Supporting reading at home Parents information talk Bagshot Infant School Tuesday 8 th January 2012

At first we learn to read, then we read to learn. Home is the child’s first school and parents are the child’s first teachers. As a parents you play the most important role in helping your child to learn. You know your child better than anyone and therefore can help and support them the most. Reading is important as it is the foundation of all learning. Children who are good readers get off to a good start in their education. Children who are confident at reading have a positive attitude to learning. Children who read with their families develop a love of reading that lasts a life time.

What we do in school In school the main approach to teaching reading is learning through phonic letter sounds. We follow the programme letters and sounds ( sounds.com) which teaches children through a series of phases. sounds.com Children move through these phases at their own pace meaning that across the class their will be children working at different phases and taught and supported accordingly. One of the supporting programmes that we use alongside Letters and Sounds is Jolly Phonics. All children learn differently and therefore a variety of strategies are used alongside phonics. Children are taught to use picture clues, whole word recognition and other strategies such as checking for sense etc.. Children learn during whole class sessions, group reading( Guided Reading) as well as individual reading. Children are given opportunities to read a wide variety of books and genres. Most of all children are taught to enjoy reading and listening to stories read to them.

How you can support at home. Find quality time to read with your child 3 times a week mins in fine. Find somewhere quiet and comfortable. Do not put pressure on your child it should be enjoyable. Spend time talking together about what the book might be about first. Look at the cover and title.

For a child starting in reading. Singing nursery rhymes is a very important first step to reading. Learning to rhyme and continue a rhyming string. Reading favourite stories to your child and repeating them often so you and the child really know them. Children will start to remind you of parts, you can add you own parts. Having a good recall of a story in sequence is an important reading skill. Ask you child about the story, can they tell it to you in their own words? It is a good idea to have a bank of about 10 favourite stories over time. Share the book together, you can read it to you child first if needed. Encourage them to follow the text with their fingers as you read. Spend time talking about the pictures. What is happening? Who are the characters? What are they doing? How are they feeling? What might they be thinking? Encourage them to predict what might happen next.

Beginning to read Children should be encourage to use phonics as the prime approach and start by looking at the initial letter sounds of the words. Gradually they move on to using ending sounds as well, then to segmenting the world word and blending it back to read. Along side this they will also use whole word recognition for character names and tricky words. Other ways to support reading are to use the pictures( it’s not cheating!) as they help the child to think about what is happening and work out words that would make sense. Having a go at the whole sentence can help, you can miss the difficult word out and fill it in later. Think of the strategies as a tool box to help support children in reading. They may need to try several at once to get the job done. Again talk about the book, ask the child about their favourite parts and why they like it. Can they retell the story back to you verbally? Ask them about the main characters, the setting( where it takes place). What are the main events? Can they make up a new ending or extend it?

Taking off in reading When your child is beginning to gain confidence in reading they still require your time and support. With Non-fiction factual books they will be learning about the layout as well as reading it. Looking at the titles and headings, where and how they are used. Teaching them how to use a contents page, or index and for older children a glossary. With fiction story books ask your child questions after they have read it several times. Make sure these are not just questions that need a straight answers from the book but questions that get your child to really think about what they have read – what would happen if? Why do you think he did that? What was he feeling when? How could he have change that? Use a variety of questioning words – why, what, when, how, where.

Reading as a family Children learn best when they see others reading around them. Ensure they see you reading so they understand it’s not just a school thing. Continue to read stories to them, especially bedtime stories. Provide a variety of reading materials, comics, magazines, newspapers, books, etc.. Take them to a library to chose their own books and make it special.

Reluctant readers Some children do not always take to reading straight away – do not panic! If you child is refusing to read at home and obviously not enjoying it the trick is to make reading interesting, fun and enjoyable once more. Take the pressure off for a bit and come away from the set reading books if needed( feel free to talk to the class teacher) Find something they enjoy such as comic or magazine or sometimes factual books. Make games out of it especially when out and about – in the car for example who can find the first sign starting with a particular letter, or the first person to find a set word on a sign etc.. When shopping give them some labels from old packets so they have to match them to the new ones they are looking for on the shelf. If you child becomes negative and says they can’t read point out some of the following as it often works – They can always read shop signs, ASDA, Sainsbury’s etc.. They can read labels on packets and tins especially cereals. They can often read their own street name, They can probably read their own name and other family names. They can read names of characters off of magazines and comics. Try a few of these with your child to show them they are in fact reading every day.

A few reminders Do not put pressure on your child, it should be fun with support and encouragement. Try not to rush them, give them time to look and think before you jump in. Remember to always give praise about something each time they read. A child may read a word one day and have forgotten it the next, they are not going backwards, it’s normal and takes repeated practice and patience. It is not a race to get through a particular reading scheme. Children enjoy repeating books and get a lot from it as it is not just being able to read the text in it. Make it fun. If you are not in the correct mind frame for reading with your child do it another time or ask another family member to read with them – we all have our good and bad days. Your child can read with a variety of people, older siblings and grandparents etc.. If you ever need support or are unsure ask your child’s teacher, we are always happy to help.

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