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Monday 16 January 2017

Scotland and the `reading war` continues



The research unit called GUS has investigated the impacts of early parent-child activities in two `Growing Up in Scotland` cohorts. See the video above.

"Growing Up in Scotland is a large-scale longitudinal project which is currently tracking the lives of two cohorts of Scottish children from the early years, through childhood and beyond. The study is funded by the Scottish Government."

Their findings: Enjoyment of reading at age 8
"At age 8, most (66%) children liked reading ‘a lot’, with around a quarter (24%) saying they liked it ‘a bit’, and one in ten not liking it."
 "Girls were more likely to say they liked reading than boys (74% of girls liked reading ‘a lot’ compared with 58% of boys). There were no statistically significant differences by socio-economic characteristics."
http://www.gov.scot/Resource/0050/00501021.pdf

"There were no statistically significant differences by socio-economic characteristics."

Let that sink in. Whether your mum and dad read to you, or whether your mum and dad did not read to you, had no significant difference in the outcome.

That means, that at eight years old, the difference between groups was more likely to be on account of whether their teachers  taught them to read in an appropriate manner - so that they could enjoy reading - and/or whether they had access to books.

Teachers who are trained in phonics to the highest standards are obviously required.  Keeping libraries open in poor areas is an absolute `must`.

Focusing on parents in the early years is politically expedient but absurd.

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