One activity to think about is involving children in some form of music.

There is now research evidence that learning music in the early childhood and/or primary school years helps children learn to read. This is because processing of music is done in the areas of the brain responsible for language development.

You may have noticed babies imitating the rhythm and pitch of language long before they are actually speaking, or even understanding, words. 

The ability to hear words and speak them (or in the case of children using non-oral forms of language, to see words and communicate them) underpins the ability to read.

Many years ago, an academic called Marie Clay argued that surrounding children with rich oral language, and providing them opportunities to learn lots about the world around them, were both key pre-requisites for reading and it does not appear to me that more recent work has changed her ideas.

To learn to read, children have to recognise words – to hear (or see) them as different than other sounds (or visual signs).

Experiences with music, sounds and rhythms, helps children recognise words. Children who, at three to four years of age, can copy and maintain a beat in music are more successful in learning to read.

Experiences with music also help children’s reading comprehension skills.

Words written on a page are simply symbols that stand-in for whatever it is they represent.

The shapes of the letters that make up the word “cat” look nothing like a cat, yet children quickly learn to recognise this particular combination of shapes and relate them to the purring, fluffy (and sometimes scratchy) animal sleeping on their laps.

Reading music is another form of symbolism; the note on a stave is nothing like the sound that note makes when it is played yet an accomplished reader of music can “hear” the sound when the note is seen on a page. 

Well-structured, high-quality music classes for infants and toddlers can help lay the foundation for later reading. Classes ought to include movement activities, singing, responding to sounds (including silence) and a range of sound location and differentiation activities.

There should be a range of sound-making instruments and toys. However, if parents cannot afford music classes there are lots of activities that can be done in the home.

It is important to talk and sing to babies – this has to be interactive so you cannot get away with turning the radio on and leaving the baby to listen.

As children move into preschool years, increasing the use of songs and rhymes with rhythm and movement will help their language development.

The benefits do not arise if children are simply listening to music on some kind of device. Research suggests that continuous music in the background makes it harder for them to differentiate speech from other noise.

Children can be offered opportunities to sing, and not just to sing but to try and sing in tune. They can use a range of instruments so that they practice rhythm and timing.

Moving to music is an important part of their learning; moving fast, slow, moving through different levels, moving different parts of the body. 

While there is still time left in the school holidays, parents and children can make time to sing together, to move together to music (dancing outside can be fun) and to make music together.

It is not essential to have proper musical instruments; much holiday fun can be had in making your own. Experiment with containers filled with different levels of water, blow through a comb, try making simple flutes out of hollow tubes.

There are a range of sites on the internet that explain how to make instruments out of normal every-day things, instruments that do not cost much, if anything at all to make.

Enjoy the remainder of the school holidays and have fun together.

Read more Family Matters:

Floor time is an important time for babies

Giving the gift of your presence

Creating a great place for kids to grow