Helping your Child with Reading

A Guide for Parents of Children in Pre-Prep

Introduction

Becoming a reader involves the development of important skills, including:

• Using language in conversation • Listening and responding to stories read aloud by an adult or sibling • Recognising and naming the letters of the alphabet and the sounds that

they make • Learning and using new words • Reading often so that word recognition becomes automatic and easy • Understanding what is read.

As a parent, your help at home is very important in supporting the work carried out at school. This booklet will give you some useful ideas on how to help your child develop their reading skills.

Top Tips

1. Choose a quiet time Set aside a quiet time with no distractions. 10 to 15 minutes is usually long enough.

2. Make reading enjoyable Make reading an enjoyable experience. Sit with your child. Try not to pressurise if he/she is reluctant. If your child loses interest then do something else.

3. Maintain the flow without rushing

If your child mispronounces a word, do not interrupt immediately. Allow the child the opportunity to self-correct.

4. Be positive Give lots of praise and encouragement. Do not expect your child to read if s/he is too tired.

5. Encourage regular practice Little and often is best: between 5 and 15 minutes a day is recommended for children in Year 1 and Year 2.

6. Success is the key As a rough guide, children should be able to read at least 90% of the words on the page without any problem. If the book is too difficult, they can become frustrated, and may have to concentrate so hard on reading the words that they lose the enjoyment and understanding of the story.

7. Pictures are powerful ENCOURAGE your child to look at the pictures. Children are expected to read for meaning and to understand what they have read. Young readers draw on a range of cues when learning to read, including picture cues. Do not cover the pictures when your child reads to you.

8. Variety is important Children need to experience a variety of genres and reading materials. For example, picture books, hard backs, magazines, comics, poetry books, information books, recipes etc.

9. Communicate Communicate with your child’s teacher through the reading record. Comment on successes and progress. Do not be afraid to ask questions and record any difficulties your child may encounter.

10. Make time for ‘Book Talk’

There is more to being a good reader than being able to read the words accurately. It is extremely important that children learn to read for meaning and that they understand what they are reading.

11. Be a good role model

Let your child see that you value books. If children see you reading books, newspapers, magazines etc, this will encourage them to take an interest in reading. Share the stories that you enjoyed, as a child, with your own child. Share your enthusiasm with them.

Book Talk - Getting Started

• Look at the front cover, discuss the title • Who is the author/the illustrator? • Is there a blurb on the back cover? What does it tell us about the book? • Is it a fiction or non-fiction book? • Check comprehension of the text by asking questions. For example,

you could choose two or three questions from the list below:

1. Can you tell me what happened at the beginning/middle/end of the story?

2. Who is the main character in the book? 3. Who is your favourite character? Why? 4. Where is the story set? Is it like anywhere you have ever been? 5. Can you find any words in the text to describe the setting? 6. Did you enjoy this book? What did you enjoy? Can you find some

interesting words in the book? 7. Did the story end as you expected? 8. How else could it have ended? 9. What could happen next? 10. (At regular intervals throughout the book) What has happened so

far? What might happen next?

• Look at the language and punctuation in the text: 11. Can you find a question mark/exclamation mark/speech marks? 12. (Year 2) Can you find three verbs/nouns/adjectives/compound

words/joining words/connectives?

Nurturing confidence and developing fluency There are numerous ways in which you can read with your child and promote the idea of reading for pleasure. You will find some suggestions of how to broaden your child’s experiences below. Children learn a lot from the world around them. Point out notices and signs in your local area and encourage your child to spot words they know. Make time to read to your child, as well as listening to them read. Encourage your child to share books with grandparents, siblings, child-minders and friends. Play with rhythm and rhyme; teach your child nursery rhymes, short poems and songs. Practise the alphabet with your child; point out letters when you are out and about. Practise the sounds that letters make too. You could encourage your child to create letters, and practise weekly spellings, with playdough or by writing them in sand or shaving foam. Playing ‘I Spy’ is a fun way of teaching your child that every word begins with a letter. Other useful word games include ‘odd one out’, where children have to spot the odd word in a list, for example, ‘cat, rat, mat, hot, fat’. Create opportunities for your child to practise reading high frequency words on sight, without sounding out. You can use the list of high frequency words issued by your child’s form teacher. Remember the rule of ‘little and often’. You could use these words for word games, such as hangman or ‘How many words can you read in a minute?’

Share traditional stories with your child and allow them to re-read texts. Children learn a lot about the use of language through hearing, and reading, familiar stories and texts with familiar characters, themes and events. Finally, join your local library. Your child will have access to a wide range of genres and rich, high-quality texts.

Useful Links:

• http://www.theschoolrun.com/improve-KS1-reading

• http://www.puffin.co.uk/static/grownups/parents/asktheteacher.html

• http://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/GetReading

• http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks1/literacy/

• http://www.highfrequencywords.org/

• http://www.familylearning.org.uk/reading_printables.html