Children not getting enough reading material from schools

Feb. 27, 2014 - PRLog -- Surrey, UK – 27 February 2014 Research carried out this week has shown that there is inconsistency across the UK in the frequency with which children’s reading books are being changed in schools.

Reading Chest carried out the survey amongst its members, who are all parents of primary aged children, to find out whether children were being given enough books to facilitate the ten minutes of reading per day* which is recommended in order to boost children’s educational attainment.

The results of a survey, in which over 400 families took part, showed that 57% of children are having their reading books changed twice a week or less.   In addition, the survey showed that 35% of children only had their reading books changed once a week or less.

Reading Chest’s founder and former primary school teacher Liz Walker said, “As we approach World Book Day 2014, we all know the importance of reading at home with our children daily in order to help develop their reading skills.  However, our research has shown that in the majority of cases, parents don’t have easy access to either the quantity or variety of books needed to reach that goal and have to look for other sources of books to supplement those lent out by schools. The worry is that if parents are unable to provide the necessary reading support at home, then children’s reading ability will not grow at the expected rate to reach national targets.”

In 2010, Walker founded Reading Chest, the UK’s only through-the-post book rental service for reading scheme books aimed at children aged 4 to 9.  Aware of the discrepancies at school level, she wanted to provide an easy solution for parents who wanted to do more to help their children at home.  Reading Chest provides a quick and efficient service, which is simpler and more cost-effective than buying endless supplies of reading books.

For a monthly fee, children receive regular deliveries of books at their own book band level from Reading Chest’s extensive selection of reading schemes including Oxford Reading Tree, Project X, Rigby Star and Collins Big Cat.  These include both fiction and non-fiction titles.

Each delivery comes complete with a pre-paid return envelope, making it easy for even the busiest of parents to provide their children with some great choices for their daily dose of reading. Whether they are active or reluctant readers, children won’t be able to resist opening their own regular postal delivery of books.

Monthly membership starts from £9.95 and all new members will receive a book bag, a bookmark, a reward chart and stickers to encourage their reading.  Certificates are also available to download from the Reading Chest website and budding literary critics can see their own book reviews published online.

For more information about Reading Chest please visit the website at www.readingchest.co.uk.