A Bookish Beginning
Welcome to Our Reading Rituals
Once Upon a Time…
There was a mother who loved nothing more than to read bedtime stories to her three children every evening. She found these precious moments the perfect antidote to the stress and busyness of modern life.
Every evening the mother and her children were transported to different realms. They followed with rapt attention through the wardrobe to Narnia, laughed and cried with Anne of Green Gables and kept their fingers crossed throughout Charlotte’s Web for Wilbur to have a happy ending.
And through these adventures, they found their own lives improving. They sought out bookish escapades in the real world, escaping the dreariness of schedules as much as possible. They hosted tea-times with their literary friends and travelled to towns and cities around the UK to seek out their favourite authors.
But if we must also talk about academic improvement, lets just say this: the children performed well in the comprehension and spelling tests they had to sit at school. They were complimented on their ability to use their imagination in play, which also translated into the stories they wrote. In short, learning was fun and magical without it feeling much at all like learning.
Of course, the mother in question is me and the three are my own children - now aged 6,8 and 15.
Why I’m launching this page
When I think about what reading has become in some schools, I despair. Joy is sucked right out of the ‘learn to read’ process with regimented phonics lessons and pressure to perform well in reading comprehension tests. Often the pure joy of story is removed in favour of the mechanics of reading.
Whilst I do believe that comprehension is an important skill, I don’t believe that testing everything makes reading very enjoyable. Both of my youngest children have to take a test before they are even allowed to borrow another library book - talk about sucking the wonder out of reading!
So that’s where the idea for ‘Our Reading Rituals’ came from. Fighting against the test-led approach to reading, in favour of something special. Reading should be an event, something full of magic and wonder. And this is exactly what I plan to explore through this blog.
As a former primary school literacy specialist, I feel like I have a lot to say on the subject of reading for pleasure. I was responsible for helping reluctant readers and gifted and talented students alike. The key has always been making reading magical. Today, I work with parents from all over the world through online courses, workshops and coaching.
When I’m not writing articles for this page, I work in the local community helping children with reading in writing. This Autumn, I will also be launching an online literacy programme for home-schoolers.
Who is this for?
Our Reading Rituals is for parents and educators. You might be an educator looking for ideas on how to make your school literacy programme feel more magical or a home-school parent seeking help from a qualified educator or perhaps you’re a parent looking for ways to make reading more enjoyable at home.
What to Expect
Since this is a new venture, I’m pledging to write one new blog post every week. Free content will include:
Advice on how to raise a reader
Bookish tours
Our favourite read aloud stories
Bookish teatime ideas
Reading Lists
In addition to this, I will be offering literacy curriculums based on classic stories for home-schoolers or parents looking to infuse magic and wonder back into reading.
Why pledge your support Our Reading Rituals?
Once this page is up and running, I will turn on the paid subscription button. When you pay to subscribe, you are helping me to dedicate more time to my main mission: helping parents understand the importance of reading aloud throughout childhood.
Whilst I love providing free content to everyone, unfortunately that alone does not pay the bills. The more people who pay to subscribe, the more time I can spend writing about the important topics that matter to you.
Paid Subscribers will receive:
Access to Dragon Cottage Book Club which includes question prompts and the option to join monthly Q& A sessions - more information coming soon.
Access to curriculum overviews that are perfect for home-schoolers and parents looking to enrich their child’s literacy at home.
Access to workshops, including ‘How to Raise a Reader’ which will be released in October.