If you're wondering about the aims of my book, or why I consider myself an expert, then read The Author's Note and see if this helps!
'Firstly, let me be honest about the aims of this book.
I want to encourage you and your kids to read.
It may be that your child has fallen out of love with the written word (or were they never in love with books in the first place?), perhaps it’s just that books have been usurped, overtaken and pushed to the back burner. Lots of people (teachers included) will shake their heads, tut and explain that your child should be ‘reading for pleasure’. But this won’t just happen; you have to convince your child that they need to ‘read to succeed’.
In this book I lay out a simple, six week, step by step approach to get your child reading again.
I also want to be honest about what this book won’t do.
It will not help you teach your kid to read. There are some hints about how to help struggling readers, but that’s all. I don’t want you buying this book under false pretences.
The advantages of regular reading are discussed further on, but I don’t think anyone in their right mind really needs convincing of its benefits. So, if we can all agree that regular reading helps children then let’s get more specific.
Who is this book actually aimed at?
Are you a parent or guardian of children aged between eight and sixteen? Then it could be you.
Do your children have an aversion to picking up a book, protest when made to read or claim reading is ‘boring’? Then come in and settle down, we have much to discuss.
I hear these kinds of comments all the time in my day job as an English teacher and Literacy Coordinator. There is too much other stuff going on in kids’ lives these days for them to just stop and read. Also, it’s hard! Consider how intuitive computers, phones and tablets are these days: they do a lot of your thinking for you. When your child is fed a constant stream of information, without time to process and consider its relevance, you quickly realise they are losing a vital life skill. Because when you read, you’re sharpening your brainpower – reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.
I try hard in my job to encourage children to read, but I realised quite quickly that I am not the most important or influential person in their lives. You are. That’s why I need your help.
But why listen to me? What makes me such an expert?
Well, the first thing is, I have never really considered myself an expert. I’m sorry if that doesn’t inspire confidence, but to my mind it sounds a bit pompous.
However, in his book ‘Outliers: The Story of Success’, Malcolm Gladwell claims the key to success is applying the ‘10,000 Hour Rule’ – to become an expert you need to take 10,000 hours of deliberate practice at something. If that’s the case, then pompous or not, I do qualify.
I have worked as a teacher for over seven years and have always been involved in some area of Literacy. (Being an English teacher you would hope that was the case, wouldn’t you?) So I believe I do have some ideas worth listening to.
I am not some kind of genius within this field, though. There are hundreds of people who understand the scientific theories behind Literacy and can write detailed articles on the subject. I’m not one of those people.
First and foremost, I am a father of two fantastic boys (at the time of writing aged thirteen and ten) who read widely and enjoy it. That’s not to say they wouldn’t rather be doing something else at times – they would, but we have an agreement. It doesn’t just happen; a lot of work goes into it. But I’m convinced they ‘read to succeed’ and have been doing for years.
Secondly, as already stated, I am a teacher, so I understand the limitations of the school in encouraging your child to read. There is a lot to fit in during the school day, all the timetabled lessons, after school activities and pastoral care. Your child probably gets about three hours a week of English tuition – and their teacher will have to squeeze in an entire curriculum into that time. Hopefully they’ll have a great and inspiring teacher, but I’m guessing that they’ll be in a class with 30 other kids all demanding attention. So checking on your child’s reading progress is not going to be at the forefront of their minds for the vast majority of the week. I’m sure they try, but there is only so much they can do. You might consider this a disgrace and complain they are not doing their job properly, but, to be honest, it’s only masking the real issue – your kid doesn’t read nearly as much as they should. That’s why I’m here, to help you help yourselves.
Thirdly, I am a Literacy Coordinator. I do understand the importance of reading. I am fully aware of the obstacles that we all face to get youngsters reading. And, over the years, I have read widely and accessed lots of information about reading strategies.
But, perhaps most importantly, I haven’t always been a teacher.
I think this is vitally important, so I’ll apologise to my colleagues in the education field now, but I do know what life is like out in the ‘real world’. I worked at a bank (as a customer facing cashier, not as an investment banker – so don’t throw stones at me) for sixteen years. I know what it’s like to get back home late, too tired to do anything except veg out in front of the telly, but with a hundred little jobs still to complete. The last thing I want to do is to make you feel guilty, like you’re a bad parent. I’m guessing you may feel that already, because you’re reading this book. Don’t beat yourself up about the fact your child doesn’t read – at least you’ve realised this and want to do something about it. You’ve made a step in the right direction – that’s the sign of someone who cares about their children’s future.
Finally, I am also a journalist and writer. That means I am used to communicating through the written word. I worked for an award-winning local magazine and wrote hundreds of articles for my local newspaper. I hope that means I can string a sentence together. And, gosh, if it’s entertaining and informative as well, so much the better!
That’s why I decided to write this book. I believe I have a few different hats I can wear at opportune moments to help you encourage your child to read. That’s what we’re both after, isn’t it?
So, I’ve told you what this book can do and what it can’t do. I’ve told you why I think I’m qualified to write it. Now, let’s get to work.'
