Encouraging your child to read may help their ability
The difference in abilities between girls' and boys' reading appears to be closing, according to a new report.
The annual report, ‘What Kids Are Reading 2012’, written by Professor Keith Topping and published by Renaissance Learning, included 1,237 schools and shows that although in some academic years girls are continuing to outperform boys, on balance across all years (1 – 11), the reading gender divide is closing.
The difference between boys’ and girls’ reading performance is widely acknowledged, but for the first time, we are seeing that girls are not always outperforming boys, with the report finding that girls are no longer choosing to read harder books than boys of the same age.
However, the reading preferences of girls and boys continue to be very different, with boys showing more interest than girls do in non-fiction, especially in the secondary years.
“Recognising and supporting these differences is vital to sustaining children’s interest as their reading progresses and they start to realise the pleasure that reading can provide both now and in later life.” Dirk Foch, Managing Director, Renaissance Learning.
Jonathan Douglas, Director of the National Literacy Trust, who forewords the report adds: “Reading for pleasure is again moving centre stage. Education policy since the 2010 election has focused on the mechanisms of learning to read, in particular the promotion of systematic synthetic phonics. Now politicians are increasingly identifying the importance of children’s reading which engages their hearts, minds and imaginations in a way in which nothing else can.”
In the report’s concluding points, amongst the key recommendations is the importance of sustaining a higher level of challenge in children’s reading, particularly as they transfer to secondary school, where the difficulty of books being read drops away, even for higher-ability readers.
Nick Gibbs MP, Minister for Schools, comments: “A solid foundation in reading is crucial to a child’s success and central to the Government's commitment to raising standards in literacy. I welcome Professor Keith Topping’s report on the reading habits of children in the UK, and I am pleased that so many children are regularly reading fiction.
“We know that more needs to be done to encourage children to read for pleasure. As the report shows, encouraging children to sustain a regular reading habit and to continue to read more difficult books is vital. Schools and parents both have an important part to play in introducing children to ever more challenging novels. I firmly believe that once children experience the rewards of reading a wide range of books they will go on to develop a lifelong love of reading.”
The report also examines the most popular children’s books, with authors Roald Dahl and J.K. Rowling continuing to be amongst the most read. Jeff Kinney (author of Diary of a Wimpy Kid) is also increasing in popularity amongst children included in the study.
Tagged in Parenting J.K. Rowling Roald Dahl