Early Childhood Reading Skills What can you do to help?

What current reading experiences do your children have at home? Group Discussion

“Learning to read well starts early, and good early language skills are the vital stepping stone. If children do not learn to understand words, speak, and listen from an early age, they will struggle to learn to read well when they start school” Ready to read- published by Save the Children (2015).

What are the expectations for our nursery children when reading?

How can we prepare for this?

The pre-reader and the beginning reader: *likes to look at books and likes to be read to. *likes to behave like a reader – for example, holds books and pretends to read them. *learns about words by looking at picture books and playing with blocks that have letters on them, magnetic letters, and so on. * learns about words from songs, rhymes, traffic signs, and logos on packages of food. * learns how text works – for example, where a story starts and finishes and which way the print proceeds. * begins to understand that his or her own thoughts can be put into print. * uses pictures and memory to tell and retell a story.

What we do in school 1 Reading Corner with a selection of books linked to topic and classic stories and non-fiction books. Listen to stories on the listening centre and through ICT. 2 Always sing nursery rhymes after lunch, this introduces children to characters and rhymes. 3 Read stories everyday to children to allow them to understand the structure of stories and foster a love of stories.

More formal approach- Letters and sounds to learn and recognise sounds. Lending Library- the pure enjoyment of reading and sharing a book.

Ideas for starting the reading journey at home……… Constant discussion Read fairy tales and classic stories Nursery Rhymes Magazines Reading when out, menus, signs in shops, food labels

Ideas for starting the reading journey at home……… Fairy Tales … why???? They boost a child's imagination and cultural literacy. 2. They teach us right from wrong. 3. They develop critical thinking skills. 4. They can help children deal with emotions themselves. 5. And finally, they are great fun!

Suggested Fairy Tales children should know…… Ba, ba black sheep Five little ducks Five little speckle frog Hickory Dickory Dock Humpty Dumpty I’m a little teapot Itsy Bitsy Spider Jack and Jill Little Miss Muffet Miss Polly had a dolly Old McDonald had a farm One, Two, Three , Four, Five Polly Put the kettle on Rain, Rain go away Round and Round the garden Ten in a bed The grand old duke of York The wheels on the bus Three blind mice Twinkle, Twinkle little star Wind the bobbin up

Good books to start the learning journey….