AUSTRALIA SAYS BYE-BYE TO THE BEDTIME STORY

New research shows busy parents are struggling to find the time for story telling

• Stress of daily life interferes with bedtime reading
• 10% of parents resort to bribing their kids to read
• 20% of parents are concerned their kids read less than them at their age

The traditional bedtime story looks to be on the decline with only one in four parents (23%) reading to their child daily, reveals new research from Optus.

Making dinner and doing housework (19%), work commitments (12%) and exhaustion (12%) all interfere with nightly tales, according to the Optus Literacy Study released today.

While youngsters are still getting a bedtime story, older kids are missing out, with one in two (50%) parents of primary school aged children admitting that they read to their children than once a week.

The research comes as The Smith Family and Optus expand the national student2student mobile literacy program to improve students’ reading and confidence.

The program matches 8-12 year olds, with reading ‘buddies’ at least two years older, who are trained to improve literacy skills in their peers. Students and buddies who don’t have access to a landline are provided with Optus mobile phones to read aloud to each other at least twice a week for 18 weeks.

The research also found despite struggling to find time to read to their children, eight out of ten (83%) parents want their kids to read more, and one in five (19%) believe their children read less than they did at their age.

Many parents even go as far as bribery with one in ten parents of children aged 5-8 admitting to using rewards and incentives such as lollies and cash to encourage their kids to read.

Literacy expert, Angela Ehmer, said, “Reading issues are often not recognised until a child starts school at age five. Many parents don’t realise that it’s important to continue to read aloud daily to children even once they’ve started school, to help develop their reading skills.

“Nightly story telling should be encouraged as it’s a fantastic way to get kids interested in reading and builds their confidence,” Ms Ehmer said.

And regardless of the digital age, almost nine out of ten (86%) Aussie kids still prefer a traditional book to reading a story on a kindle, tablet or laptop.

Results from the student2student mobile literacy program show that the reading age of 82% of participants improved at the end of the 18-week reading program.** Almost 90% of students’ parents agreed the program helped their child feel better about themselves, and had a positive impact on other areas of their education and school participation.

The Smith Family General Manager NSW/ACT, Theresa Collignon, said, “The literacy foundations built by children during their primary and early secondary years are crucial to their ability to do well at school. This is why The Smith Family and Optus take a long-term focus to supporting children with their education. A high proportion of students in Australia are not achieving minimum standards in reading, writing and spelling which is why this program is so crucial.”

“Research identifies a clear link between the development of good literacy and numeracy skills at an early age and higher levels of educational achievement, employability, higher earnings and social participation later in life. With the support of Optus we have been able to expand this program nationally to help more children with literacy problems improve their prospects,” she said.

For more information visit: http://www.thesmithfamily.com.au or phone 1800 024 069.

Try these tips from literacy expert, Angela Ehmer and Optus:

1. Make reading a daily routine: A bedtime story is a great way of doing this and gives kids something to look forward to each day.
2. Set an example: Children mimic their role models. If you read regularly it’s more likely your kids will too.
3. Join a local library: Libraries run lots of reading events that are enjoyable and educational, including after school and holiday programs.
4. Keep it interesting: Read books on different topics and find themes that interest your kids. This will help broaden their vocabulary and widen their interests.
5. Play games: Word association games like Scrabble are a fun way for children to learn new words.
6. Start a conversation: Children who engage in wider conversations develop good communication skills, build their vocabularies, and increase self-confidence.

* Assessed using Gilmore, A., Croft.C., Reid,N. (1981) Burt Word Reading Test: New Zealand revision, New Zealand Council for Education Research, Wellington ** The Smith Family 2011/2012 Annual Report

For further information please contact:

Sophie Walsh
Fuel Communications
Tel: +61 (02) 8217 6513
Email:swalsh@fuelcommunications.com.au

Sophie Dent
Fuel Communications
Tel: +61 (02) 8217 6504
Email:sdent@fuelcommunications.com.au

NOTES TO EDITORS

• Case studies are available on request.
• This study was conducted by Galaxy Research among a representative sample of Australian parents with children aged 1-12 years between Wednesday, July 10 and Wednesday July 17, 2013. The sample was 1,263 respondents, distributed throughout Australia including both capital city and non-capital city areas.
• Angela Ehmer, is an experienced literacy consultant with over 25 years’ experience working with educators, publishers, parents and community organisations throughout Australia. She has an extensive knowledge of ways to support students in reading and writing, and works regularly in schools to advise educational professionalshttp://www.literacysolutions.com.au/about/aboutangela.php.