Reading Advice for Parents

An article I wrote for our school eBrief with advice to parents on supporting reading

UWCSEA Library

With the December break only a week away, a question we are asked as English Teachers is “what can I do to support my son or daughter’s holiday reading?” In their final English classes of the term, students will be borrowing books to bring home, but you may also be thinking of buying books as presents or heading to the local library. Here’s a few thoughts and suggestions for choosing books.

Firstly, if a book engages and sustains reading then it is doing good. If a book is “boring,” it is probably at the wrong level. Our classroom libraries are stocked with books we know are great for Middle Schoolers but only some of our books are “just right” for your child at this moment. We work with the students to develop their skills for choosing the books that best engage and support their reading development but it’s not an exact science. If a book isn’t working, it’s important to try a different one.

If you’re looking for lists of good Middle School books, you can find a huge range on the UWCSEA East library site here. Notice that there are eBooks too. Many of the English staff have Goodreads accounts and we encourage our G8 students to use this site as well. You can find my reviews and scores for books in my classroom library on my Goodreads shelf here.

If you’re buying books as presents, consider buying a gift voucher (or eReader credits) to encourage your child to be involved in the process of exploring and choosing books. Exploring bookshops (or Amazon) is a valuable part of building a reading life.

UWCSEA library

Two final thoughts: sharing reading is both good for learning and good for family bonding. Reading stories to each other over the break is a wonderful thing to do. Secondly, if you have a long car trip, listening to an eBook or a podcast together in the car will make the journey shorter and build comprehension skills all at once.

And if you need to make space for new books, remember that the G6 and 7 Giving Tree focus this year is on books; we’d love to have your old books wrapped and ready to hand on to new readers.