In March of this year a new study about an increase in the number of children starting school who are not “school-ready” which reported that 28% of children in reception year “incorrectly use books (swiping or tapping as if using an electronic device)”. A worrying statistic indeed, and one which questions are children having enough verbal interactions with the adults in their life?

There have been some recent efforts to inject the excitement of the simple joy of books in the community with the free libraries dotted around suburbs and towns. Did you know at Inspirations we also have a lending library in the front entrance?

Learning suffered during lockdown and perhaps this is still having an impact. This article from a couple of years ago now highlights just how much the Pandemic affected our children- https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2022/apr/24/life-in-lockdown-held-back-progress-of-under-fives

‘Parents spent less time reading, chatting and playing with their children during the pandemic, according to new research by the National Literacy Trust. A quarter said they did not chat with their child every day in 2021, compared with just 10% in 2019, and only half (53%) of parents said they were reading to their child daily, compared with two-thirds in 2019.

And the proportion of parents who said they played with their child at least once a day in the previous week also fell from 76% in 2019 to 72% in 2021. The Trust surveyed more than 1,500 parents with children under five.

Overall, the research found that fewer parents of young children engaged in “home learning activities” – reading, chatting, playing, singing or painting and drawing – in 2021, compared with 2019, despite spending more time in the home with their child due to the pandemic.’

In many ways we need to get back to basics, and that is what we try and do at Inspirations. We have meaningful interactions, promote the joy of reading, teach them to plant seeds and grow vegetables and develop their creativity.

It takes a village to raise a child, and we all have a role to play in this.