`Parents failing to work with their children to help them develop reading skills is a major problem." Those were harsh words from the outgoing Minister for Education, Micheal Martin, at the recent launch of the National Reading Initiative. But before we all roll over and die of guilt, it is possible to look at the issue in a slightly different, more positive way: research does show that where parents spend even a few minutes a day reading with their children, there is a highly beneficial effect on their literacy skills. Not only can parents help their children develop excellent reading skills, they can also foster in them a long-term love of reading which, according to Martin, will help children "develop their vocabulary and imagination".
In recognition of the important role parents play, and the pleasure to be had reading with children, the Department of Education and Science is funding the National Reading Initiative, which, among other things, will devise and implement a number of support systems for parents. Bernadette McHugh, the initiative's national co-ordinator, says: "Reading is very important for our future, it is important to us from a soci-economic perspective and it is important to us on a personal level," she says. "Far from the advent of the computer meaning less and less need for literacy skills, we are now dealing with so much information we need to develop very good skills, particularly discriminatory skills - so we can decide what is and isn't important to us.
"But also, reading is fun. We are trying to encourage people to take up reading, or to get back into it again, because it is stimulating and enjoyable."
McHugh is a primary school teacher and a remedial teacher, on secondment from the Navan Education Centre. "This initiative is aimed at everybody," she stresses, "people who read a lot, people who can read but don't, people who can't read very well and would like to improve their skills and people who can't read at all. "We have two primary aims. First, to create an awareness among parents, policy makers, practitioners and the public of the value of reading; and second, to work with the organisations, from libraries to agencies fostering literacy skills, providing support on both a financial and a practical level."
FOR PARENTS, the initiative will be developing a range of resources. "We want to give parents strategies which will encourage their children to read," McHugh says. "For one thing, with all this minimalism and everything, books are less present in the home than they once were. The one consistent thing research shows is that access makes all the difference, so we would like to see books having a more prominent place in the home.
"From a very young age, children love being read to. When I say young, I mean a few weeks old. With babies, holding them close, showing them pictures and talking to them, is the first bit of reading. As they get older, you can use the many baby books around which have strong, simple drawings and talk about those. The older the baby, the more objects to discuss on the page." Most parents instinctively do this, says McHugh. The problem is that once our children learn to read, we tend to stop reading to them.
"Keep reading to them, no matter what age they are, so long as they enjoy it. And use the television as a support: get them the book their favourite programme is based on, or the book the film is based on, and read those with them or to them," she says.
Telling children stories about themselves when they were younger, or your life when you were a child, is captivating and promotes an affinity with the structure of stories. "We can use all sorts of everyday opportunities to encourage a love of reading - telling stories in the car or on the bus, even inventing stories about people we see in the supermarket. And if parents set aside just 10 minutes a day to read with their children, it can make a huge difference," McHugh says. But often parents worry because all their children want to read is comics.
"They are practising their reading skills, which is what counts," assures McHugh. "It doesn't have to be high-brow literature. A snippet of interesting news from the newspaper or something in the sports section is perfect. Things they are interested in, really."
The project is still in its infancy, but there are many exciting possibilities. "We would like to see parents leave maternity hospital with book-reading packs, for example," McHugh says. "We would also like to develop starter packs for the parents of pre-school children, which would facilitate parents with their own reading skills, as well as provide information on helping their children learn to read.
"The message is simple. Read to your children, and keep reading to them. It is a lovely way to bond, it is fun, and it will be of benefit to them all their lives."
