Summer Is the perfect time for encouraging Bible reading in your family

Juggling family life is tough, but this summer could be your chance to start a new habit. Shelley Logan thinks Christian parents can seize the moment over the holidays to share not just stories, but words of eternal life with their children

Family life is chaotic, with many demands upon finances, time, and energy. Parents are often trying to juggle the demands of parenting, school, work, childcare, clubs, and wider family commitments. Book bags come home from school with books to read, spellings to learn, and projects to complete. Getting to the end of the day with everyone fed and (sort of) in one piece is nothing short of a tiny miracle. And then it all starts again tomorrow.

just 46% of parents reading with their child(ren) daily, compared to 66% in 2019

Are we reading with our children?

Weeks pass and we wonder, when did we last read with our child? To snuggle at the end of the day with a book, to enjoy the words and perhaps pictures together, can seem like a luxury for some, or another guilt-inducing chore to add to the to-do list for others.

The National Literacy Trust’s (NLT) 2025 survey found that reading to and with children is a declining activity, with just 46% of parents reading with their child(ren) daily, compared to 66% in 2019. To assist parents in improving literacy at home, they have created a parenting platform called Words for Life. While this is admirable and will help lay good foundations for children’s learning and development, Christian parents have more than words for life; we have ……