Fewer Children Reading for Fun

A survey of survey of 2,558 US parents and children has turned up some distressing news: the number of children reading for fun is in decline. From The Guardian:

The number of American children who say they love reading books for fun has dropped almost 10% in the last four years, according to a US study, with children citing the pressure of schoolwork and other distractions.

And a new aspect of the study confirmed something that parents of readers have always known. Kids that are read to when they are teeny are more likely to read on their own.

Scholastic also surveyed the parents of children between the ages of zero and five for the first time this year in an attempt to discover what made children frequent readers. The report found that a six to 11-year-old child is more likely to be a frequent reader if they are currently read aloud to at home, if they were also read aloud to five to seven days a week before starting nursery, and if they are less likely to use a computer for fun.

The full piece is here.