - she thinks it is a game and I am just loving the experience!
I don't think that it is the school's job to teach my child to read - it is mine and if you get some great books it can be a lot of fun as well!
Mem Fox/Julia Donaldson/Pamela Allen/Jez Alborough are great places to start if you just don't know what to buy or borrow from the library.
My children love to read. My eldest daughter's only complaint after Christmas was that Santa didn't give her a book. "He must know I love to read" she commented.
Since birth I have taken all my children to the library regularly. We borrow many many books and always have about 50 out on loan. The children choose some but I do as well as there are so many great children's books these days that I want to experience that for myself also.
We give the children books as gifts for birthdays and encourage familiy members to do so also. We buy books at second hand stores and garage sales.
I always read two books to each child before they have a sleep - whether it be day or night time naps. Yes we are short on time but cuddling up to read a book together takes priority for me. I now have intelligent children with a passion for books, who know they have something they can do for themselves when they are tired, need time to themselves or simply want to be taken away to another land. Enid Blyton's books of the Magic Faraway Tree are still favourites in our home.
Our house is filled with books which are easily accessible by the children and they often enter their rooms to find books to share.
Reading is just so important and a personal passion so I also share favourite reads on my blog for readers to learn from and be inspired by. This is regularly changing.
Helping children find the fun and games with the stories told in symbols on the page is the key. They can discover that symbols and stories are connected from birth and easily at 2 yrs they can be reading to themselves, of a fashion.
I couldn't agree more, literacy is so critical. What I didn't see, and what remains the problem, is that money doesn't solve the problem. The mentality of the parents and the mentality of the community has to change away from reliance on schools and programs and in the directon of taking the bull by the horns and not waiting around for someone else to dream up the perfect program.
In my family, we get our children's books second hand, or from the library and we sit down with the kids. It does not cost anything. This is why I don't think availabilty of resources or programs is the problem, it lies in the motivation of the parents. You asked how we find the time? My mentality is, I want my kids to fly as high or higher than me, and I'm going to do what I can to raise them right. Maybe each person's definition of raising kids right is different, but literacy should be on every parent's mind, shouldn't it?
Spending money is of course necessary and beneficial, but I think too often the government gets caught up in the money game, and not enough in the people game. If the parents won't do it, maybe you'd be better off paying story tellers to go around each home and have reading time with the kids?
It's fantastic to see a PM taking the time to actively support the education of our future. I agree that reading with our children supports their progress and develops a love of books.
We should be publicising the benefits of reading to children as much as we do child safety and healthy eating/drinking for expecting mums. The more people get this message, the more likely they are to take the time to read to their children.
Well done!
Reading to children is such an important thing to do. lots of books and also the same book over and over again. Congratulations on raising the profile and importance of reading.
A typical day for us includes time with my toddler on the couch, I read to her and then she 'reads' to me. This always includes a cuddle and plenty of looking at the picture time, discussing whatever we are looking at. My older kids (8 and 10) have a silent reading time each day, plus my younger boy reads a page of his book out loud to me (so I can keep an eye on his progress). I assign a book a month to my oldest boy, and he completes both an oral and written report. He reads much more than this in his free time, plenty of adventure series etc. The one a month books are chosen to inspire and inform, and are slightly above his reading level. We also have a word a week that they look up and write down to aid in increasing their vocabulary. Sounds daunting when written down, but as homeschoolers we make the time work for us.
Reading, especially for my younger son took quite a while. One thing I found that worked for him was to 'strew' books that I thought might catch his imagination around the house. Next to the couch, near his bed, perhaps in the car, and let him discover them for himself.
As to the social side of encouraging reading, I think maybe we need to encourage parents to fall in love with reading so they feel that reading is important again, or perhaps for the first time. Kids who don't see their parent/s read may not catch the reading bug quite as easily. Thankyou for your time.
A colleague showed me some photos taken in a remote community school where parents had come in to participate in a workshop with their children and the children's younger siblings> A father had obviously come from work; he was dressed in work shorts, fluoro vest and work boots and was reading to his beautiful baby daughter - they were both, so obviously, enjoying the book. Another photo showed a group of parents intently reading some books - an impromptu situation; what wonderful role models these parents are!
The ABC has a lovely 'filler' which shows two children reading a book about ants. It makes me smile every time I see it.
Any initiative which encourages family interactions around books is invaluable.
Prime Minister - One of the most important connections with both numeracy and literacy is neither reading nor studying maths - but learning to play and read MUSIC.
Early musical training helps develop brain areas involved in language and reasoning. Brain development continues for many years after birth. Recent studies have clearly indicated that musical training physically develops the part of the left side of the brain known to be involved with processing language, and can actually wire the brain's circuits in specific ways. Linking familiar songs to new information can also help imprint information on young minds. We can all remember the alphabet song and the chant of the times tables!
There is also a causal link between music and spatial intelligence (the ability to perceive the world accurately and to form mental pictures of things). This kind of intelligence, by which one can visualise various elements that should go together, is critical to the sort of thinking necessary for everything from solving advanced mathematics problems to being able to pack a book-bag with everything that will be needed for the day.
Students of the arts learn to think creatively and to solve problems by imagining various solutions, rejecting outdated rules and assumptions. Questions about the arts do not have only one right answer. Recent studies show that students who study music and the arts are more successful on standardised tests. They also achieve higher grades in high school.
Music is a wonderful catalyst for this in a children's education.
We should be like the UK, Finland and Venezuela who all recognise the huge benefits associated with music education - and have established and funded large-scale music education programs.
I urge your Government to consider the above when funding education - literacy and numeracy and consider music literacy and instrument tuition as a key component in the development of our children's education system.