It is important to think about Your child’s reading in two parts: Phonics (sounds) Comprehension (understanding) Good readers need to have both skills. However, they can develop one even if they struggle with the other; children can develop good understanding of texts even when they struggle with phonics.

Comprehension (understanding). What can you do at home? Read AND TALK about reading. The talk around reading is just as important and needs just as much time. This can happen whatever the text; it can even be about a picture or a front cover. *Children who show good comprehension are better writers.

What could you talk about? What happens next? What are they doing? Why?

What could you talk about? Where is ...? Positional Vocabulary: In, Under, Over, Through.

What could you talk about? Describe the characters. Descriptive Language: Fluffy, Happy, Excited,

Also talk about sounds you can see.

hard to concentrate on more than one or two things at once. http://www.babcock-education.co.uk/ldp/earlyyears Young children find it hard to concentrate on more than one or two things at once. TV, phones, tablets and other distractions make it hard for them to tune into what you are saying and doing. Help them focus on you by getting their attention before you talk – much easier to do if they are not playing on a handheld device or have a TV on in the background !

Ask them and encourage them to ask.

Advantages of pre-cursive Some schools teach fully cursive handwriting right from the start. ‘The main benefit is that children tend to reach fluency faster, whereas if they learn to print first and then learn to join up, it’s like learning two different languages,’ says handwriting tutor Michelle Van Rooyen. The new 2014 curriculum says that children should learn to form all their lower case and capital letters plus digits 0 to 9 by the end of Year 1. They then need to start joining their letters in Year 2. In Year 3, they need to concentrate on increasing the legibility, consistency and quality of their joined handwriting. Throughout Key Stage 2, children need to keep up the quality of their handwriting, and concentrate on increasing their speed.