Parents – play it by the book!

RESEARCH suggests that one in 10 parents never read to their young children. And once children start school, only a third of parents read to them every day. This is according to charity Booktrust and publishers Pearson who surveyed 1,500 parents as part

RESEARCH suggests that one in 10 parents never read to their young children.

And once children start school, only a third of parents read to them every day.

This is according to charity Booktrust and publishers Pearson who surveyed 1,500 parents as part of a scheme to encourage reading.

These results are hardly surprising when children grow up watching the television, playing computer games, and surfing the net.

It is, however, a shame that parents do not put aside at least 10 minutes per night to read to their children because research shows that children who are regularly read to perform better at school.

Instead they have admitted to speeding up and skipping pages.

They may just want to have dinner, relax, then go to bed after a hard days work, but allocating some quality time with their children shouldn't be an effort or a chore.

Everyone wants their children to do well and reading to them regularly gives them a good start in life.

Education secretary Alan Johnson who supports the scheme said: "Being able to read well is the foundation of anyone's education."

Parents most likely to never read to their children

1. Yorkshire 49%

2. Norfolk and Suffolk 43%

3. London 41%

4. Scotland 35%

5. North-east 32%