Summer holiday reading and listening
This post is based on an article written by Alex Strick and published on Book Trust.
How can you support and encourage summer holiday reading when a child has reading difficulties?
If 'reading for pleasure' seems instead like a chore or a battle, then looking to audiobooks can help. The spoken word can provide enjoyment from books that a struggling reader might not find in print. Audiobooks can also help to continue learning and reading development when not at school.
This article on the Book Trust website lists these great benefits:
The value of audio
Many children with a learning difficulty or disability can miss out on experiencing the same wonderful, inspiring books and stories as their peers.
However, research shows that the use of audiobooks to support education and as a resource to enable reading for pleasure can have significant benefits:
- Audiobooks provide excellent reading role models and listening helps to build vocabulary
- Listening can introduce new characters, authors and genres, beyond the reader's experience or reading level.
- Following the text while listening helps to improve word recognition and reading speed.
- Enabling children to read the same books as their peers boosts self-esteem and enthusiasm for books.
- Listening engages the imagination and improves focus and listening skills.
You can read the full article here.
If you'd like more information about how Listening Books can help those who have a disability or impairment that prevents them from reading in the usual way, you can visit our website, phone us on 020 7407 9417, or email.
Thanks to Book Trust for featuring Listening Books on their blog.
This post was written by Holly Newson
