What we will cover Reading development of preschool, Reception and Year 1 children and what is done in school. How to help at home.

Who is the significant reader in our lives? Who got us into reading? Who taught us to read? Where do we enjoy reading or read the most? Why do we love/ not love reading?

Early Reading Experiences Video Clip What is this child learning from this experience? How can we promote reading with our young learners?

In school we follow the ‘Letters and Sounds’ program. (A phonics resource published by the Department for Education and Skills) It aims to build children's speaking and listening skills, for children to become fluent readers. Jelly Beans start with phase 1 Reception start from phase 2 The document highlights the importance of developing, from the earliest stages, children’s speaking and listening skills So they can build a good stock of words and vocabulary learn to listen attentively speak clearly and confidently Speaking and listening are the roots of reading and writing.

Early reading in pre school Research recognises that children learn easier through play. Therefore the program uses adult led play activities. Children will learn to: Have fun with sounds Listen carefully Develop their vocabulary Speak confidently to adults and children Tune into sounds Listen and remember sounds Talk about sounds

7 aspects of the ‘Letters and Sounds’ phase 1 program: Environmental sounds Instrumental sounds Body percussion Rhythm and rhyme Alliteration Voice sounds Oral blending and segmenting

Early reading in Reception In Reception Class children begin to: Learn the link between letters and the sounds they make Hear separate sounds within words Blend sounds together Read tricky words Identify digraph and trigraph sounds

Phonics continues in Year One. They will progress up to phase 5. They continue to learn: Tricky words Alternative digraph sounds Split digraphs The children’s phonic understanding will greatly effect their writing.

How to help with early reading Sound talk: Play games using sound talk. Sound out the words and let the children blend. Eg, ‘Simon says stand u- p/ clap your h-a-n-d-s’ Rhyming games: Help children listen out for middle and end sounds in words by asking them to spot and create rhymes. Best, guest, west, TEST… can be part of a game where you take turns to say a rhyming word. The words do not have to be ‘real’ – ants, lants, fants, PANTS… cause great giggles!

Initial Sounds: Encourage your child to listen for the first sound in a word. Sound Actions and songs: Practise phonic sounds with actions. Listen to and sing along with the song. Identifying phonic sounds and digraphs: Identify letters of the alphabet- their sounds and names. Identify digraph and trigraph sounds. Identify words with these sounds in. Play I spy

How to help with early reading Sounding out to read and write: Help your child to sound out simple words. Words like ‘this’, ‘that’, ‘thing’ and ‘then’ are best read by sounding each phoneme: /th/ - /a/ - /t/. This really helps children to read small common words like ‘in’, ‘an’, ‘on’, ‘at’, ‘it’, ‘is’, ‘up’, ‘us’, ‘we’, etc. Tricky words: When there is no easy way of sounding these out, children need to memorise them

Phonic practise plays a vital role in helping children’s early reading development. However, when children start to read sentences and story books, we must also focus on their understanding of the story. This can be done by effective questioning and talking about the book.

How to help with early reading- comprehension skills Talk about what you are reading and ask questions: What did the character just do? Why do you think they did that? What do you think the character is like? What do you think will happen next? What does that mean? Can we read the words around it and work it out? Who is your favourite character? Why? Do you like how the story ended? Can you think of another way it could end?

There is another reading development workshop next Tuesday at 2pm, aimed at higher KS1 and KS2 children. Thank you very much for your time.