The prospect of Chicken Licken of an evening, yet again, might prove more than any right-minded person can bear. Far from being a suspense-injected romp across the countryside, yet another well loved tale mutates into a monotoned rapid flick to The End. And that's if they're lucky. All too often that bit of quality reading time becomes a kiss and a cuddle and the promise of a story, next time. But it doesn't have to be all Chicken Licken and Cinderella. Reading to the kids can be a wonderful moment of little bodies flopped all over you, enthralled by the rhythm of your voice and the comfort of your lap. "I want my children to have the sort of memories of comfort and warmth that I remember from my father telling us stories," says Linda Dodson, one of nine participants on an innovative new course accredited by the Open College Network - it's called "Read to Succeed". "He would read us poems and stories and we hadn't a clue what he was talking about, but his tone as he read put us on edge, and we loved that closeness we had with him."

Read to Succeed is a 13-week course on reading with children. It combines practical skills and the experience of reading to children with information on child development and the underlying theory regarding the benefits of reading. The course was originally devised in Northern Ireland for parents with poor literary skills as part of breaking the cycle of disadvantage. In Dublin the course is being taught for the first time at Collinstown Community College, Clondalkin, in conjunction with the Dublin Adult Learning Centre and Enda Kenny, the home-school liaison co-ordinator at Collinstown. Miriam Weadick is one of the course tutors. "We have found that the course has a much wider application than was originally intended," she says. "It is useful to pre-school leaders, grandparents and parents who just want to know more about the value of storytelling. It's a great course - we've all really enjoyed it."

The first couple of lessons look at foetal development and the value of reading to babies under six months. "The baby in the womb responds to his or her mother's voice," says Dodson, who is pregnant with her third child. "They hear the rhythm and changing tone of voice, and they react. When they are born they know the sound of their mother's voice and from the very beginning they enjoy "reading" - looking at pictures and listening to sounds. "But it's not about pushing your children, it's about enjoying them and having fun."

Valerie Horace has found that the extra time she spends reading to her six-year-old daughter since beginning the course has opened up a whole new world of play. "She loves to develop the story when it's over. She'll do her own version of it and maybe do her own play of it, or do some drawings. "Kids often find their school books a bit dull, but the kinds of stories you can get these days are great for stimulating children's imaginations."

The parents on the course have found books can play an invaluable role in all sorts of aspects of their children's lives. Caroline Sewell always read to her two children, now aged five and six, but "I mostly read the standard fairytales. I had never realised there was such a wide range of books until I began the course. "There are books out there dealing with pretty much everything, stories which help them understand stressful situations they might encounter and all sorts of change they have to deal with. We have Bosnians and people from Africa coming to the school now, so I've been able to get books which look at different cultures and talk about it with the kids."

Taken out of the context of school, some of the children have also found they enjoy reading themselves. "Because they are just reading the words in their school books, they sometimes think they can't actually read," says Sewell. "But they find they recognise words in the books I have at home, and when they realise they can actually read, it is a big boost to their selfconfidence.

"Reading has such serious implications for their experience of school. If they aren't confident readers by the time they get to second level, their choices will be limited."

Participating in the programme has also had a positive effect on the mothers themselves. Janet Wallace who "lives with five males", went very reluctantly into a class of junior infants to read them a story. "I knew practical experience was part of the course, but I was dreading it. I would never have seen myself up in front of a class reading a story. But we had talked about how to hold the book, when to use props and generally how to keep their attention.

"The kids I read to were totally captivated the whole way through. They loved the story and they could all relate to the main character. Afterwards they were all falling over themselves telling me about their lives - their brothers and sisters, their lunches, whatever. I loved it! "I read more myself since I started the course. My kids all see me and indirectly I feel I'm passing on a love of reading - which is the best gift you can give anyone."

For further information about the Read to Succeed certificate, contact the Dublin Adult Learning Centre, 3 Mountjoy Square, Dublin 1 (tel: (01) 8787266).

Siobhan Whitehead of Co Wexford, who was interviewed in last week's supplement, has asked us to emphasise that her complaints are not about the school her son, Eoin, attends, Kilrane National School, but about services provided by the Department of Education and Science.

In a letter to Education and Living, she says: "In my interview, I wished to express the view that the DES is failing in their duty to provide an appropriate education for many children, especially children who are within the autistic spectrum and have language impairment. The tone of my interview, which lasted half an hour, gave the impression that I was very critical of the national school where my son is attending. This is in fact not the case. Principals of some national schools, especially in counties such as Wexford, where there is no educational psychological service, are reluctant to take children with special needs, not because they do not want the child, but they know that the child and the school often fail to get the support that is required."

Seamus Beaglaoich, principal of Kilrane, says he was happy to accept Eoin into the school this year. In a letter to Siobhan Whitehead in May, accepting Eoin as a pupil from September, he wrote: "I am a believer in the integration of children with special needs with children from their own locality. In Eoin's case I am not sure, with his diagnosed condition of autism (whatever degree), that mainstream education is the ideal option. The big question for both of us is how he copes with peer pressure. We in Kilrane NS are prepared to give it a try but I must point out to you that should Eoin be unable to cope the onus will be on you to find a suitable and appropriate placement for him."