READING WITH YOUR CHILD.

READING AT HOME EXPECTATIONS. Your child should read for at least 10 minutes at home every night. This does not have to be with an adult, or their school reading book, as long as they are reading and you sign their learning diary to say you saw them read. Through experience we have found that this really improves their fluency, accuracy and comprehension.

WHAT SHOULD THEY READ? Choose and read a wide variety of texts, both fiction and non-fiction. Fiction books from a range of genres and authors, including classics. Genres Fantasy, e.g. Harry Potter, Adventure, e.g. The Secret Seven, Humour, e.g. Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Realistic (True to life) e.g. The Suitcase Kid, Science-fiction e.g. The Iron Man, Horror/Thriller, e.g. The Goosebumps Series, Classics, e.g. The Secret Garden.

TALK TO THEM ABOUT WHAT THEY HAVE READ! The children in year 5/6 are all good sight readers, to develop themselves as readers they now need to be able to discuss characters motivations, plot lines, the authors intent, language choices and be able to summarise pieces of text. This will help your child enjoy reading more as their understanding of the text is greater. They need to be able to infer and deduce from the text, by finding clues which help them to read between the lines. (Curricular target) At school they have the opportunity to discuss their reading with an adult as part of the book track reading reward system.

WHY IS THE CURRICULAR TARGET IMPORTANT? The types of questions that the children will have to answer in the SAT’s tests really focus on the skill of inference. This is also crucial when your child goes to secondary school, as they will expect them to have developed a deeper understanding of texts, and the ability to discuss them.

NOW IT’S YOUR TURN! Here are some ideas/questions that will help when you are talking to your child/children about reading. REMEMBER : you are your child’s greatest role model. Let them see you read, discuss with them the books that you liked to read as a child and why.