Goodnight to the bedtime story: The reason fewer parents are reading aloud to their children
So when her daughter Sadie, who will turn two in August, was born, she made a point of instilling a similar love of books.
'After bath time, we read stories to her. It's a habit we really enjoy and that she really enjoys, so much so that everyone says she's going to be a bit of a bookworm like me,' says the 34-year-old PR director from Melbourne.
'It's really helped a lot with her language development. You can have almost conversations with her … she knows all her animals, she's learning colours at the moment. She knows her ABCs already.'
Bedtime reading at an all-time low
New research from HarperCollins UK, however, has found the number of parents reading aloud to children is at an all-time low.
Fewer than half of parents of children under 13 said reading aloud to children was 'fun for me', while fewer than half of 0- to 4-year-olds are read to frequently.
New Australian data from ABC Reading Eggs also found 30 per cent of NSW parents and 22 per cent of Victorian parents admit they're too busy to fit reading into their daily routine with their child, while more than half of parents say the greatest challenge when helping their child learn to read is the child getting distracted.
Robyn Cox, professor of literacy and education at The University of Tasmania, thinks this decline comes down to several factors, including greater financial pressures faced by young parents today and the increasing prevalence of screens.
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Nicola Trotman grew up as an avid bookworm, often reading under the duvet by torchlight. So when her daughter Sadie, who will turn two in August, was born, she made a point of instilling a similar love of books. 'After bath time, we read stories to her. It's a habit we really enjoy and that she really enjoys, so much so that everyone says she's going to be a bit of a bookworm like me,' says the 34-year-old PR director from Melbourne. 'It's really helped a lot with her language development. You can have almost conversations with her … she knows all her animals, she's learning colours at the moment. She knows her ABCs already.' Bedtime reading at an all-time low New research from HarperCollins UK, however, has found the number of parents reading aloud to children is at an all-time low. Fewer than half of parents of children under 13 said reading aloud to children was 'fun for me', while fewer than half of 0- to 4-year-olds are read to frequently. New Australian data from ABC Reading Eggs also found 30 per cent of NSW parents and 22 per cent of Victorian parents admit they're too busy to fit reading into their daily routine with their child, while more than half of parents say the greatest challenge when helping their child learn to read is the child getting distracted. Robyn Cox, professor of literacy and education at The University of Tasmania, thinks this decline comes down to several factors, including greater financial pressures faced by young parents today and the increasing prevalence of screens.
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