Whenever you read a good book, somewhere in the world a door opens to allow in more light. Vera Nazarian

So how does it all start?

Matching: When we read, part of what we do involves matching Matching: When we read, part of what we do involves matching. Children learn to match shapes, patterns, letters and, finally, words. Rhyming: Research shows that children who can understand about rhyming words have a head start in learning to read and, even more, to spell. Letter skills: As well as recognising letter shapes, learning the most common sounds that each letter makes will give children a head start. Direction: Print goes from left to right, so children will need to be familiar with where to start each line and which direction to go in. Concepts of print: This is all about knowing how to handle books - holding them the right way up, turning the pages in sequence, exploring the pictures, knowing that the words can be read to tell a story. Language skills: The more experience children have of language, the more easily they will learn to read. Your child needs to hear and join in conversations (with adults and children), and listen to stories and poetry of all sorts.

“…phonics should be emphasised in the early teaching of reading to beginners…” National Curriculum Learn some sounds Put them together to read words (blending) Recognise them in words you want to spell (segmenting) Practice…over and over again… Repeat 1-5 until you are a confident reader!

“Comprehension skills develop through pupils’ experience of high-quality discussion with the teacher, as well as from reading and discussing a range of stories, poems and non-fiction.” National Curriculum

“Reading widely and often increases pupils’ vocabulary because they encounter words they would rarely hear or use in everyday speech.” National Curriculum

The National Curriculum says… “All pupils must be encouraged to read widely across both fiction and non-fiction to develop their knowledge of themselves and the world in which they live, to establish an appreciation and love of reading, and to gain knowledge across the curriculum.” SO the question is…

…how can we help with this?

Reading at Home: Some Suggestions for Parents and Carers

First things first… Talk and listen to your child and make time for discussion Read stories, poems and other texts aloud to your child – and don’t deny yourself the pleasure of reading more challenging texts to older children Let your child see you reading for purpose and pleasure Give your child access to a wide variety of written material: books, magazines, websites, recipes, instructions, TV guides, catalogues

Strategies for helping with decoding:   ‘Blending’ or ‘sounding out’, particularly in the early years: ‘ch – o – p’ ‘p – l – ay’ ‘t – r – ai – n’ Finding the root word within more complex words (discover, subway, income, contentment) Recognising common endings (ing, ed, er, tion, able) and prefixes (un, de, dis) Using syllables to break words down into more manageable chunks (con-duct, en-count-er, or-din-ary) It’s a really good idea to re-read the sentence if you have paused to decode a word so that you do not lose the sense of the text you are reading.

If it’s all getting a bit too stressful…   If it’s all getting a bit too stressful… Try paired reading (taking it in turns to read a page / paragraph / chapter) Don’t expect perfection – maintaining the sense of the book is more important than correcting every single mistake  Keep reading sessions short and enjoyable – make them a really treasured part of the day!   Q. What is a teacher’s favourite occupation? A. Giving advice to parents about encouraging reading!

Book Talk Ask less questions and do more listening; a reading session is not an interrogation! I like the bit… I wonder if… I think… My favourite… I can’t wait to find out… It reminds me of…

“ Why don’t you read something… …harder? …with less pictures? …by a proper author? …from the school library? …that’s not a comic / Xbox game / football magazine / ipad!?”

It can be frustrating if your child often chooses to read texts that seem too easy for him / her or texts that would not be considered of the highest literary quality! Try ‘drip feeding’ your child a wider range of literature through: Reading more challenging books to him / her Watching the beginning of a TV or film adaptation to ‘whet the appetite’ Providing accessible but informative non-fiction about a topic in which the child is currently interested (websites are useful for this!)

Once you learn to read, you will be forever free. Frederick Douglas