If you are a Foster parent, you’ll be aware of the pressures all Children face when it comes to education. It certainly isn’t just the children either – parents feel the pressure and this can become marked when a child is struggling. Learning to read is one of the biggest; if not the biggest hurdles we all face. Just as some youngsters find maths intimidating, we seem to find this more explicable – doubtless because many adults lack confidence in this area. It’s easy to just expect children to pick up the ‘reading habit’, and, truth to tell most children do accomplish this over time. But there is a big difference between getting by when it comes to reading and actively enjoying it. One of the most damaging forms of apartheid that continues in this country, is that between those that have acquired the skill – and then the love – of reading from an early age, and not who haven’t.
Being a fluent reader means being fluent in other ways that ultimately have a huge effect on an individual’s life chances. Unfair, but life is. But in this case it shouldn’t be. Reading is empowering: being fluent means having the facility to express one’s own ideas. Can there be anything more important in the workplace.
Whether a child acquires good reading skills should not be a lottery. And those charged with supporting children to make the most of their lives have a special responsibility in this area. This means being sensitive to certain effects and the being knowledgable about why some children struggle. Life is competitive. Adults all too easily forget that even when children are very young – they will be becoming aware as to where they stand in relation to their peers. It’s very easy for ‘grown ups’ to look at children in school and think fondly of their own salad days all those years ago. So much easier to remember the good times; then to adorn a pair of rose tinted spectacles and wallow in the past. The truth is we should remind ourselves that for children the world is a bigger place in every way than it is for we who have grown up. Our confidence can be very easily shaken despite our years: it should come as no surprise, then, to appreciate a child falling behind his peers in this world of comparisons, is going to lose confidence quickly.
This is where foster carers – and all parents can have a positive effect if they approach the issue of literacy from the direction of confidence building. It is useful to note that there are a number of steps that can be taken capable of having a significant effect on a child’s motivation to want to read. Foster parents have a special responsibility – as well as a unique pressure – because they are increasingly engaging with children who have had zero nurturing. So many arrive in foster care having been abused or neglected, hardly surprising reading will be alien to them.
The most important precept for everyone (kids and adults) to take on board is ‘Confidence’ with a Capital ‘C’. And then to understand that the grown ups need a good measure of it too when it comes to helping children with their reading. It is understandable, but it’s not a good idea to engage in marathon sessions trying to help a reluctant child to read. This will frustrate the child and almost certainly an adult as well. Because children learn at different rates, it is useful to accept this from the outset and not have expectations that can be pressurising. A child who is experiencing problems will be fully conscious of this. Better, then, to try and ‘lighten up’ all round. It’s a good idea to establish a short routine to help a child – no more than 10 minutes. Think of it as the opportunity for quality time together rather than propelling your seven year old to have a reading age of a teenager by the end of the week. Doing this means the activity is approached with the idea of it being something that can be looked forward to. And parents need to be flexible: 10 minutes to start with is perfectly okay. It may be tempting to push it, but that’s more likely to be about you as a parent feeling better.
Foster the ability to be fluent
A fluent reader will read in a way that is controlled and usually with expression. To begin with many children will have limited fluency and be “dysfluent readers’. A lot of energy can be taken in simply working out what the words on a page are before thinking about their meaning. So it can be common for a child to read, but not always have full comprehension of meaning. It is a very good idea to talk with a teacher and find where your child is placed. Its important to establish their reading level and accept this is the start point. And work with this in the context of short daily ten minute sessions that are enjoyable for all. It is also important to think about what is actually being read. Care has to be taken: material that is too difficult will very quickly become frustrating. And frustration is anathema to making progress. One thing that we can all be sure of is that there is no shortage of reading material. Today, there are more children’s authors writing than ever before: the output covers an incredible range of subject matter. And, even more helpfully, most of it has been assessed for skill levels and reading ages. this means that it is easy to find material that will hold the interest of older children but may be less challenging to read. A word of caution: children are perceptive and will not appreciate something that they may perceive as being ‘babyish’. It can be a difficult line to tread sometimes, but there is such a wealth of engaging material designed to be stimulating and entertaining. Another key word: entertaining. What you spend time reading should be something that is entertaining for a child. Then they will want to repeat the activity: ‘Simples’ as a group of renowned meerkats have a fondness for saying.
