More than a quarter of children wish their parents read with them more often.
Reading together is popular with adults too, with 84% of parents and carers also saying that they enjoy reading with their kids.
But it can be a struggle, and 59% of parents wish they read more with their children.
This comes from new research published by Oxford University Press (OUP).
Distractions
According to the study, 43% of parents said it’s difficult to get their child to concentrate while reading together.
Other challenges include avoiding distractions from screens and gadgets, not having enough time in the day or being able to establish a regular reading routine.
Parents who read regularly themselves report that their children are also likely to be regular readers, with 73% agreeing that children seeing them reading was a powerful motivation to read as well.
Regular readers
Some 80% of parents and carers said they read with their child at least 2-3 times per week, but 1 in 4 weren’t sure how often they should be reading with children.
Teachers understand that reading at home with adults is important for children to become regular readers, and 80% said they would like them to be reading together at least 4 to 5 days per week.
Regular, shorter reading sessions can have a positive impact and most teachers’ preference was for parents to read with their children for at least 5-10 minutes per day.
Positive impact
The research polled 2,000 parents with children aged 3-11, more than 1,000 children who took part via a survey, and over 300 primary school teachers all in the UK.
Key findings also reveal that 86% of parents believe reading will have a positive impact on their child’s academic success later in life.
Another 80% believe that reading to their child improves the child’s wellbeing and mental health.
Raise a reader
The research is unveiled as part of the launch of OUP’s Raise a Reader initiative: a three-year national campaign to help provide children and young people with the tools and opportunities to become lifelong readers in the wake of the pandemic.
Helen Freeman, Director of Oxford Children’s and Raise a Reader Project Director, said: "The research is especially timely in the wake of the pandemic, which exacerbated the learning gap particularly in children from low socioeconomic status families.
"We know from our previous OUP Word Gap research that children with poor vocabulary skills at age five are four times more likely to have reading difficulties in adulthood, twice as likely to be unemployed when they reach adulthood, and three times more likely to have mental health problems.
Lifelong readers
"Therefore, it’s more important than ever we ensure every child and young person has the tools and opportunities to become lifelong readers.
"As our previous research shows: creating a love of reading at home, an activity that can be enjoyed by parents and children alike, will be a fundamental and powerful tool to help close the learning gap opened up by the pandemic."
Despite the challenges, the survey showed that parents appreciated the far-reaching and long-term benefits of reading at home with their children:
- 97% considered it important for their children to be confident readers
- 85% agreed that ‘reading helps my child do better at school’
- More than 7 in 10 believe that being read to helps their child to go to sleep better, builds empathy and helps them to form friendships.
Creative minds
Children also recognise the broader benefits of reading.
Those questioned identified a broad range of aspects that they enjoyed about reading, with comments such as:
- “it teaches me how to read the world around me”
- “it can help me see how other people see the world”
- “it helps me to have a more creative mind”
- “expanding vocabulary”.