Why parents not reading to their children
[My Australasia][Sci Medical & Health]
Almost half of Australian parents don't read to their children on a daily basis and two-thirds say they lack the time to read to them as much as they'd like.
The figures, described as "disturbing" by children's author and literacy expert Mem Fox, are included in a Newspoll survey commissioned by the not-for-profit Dymocks Literacy Foundation.
A total of 47 per cent of the respondents did not read to their children on a daily basis, the survey found.
In the one to four-year age group - for whom daily reading is the recommended standard - 39 per cent of parents said they did not read to their children each day.
The foundation says all children aged between one and five must be read to for a minimum of 10 minutes per day.
But nearly one in three parents said they read less than this, despite almost all of them acknowledging its importance to their children's learning.
Sixty-three per cent of parents told the survey they did not have enough time to read more often to their children, while 53 per cent said they would like to spend more time doing so.
Ms Fox said the results were disturbing "given that the ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) reports Australians on average watch two hours of television a day".
"The effects of illiteracy are devastating and lifelong, including lower success at school, higher rates of unemployment and welfare dependence," she said.
"Reading to your child will be an investment in their future."
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Almost half of Australian parents don't read to their children on a daily basis and two-thirds say they lack the time to read to them as much as they'd like.
The figures, described as "disturbing" by children's author and literacy expert Mem Fox, are included in a Newspoll survey commissioned by the not-for-profit Dymocks Literacy Foundation.
A total of 47 per cent of the respondents did not read to their children on a daily basis, the survey found.
In the one to four-year age group - for whom daily reading is the recommended standard - 39 per cent of parents said they did not read to their children each day.
The foundation says all children aged between one and five must be read to for a minimum of 10 minutes per day.
But nearly one in three parents said they read less than this, despite almost all of them acknowledging its importance to their children's learning.
Sixty-three per cent of parents told the survey they did not have enough time to read more often to their children, while 53 per cent said they would like to spend more time doing so.
Ms Fox said the results were disturbing "given that the ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) reports Australians on average watch two hours of television a day".
"The effects of illiteracy are devastating and lifelong, including lower success at school, higher rates of unemployment and welfare dependence," she said.
"Reading to your child will be an investment in their future."
Unrelated Pictures:
posted by 9T9 at
4:57 pm
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