Another piece in our series for Foster carers on the subject of literacy. Some facts and figures outlining the importance of reading to very young Children. The data indicates some worrying trends in relation to the numbers of children who do not get this most valuable input. There are societal pressures that we all of us need to be aware of. Of one thing we can be certain: children who are given a love of books have a far greater chance of progressing to do well at school. And there is nothing more important than this. 

We are all bedazzled by the latest gizmos and apps. They are addictive. And that’s okay as long as society understands there are consequences. Just as there are when parents today are faced with the kinds of financial pressures that means Mum has to work as well. It seems young children are just not being read to as they once were. How do we know: The annual ‘Understanding the Children’s Book Consumer’ survey from Nielsen Book Research interviewed 1,596 parents of 0 to 13-year-olds, and 417 14 to 17-year-olds in the United Kingdom. It emerged that sixty nine percent of preschool children experienced the benefit of being read to daily back in 2013; now the figure has reduced to fifty one percent. And apparently nineteen percent of parents of three to four year olds said that they were “struggling to find energy at the end of the day” when it came to finding the time to read to their children. Of equal, and predictable concern, sixteen percent of parents claimed their children had a “preference to do other things” rather then reading.

This all means; according to the research*, that the proportion of toddlers who have stories read to them daily, has dropped by a fifth in the last five years. Such a decline has triggered a warning this is a significant threat to child development.

The research was co-funded by Egmont, the publishers,  who said “the decline correlated with an increase of almost a fifth in the proportion of toddlers watching online video content daily, and warned that the “steep decline” in reading to young children “signalled a significant threat to child development, with potential long-term social impact”.

The consumer insight director at Egmont, Alison David, stated – “It’s no surprise that parents of toddlers are exhausted – the pressure on families is enormous, especially as parents struggle to balance returning to work and meaningful time at home. However, at such a crucial time in a child’s development, it’s essential that parents understand the enormous benefits that reading for pleasure will bring both them and their child, both in terms of attainment and enjoyment.”

Foster a different attitude: books may soon be under threat.

It seems that we might be witnessing something of a paradigm shift in the underlying relationship  we have with books. And this is concerning – as well a revealing. We are undeniably now living in a digital epoch. Information, entertainment – seemingly life itself – is accessed online. It is all too easy to see books as arcane. The relationship we have with them is being changed. And, so too, are our attitudes toward them. Key indicators of this effect came out of the research: 21% of parents of three to four-year-olds “don’t feel comfortable in bookshops”, and 46% are “overwhelmed by the choice of children’s books”. It has to be said that parents were also concerned by the amount of time that their children spent in front of screens. This is something foster carers need to monitor.

Egmont devised a ‘Reading Magic’ project supported by W H Smith. This aspect of the research focused on twelve families with children of the ages three and four. The families were selected because they shared a common attitude about reading feeling “reading to be a task – something to fit in as best they can”. The project revolved around testing the idea that parents would consider reading more to their children – as well as buying more books – if they were actively helped. So the families in the study group were regularly supplied with books by W H Smith. They were then invited to a weekly storytelling session. It was significant that after this, the parents’ attitude had altered: before the project, they had perceived reading as a chore and, afterwards, they reported taking pleasure in identifying ways to liberate themselves to spend more quality time reading with their children.

The publishers then produced a report, ’Creating Readers for the Future’, which suggested “reading for pleasure is threatened…Many children are not given books and magazines, and of those adults that do buy them for children, the majority buy just one magazine a year and between one and five books a year for children.”

Foster carers, and all parents, have an important responsibility in supporting reading.

What is urgently needed is an appreciation of the role played by books in creating that all important bond between parent and child. It is one of the most ‘magical’ facts about books, that they have the power to do this. Our society is in a parlous state if this is jeopardised by the harsh economics to which many become subject when they decide to start a family. Reading with your child should never be seen as a chore – especially since literacy is perhaps the greatest gift a parent can give a child. Research exists to show that although most children learn to read by age seven, a child’s ability to read and write actually begins to develop long before they go to kindergarten. From infancy through to the age of eight is the key stage in a child’s early literacy development. It is then they learn and develop the skills required to be successful in school and later in life. So the bond forged whilst reading with a child has a value beyond compare.

*Nielsen Book Research.

All blogs written by Will Saunders: Rainbow Fostering – Content Management/Marketing

Have you the motivation to train to become a therapeutic foster carer?

Rainbow Fostering need more foster carers. The world of foster care has seen many changes in only a few short years: this means there is more for a potential applicant to consider. We have had enquiries from people who have come across the term ‘therapeutic foster carer’ wishing to know what it means. Very simply, this kind of carer is trained to provide specialist support to children who have come into the care system after experiencing trauma of one kind or another. Mostly this covers abuse or neglect. Such children require the help of clinical specialists to start to recover. Therapeutic foster carers are trained to support such recovery programmes. This can be demanding, challenging area of fostering but particularly rewarding. A fully trained therapeutic carer will receive an enhanced rate of payment.

If you want to find out more, get in touch with one of our Team Rainbow recruiters: 020 8427 3355 – or our National Line on 0330 311 2845.

Catch up on all the news stories about foster care in the UK and beyond:

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Foster care watch: England

Ofsted has now released the latest annual figures relating to foster care provision relating to both independent fostering agencies (IFAs) and local authorities. These figures are for the year ending 31st March 2017. The key statistics are – 83,930 approved foster care places 31st March 2017 (an increase of one percent on the preceding year); at 31 March 2017, there were 43,710 approved foster care households (a decrease of one percent on the preceding year); 114,425 initial enquiries were made** – this to 101,795 in the preceding year; eleven percent of initial enquiries made across the nation converted to applications (eighteen percent in the local authority sector and eight percent in the independent fostering agency sector); 52,005 children and young people were in foster care placements at 31st March 2017 – an increase of two hundred on the preceding year; 2,375 children had unplanned endings in the period 2016 – 2107 -of these, twenty two percent (525) had at least one move within 24 hours when a decision was made to end the placement early.

** This was an increase of twelve percent (down one percent in the local authority sector and up twenty percent in the independent foster care agency sector).

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