Reading Parent Forum

Aims of the Session Information about the best strategies to help your child with reading at home Suggested reading books for your child that are age appropriate Information about how the school is promoting pleasure for reading Sharing your ideas for creating enthusiasm for reading at home Sharing your ideas for creating enthusiasm for reading in school

Helping your child at home Choose a quiet time and read to your child-good models of reading Think of ways to make reading fun- to learn how pleasurable books can be Be a reader yourself! Read dual-language books if English isn’t your family’s first language Help your children with what to read Variety is important- range of fiction/non-fiction/magazines/computer text etc. Some book recommendations will be made available on the school website Guidance available for conversations to have with your child whilst reading- ‘Developing reading skills through questioning’ Visit the library; ‘young people that use their public library are nearly twice as likely to be reading outside of class every day’ (Clark and Hawkins, 2011)

Reading at home Using the Neurological Impress Method Recorded Books Repeated Reading

Sit your child slightly in front of you so that your voice will be close to his or her right ear. Hold the reading material jointly with your child. Vary the reading material to keep your child's interest. Use newspapers, magazines, and works of fiction and nonfiction. Read the material out loud with your child. At first, you should read a little louder and slightly faster. If your child complains that he or she cannot keep up with you, urge the child to continue and to forget about any mistakes. It may, however, be necessary for you to slow down to a rate that is more comfortable for your child or to repeat sentences and paragraphs several times. In the first few sessions, you should reread the initial lines or paragraphs several times until your child is reading in a normal fluid fashion. Only 2 to 3 minutes of repetition should be sufficient for most students to feel comfortable with NIM. If your child reads well right away, do not reread the material. Speed up your reading rate for a few minutes in each session to pull your child to a higher reading rate. As you read, run your finger under a word as it is spoken. It is quite important that these actions be simultaneous and that your finger move in a smooth fashion. Good readers often look ahead of what they are reading aloud and must be especially careful that their fingers are under the words that are being read aloud. At the end of a line, you must move your finger back swiftly to the beginning of the new line just like a typewriter carriage does at the end of a line. Your child can take over the finger movement or alternate this task with you after several sessions, if desired. Should your child have difficulty in moving his or her finger to accompany the words, place your hand on the child's finger and guide it until a smooth movement is achieved. Read as many pages as you can in a session while using the rate and intonation of a fluent reader. As your child begins to master the material and gain confidence, you can read with a softer voice or lag slightly behind the child. Should your child falter, start immediately to read louder and faster.