As youngsters everywhere enjoy the excitement of World Book Day today (6th March 2014), research has revealed that over a quarter of UK parents are concerned about their children’s reading and writing ability.
The poll of almost 1,000 mums and dads* has shown that the average child is now learning to read for themselves at five years old, up to a year after their parents achieved this goal. One in ten children are also working at levels below their expected reading and writing ages at school.
As a result, over half of parents are taking to bribing their children in order to convince them to read and write outside of school hours. Later bed times, sweet treats and extra time with TVs or games consoles are all amongst the most popular trading tools used, as parents try to extend the 15 minutes reading and 13 minutes writing time the average child spends each day outside of lessons.
The research, conducted by holiday park operator Parkdean, also pinpointed the most common causes for children struggling to read and write at home. These reasons included tiredness, the distraction of technology and the fact that children found reading and writing boring.
With this in mind, Parkdean aimed to inspire the nation’s children through its Fairytale of Parkdean competition. Youngsters across the UK were encouraged to read fairy tales, get creative and use their imaginations for their own stories. Winner of the competition, Samuel Moore (aged 11) from Waterlooville, has been working with the company to launch his brand new book which stars Parkdean’s beloved characters Sid the Seagull and Lizzie the Lizard.
Downloadable from http://tinyurl.com/nv93wqw, Samuel’s book is also available nationwide through a selection of Parkdean holiday parks with donations being collected for the National Literacy Trust. The story has also inspired a short entertainment show which will be performed by the parks’ Star Troopers from Easter, hoping to capture the imagination of even more children.
The launch of this book is the latest in a number of activities to be delivered as part of the Fairytale of Parkdean campaign. Ranging from interactive workshops delivered across the company’s 24 parks to a tour of UK schools that promoted story writing, the Fairytale of Parkdean campaign has already helped to encourage hoards of children to indulge in more reading and writing.
John Waterworth, Chief Executive of Parkdean, said:
“We were shocked to see that almost a third of children are discouraged from reading and writing simply because they find it boring, or they lack the inspiration to get started. One of the most popular activities we conduct across our parks is the Fantasy Fables workshop and so we know the appetite for reading and writing is still strong amongst youngsters. It often just takes an added creative element to engage some children when competing against the likes of computer games and TVs.
“We’ve been delighted with the feedback we’ve received for our campaign so far and we’re incredibly proud of the impact it’s had on the children we’ve worked with. Samuel, in particular, has created a fantastic book that is sure to capture the imaginations of many youngsters. In winning our writing competition, we can only hope that his personal story proves to be equally inspirational and encourages even more children to pick up a pen or book when celebrating World Book Day today.”
Samuel Moore, added:
“I’m so thrilled to have won the competition. It was great fun writing my adventure and creating a story around Sid and Lizzie. It’s amazing to see my story as a real book and I can’t wait to watch it being acted out on a park too!”
*Research conducted through YourSayPays with 941 parents of children 4-14 years of age.
