I heard about the Id f'Id programme of the Foundation for Educational Services at St Paul's Bay primary school and thought it sounded interesting and applied to join the course. The course, was conceived, organised and led by other parents like myself and were assisted by qualified teachers known as Id f'Id animators.

The course was about how parents can instil the love of reading in their primary school-age children. I am glad I participated as I have learnt a lot about children's attitudes towards reading.

It was the first time I heard about paired reading, a technique which has proved successful for children with learning difficulties. I have been practising a form of shared reading since my son was little, although I did not know it was called that and now I know where and how I can improve on it.

The guided tour of the public library was also very interesting and the children all seemed to be enjoying it too. This kind of course is very effective not only because of its content but also because it serves as a platform where parents can vent their ideas and discuss problems, while others learn through their experiences.

Although the course was addressed for parents, our children were invited to join us for the last session in order for us parents to apply with our children the skills we learned during the course. It was a lot of fun for children and parents alike where we made up stories for a puppet show and the big books - stories written and illustrated by the children - were a great success. Both children and parents showed they were really involved in these sessions. I also found the list of books of great help especially the Maltese ones as it is not so easy to find the right ones for children.

I would like to thank and congratulate the teachers (Id f'Id animators) and the parents who, with the help of the Foundation for Educational Services, organised this course to further empower parents educationally and hope they keep up the good work.