At Coram Beanstalk we're often asked how best to support children in specific year groups and sometimes we can find ourselves becoming overly concerned by a child’s reading age or ability and what level books they “should” be reading. Our Learning and Development Manager, Rebecca Pedelty-cox helps unpick the idea of a 'reading age'. Read more
Dr Bharti Parmar couldn't read until she was seven years old. Here she tells us how the reasons for that have shaped her volunteering role with us... Read more
One of our recently trained reading helpers talks about why she chose to join our Coram Beanstalk reading community... Read more
Four very special children's author friends of ours each tell their favourite traditional fairy tale to celebrate Tell a Fairy Tale Day! Listen to Pippa Goodhart, Abi Elphinstone, Claire Fayers and Marianne McShane tell you a story here... Read more
Giving the gift of reading is so much more than ‘just’ giving a child a book. When we give a child a reason to read that book, when we help them to discover for themselves the value and pleasure that reading can bring, and give them free rein to explore books in their own way.... those children become readers with all of the benefits that brings! Read more
Do you have a memory of a time when you suddenly felt very grown up and that, quite possibly, something you'd chosen to read played a part in giving you that feeling of independence and perhaps contributed to you growing more fully into yourself? Hear from children's author Ross Montgomery who talks of just such an experience! Read more
Reading helper Michael Dillon talks about his experience of using joke books, in response to Gill Worrall's blog "Why a joke book is more than just a stocking filler." Read more
With Science Fiction Day on January 2nd, our Book of the Month and theme for January just had to be science fiction books! Love them or hate them, its important to offer children as many different reading materials as possible to help them find their own favourite genre! Read more
December is the month of Christmas crackers so we've got jokes on our mind! Gill Worrall our Resources Developer, explores how jokes and riddles can be a useful tool in helping children with their comprehension! Read more
Adults have a tendency to push children towards reading fictional chapter books because they think that is what 'readers' read. At Coram Beanstalk our experience has shown us that in order to become a 'reader' children need to own their reading experience. Read more
Here's why poetry can be a great hook for children who don't like reading. Read more
We shouldn’t be fooled by thinking that a child who can decode fluently is a competent reader – decoding alone is not enough. The enjoyment of reading comes from understanding and connecting with what you have read. Read more