'Firstly, let me be honest about the aims of this book.
I want to encourage you and your kids to read.
It may be that your child has fallen out of love with the written word (or were they never in love with books in the first place?), perhaps it’s just that books have been usurped, overtaken and pushed to the back burner. Lots of people (teachers included) will shake their heads, tut and explain that your child should be ‘reading for pleasure’. But this won’t just happen; you have to convince your child that they need to ‘read to succeed’.
In this book I lay out a simple, six week, step by step approach to get your child reading again.
I also want to be honest about what this book won’t do.
It will not help you teach your kid to read. There are some hints about how to help struggling readers, but that’s all. I don’t want you buying this book under false pretences.
The advantages of regular reading are discussed further on, but I don’t think anyone in their right mind really needs convincing of its benefits. So, if we can all agree that regular reading helps children then let’s get more specific.
Who is this book actually aimed at?
Are you a parent or guardian of children aged between eight and sixteen? Then it could be you.
Do your children have an aversion to picking up a book, protest when made to read or claim reading is ‘boring’? Then come in and settle down, we have much to discuss.
I hear these kinds of comments all the time in my day job as an English teacher and Literacy Coordinator. There is too much other stuff going on in kids’ lives these days for them to just stop and read. Also, it’s hard! Consider how intuitive computers, phones and tablets are these days: they do a lot of your thinking for you. When your child is fed a constant stream of information, without time to process and consider its relevance, you quickly realise they are losing a vital life skill. Because when you read, you’re sharpening your brainpower – reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.
I try hard in my job to encourage children to read, but I realised quite quickly that I am not the most important or influential person in their lives. You are. That’s why I need your help.
But why listen to me? What makes me such an expert?
Well, the first thing is, I have never really considered myself an expert. I’m sorry if that doesn’t inspire confidence, but to my mind it sounds a bit pompous.
However, in his book ‘Outliers: The Story of Success’, Malcolm Gladwell claims the key to success is applying the ‘10,000 Hour Rule’ – to become an expert you need to take 10,000 hours of deliberate practice at something. If that’s the case, then pompous or not, I do qualify.
I have worked as a teacher for over seven years and have always been involved in some area of Literacy. (Being an English teacher you would hope that was the case, wouldn’t you?) So I believe I do have some ideas worth listening to.
I am not some kind of genius within this field, though. There are hundreds of people who understand the scientific theories behind Literacy and can write detailed articles on the subject. I’m not one of those people.
First and foremost, I am a father of two fantastic boys (at the time of writing aged thirteen and ten) who read widely and enjoy it. That’s not to say they wouldn’t rather be doing something else at times – they would, but we have an agreement. It doesn’t just happen; a lot of work goes into it. But I’m convinced they ‘read to succeed’ and have been doing for years.
Secondly, as already stated, I am a teacher, so I understand the limitations of the school in encouraging your child to read. There is a lot to fit in during the school day, all the timetabled lessons, after school activities and pastoral care. Your child probably gets about three hours a week of English tuition – and their teacher will have to squeeze in an entire curriculum into that time. Hopefully they’ll have a great and inspiring teacher, but I’m guessing that they’ll be in a class with 30 other kids all demanding attention. So checking on your child’s reading progress is not going to be at the forefront of their minds for the vast majority of the week. I’m sure they try, but there is only so much they can do. You might consider this a disgrace and complain they are not doing their job properly, but, to be honest, it’s only masking the real issue – your kid doesn’t read nearly as much as they should. That’s why I’m here, to help you help yourselves.
Thirdly, I am a Literacy Coordinator. I do understand the importance of reading. I am fully aware of the obstacles that we all face to get youngsters reading. And, over the years, I have read widely and accessed lots of information about reading strategies.
But, perhaps most importantly, I haven’t always been a teacher.
I think this is vitally important, so I’ll apologise to my colleagues in the education field now, but I do know what life is like out in the ‘real world’. I worked at a bank (as a customer facing cashier, not as an investment banker – so don’t throw stones at me) for sixteen years. I know what it’s like to get back home late, too tired to do anything except veg out in front of the telly, but with a hundred little jobs still to complete. The last thing I want to do is to make you feel guilty, like you’re a bad parent. I’m guessing you may feel that already, because you’re reading this book. Don’t beat yourself up about the fact your child doesn’t read – at least you’ve realised this and want to do something about it. You’ve made a step in the right direction – that’s the sign of someone who cares about their children’s future.
Finally, I am also a journalist and writer. That means I am used to communicating through the written word. I worked for an award-winning local magazine and wrote hundreds of articles for my local newspaper. I hope that means I can string a sentence together. And, gosh, if it’s entertaining and informative as well, so much the better!
That’s why I decided to write this book. I believe I have a few different hats I can wear at opportune moments to help you encourage your child to read. That’s what we’re both after, isn’t it?
So, I’ve told you what this book can do and what it can’t do. I’ve told you why I think I’m qualified to write it. Now, let’s get to work.'