【推荐2】The findings of Nielsen Book Research’s annual survey show that only 32% of British children under 13 are read to daily by an adult, for pleasure, down four percentage points on the previous year.

Most parents stop reading to their child by the age of eight, with just 19% of eight to 10-year-olds read to daily by an adult, across all socio-economic groups, down 3% on last year. Boys were less likely to be read to daily than girls at 14%, compared with 24%.

Another survey carried out by the National Literacy Trust found that the number of 8-to-18-year-olds reading for pleasure has now dropped to 52.5%, from 58.8% in 2019, with only a quarter(25.7%)reading daily, compared with 43% in 2018. The majority of boys and girls in every age group said they preferred screen time to reading.

Publisher Egmont, which co-funded the Nielsen research, said that the decline in parents reading to children signals a significant threat to children’s well-being. It highlighted a strong relation between older children being read to, and children choosing to read independently for pleasure; 74%of 8-to-13-year-olds who were read to each day also read independently, compared with just 29%of those who were read to less than once a week.

Child expert Alison David stressed that a daily story time should be a part of the school day, as normal, unquestionable and as unchangeable as a lunch break. Ideally, she said, this should run into their teens. “The Department for Education states that nothing is more important than ensuring every child can read well, and the way to do this is to introduce a passion for reading for pleasure. This won’t be achieved by guided reading lessons and tests. Space must be made in the school day for story time,” said David. “Teachers are vastly overburdened by the curriculum (课程). Unless time is made for stories, it won’t happen for all children every day, which it needs to—for our children’s futures.”

“Whether your children are dressed up today or not, sit down with them for 10 minutes every day and share a story,” said Kirsten Grant, director of World Book Day. “We all know how important it is to our children’s health to give them their ‘five a day’. It’s just as important for their well-being to read with them for ten a day.”

【推荐3】Reading for pleasure can be an important and enjoyable childhood activity. Unlike listening and spoken language, which develop rapidly and easily in young children, reading is a taught skill and is acquired and developed through specific learning over time. Until now it has been unclear what effect—if any—encouraging children to read from an early age will have on their brain development, cognition(认知) and mental health later in life.

To find out this, researchers from the universities of the UK and China looked at data from the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD) groups in the US. Of the 10,243 participants studied, just under a half had little experience of reading for pleasure or did not begin doing so until later in their childhood. The remaining half had spent between three and ten years reading for pleasure.

The team found a strong link between reading for pleasure at an early age and a positive performance in adolescence on cognitive tests that measured such factors as verbal learning, memory and speech development, and at-school academic achievement. These children also had better mental health, when assessed using a number of clinical scores and reports from parents and teachers, showing fewer signs of stress and depression, as well as improved attention and fewer behavioral problems such as aggression and rule-breaking.

Children who began reading for pleasure earlier also tended to spend less screen time—for example, watching TV or using their smartphone or tablet—during the week and at weekends in their adolescence, and also tended to sleep longer.

The best amount of reading for pleasure as a young child was around 12 hours per week. Beyond this, there appeared to be no additional benefits. Instead, there was a gradual decrease in cognition, which the researchers say may be because they are sedentary and spend little time on other activities that could be cognitively improving, including sports and social activities.

【推荐2】There is so much to see and do on the Disney Dream. During my 2-day cruise (乘船游览) I tried to experience as much as I could. Here are some of my favourite things about the Disney Dream.

The first water coaster at sea will not disappoint you! The coaster spans (横跨) 765 feet, giving you a bird’s-eye view of the decks (甲板) below. At one point, the ride takes you 12 feet over the side of the ship.

I was totally blown away by the childcare on the Disney Dream. The best part is the Oceaneer Club and Oceaneer Lab for kids aged 3-10. Once inside, kids are free to run from club to club. There are games, activities and crafts (手工) that will keep your children entertained for hours.

There are five places at The District, but my favourite was Pink—the champagne bar. This place is the perfect spot for an after-dinner drink with friends.

One of my biggest disappointments at other cruise ships is the lack of water play for young kids. Every ship usually has a pool and water slide, but they are often overcrowded. Nemo’s Reef is a covered water play area with no standing water. Even my six-year-old son had a good time!

Entertainment on cruise ships can be not very good, but not on the Disney Dream. What’s new on the Disney Dream is “Disney’s Believe”—a musical show featuring your favourite Disney characters.

If you’re on the Disney Dream next time, don’t miss them. Have fun!

【推荐3】Isaac Newton on a skateboard?

Does maths explain everything?

It’s long time since most of us were at school, sitting in maths class and thinking: “When am I ever going to need this?”   As adults we know that the answer is “all the time” --maths is everywhere, and not just in the places you’d expect. The challenge is to help children realize its relevance to their everyday life.

AQUlLA’s Real World Maths Issue:

They may not know it, but even skateboarders and dancers are using maths all the time --- and your   local skate park is actually a great place to put mathematical theory (think calculus) into action! In this issue, children can read about Sir Christopher Wren’s plans for re-building London; try AQUILA’s topologist game; investigate snowflakes-nature’s little mathematical masterpieces, and learn about artist L.S Lowry’s ideas on perspective. Plus: find out some really bad maths that ended up in catastrophe and discover why being a perfectionist is not always a bad thing.

“......Advanced & Philosophical, Curious & Puzzling”

RICHARD ROBINSON, BRIGHTON SCIENCE FESTIVAL