Foster a feeling of relaxation
Summary: avoid at all costs any sense of anxiety – and that means from you, the parent, as well as the child. Promote a sense of fun and enquiry. It may seem obvious, but if you have a child with an interest, reading matter which is based around that subject can hardly be a bad thing. Trips to libraries and bookshops can be fun. These days Book sellers set their shops up to be stimulating, fun places to be. An eye, no doubt, to their future clientele. Take advantage of their efforts.
In the home make sure you are consistent. Short ten minute sessions should happen as a matter of routine and in the same place. This provides the chance to make somewhere a little bit special as well as being somewhere interesting reading material can be left. With very young children, reading together out loud is enormously beneficial. A child can be given a sense of drama – as well as excitement and; significantly, be able to participate. They will listen to your tone and cadences – having fun is infectious. A child sensing you were both having a great time will see books as offering that potential. Perhaps that’s why for so long across the generations we have perpetuated the idea of getting the ‘reading bug’.
The aim; ultimately is to move a child toward a sense of ownership of this key skill. Progress can be slow – sometimes imperceptible – but as long as a young person feels a sense of fun and enjoyment, progress will be being made. One other important point: converse. If you are reading something that a child is clearly enjoying, you will have gone a long way toward firing their imagination. So they will enjoy talking about it meaning a story can live beyond the pages of the book itself. It is, however, important that your enthusiasm does not outstrip theirs!
The Holy Grail is to enable a child to discover what great pleasure reading can afford them. They can take pride and ownership in the skill: it won’t be long before they get a sense of what power it can bestow. It has oft been said that ‘knowledge is power’. Once this is has been appreciated – along with the tremendous pleasure reading offers – you can feel confident you really will have made all the difference to their life and prospects.
A special note to foster carers on the subject of promoting literacy
It can be hard enough for parents of birth children to encourage the reading habit. Those children that live in secure, loving, stable homes with their own parents have huge advantages. Understandably, they may not be approached in the same way to be helped with their reading. But for a vulnerable, insecure foster child, having a foster carer wanting to spend time helping them and provide support is often, sadly, a very new experience. Helping a foster child to improve their reading is a huge opportunity to build a lasting bridge between them and you.
Rainbow ‘Foster Literacy’ campaign 2018
Calling all our foster carers. We really want and need you to support our summer ‘Foster Literacy’ campaign. Check out our Facebook page where we regularly recommend books your foster children might like.
We were especially pleased that the writer of one of the books reviewed wrote into us in connection with their book. Read on…hopefully this suggestion will prove a memorable read for your foster child.
‘Child I’ by Steve Tasane. Publisher: Faber & Faber – Reading age 9
This is a book for our times: it’s not always a comfortable read, but it is certainly a thought provoking one. It is sure to help children, and possibly adults too, reflect on the situations of those far less fortunate than themselves. For here is a story that is genuinely moving as it follows the day to day lives of unaccompanied children forced to live in a refugee camp.
Child ‘I’ can’t be certain if a particular day is their birthday. No one in the camp can be sure exactly what day it is: the decision is made that it is Child ‘I’s birthday and they will tell their story. What is memorable, and touching, is that none of the children in the story have full names. They go only by an initial – such as V – who has a stubborn nature. But, this literary device doesn’t stop all the children living in the memory as fully fleshed out personalities.
The background is heartrending such as children desperately searching for food in the mud. And because they are children, looking for toys in the confusion and mess of the camp. Each event depicted in the book has actually happened to a real person – making this a significant read, skilfully written, and one that is deeply affecting.
Please be aware that as our summer ‘Foster Literacy’ campaign to encourage literacy gets up and running, our Facebook pages will review a number of books for children of different ages to enjoy throughout the summer.
We hope our choices will inform and entertain. And, please don’t forget, there are Prizes to be won! Our Youth Participation Officer is organising a special competition inviting our foster children to come up with their own short review of a book they have read and particularly enjoyed.
Remember Rainbow’s News Page: featuring the latest foster care news stories –
https://bit.ly/2MjkBNc
Would you consider transferring to Rainbow Fostering?
Are you feeling like a change? Would you like to be part of a team that prides itself on its very special sense of community? Please call us to find out about the advantages of joining Rainbow – and this includes the special bonus you may be eligible for. Call 020 8427 3355, or our National line 0330 311 2845.
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