Reading at home

For early readers, reading daily at home is vital for supporting progress across the curriculum. Reading from a child's reading scheme book is important for progress however, it is just as important to read a variety of texts including non fiction. It is also important to read to your child from a book that is at a higher level than their own reading ability. Other word games can also help. Scrabble, Hangman and some websites are also a good tool.

Reading to your child at home Show that you are excited about the book- show your emotions, act excited and start making correct and incorrect predictions based upon the events. Invite your child to do the same. Spend time looking at the pictures and talking about them. Look for picture cues that give an indication of what might happen next. Use lots of describing language when you read and invite the child to help you with this.

Reading at home - Read for minutes together each day - It doesn’t have to be a school book - Don’t make it appear a chore - If your child is tired and it becomes a battle, think about why it is happening; try a different time. - Be a good role model

Hearing your child read You are aiming for your child to gradually develop fluency, pace and intonation. The skill of speaking aloud will be used throughout their life! Children will still come to a difficult word and stop – what can you do? This is as true at Y6 as in other years! You can become a word detective! Ask them to look at the first letter of the word. Encourage sounding out each letter. Look for patterns like ‘ing’ or ‘ight’. Read to the end of the sentence – then guess. Ask them to think about the story. Keep the story flowing so you both enjoy reading together. It is more important for your child to know what the book is about, rather that read every word correctly!

Find a good time to read together. This needs to suit your home lifestyle! - Try to avoid times while you are multi- tasking! - Give your child your attention – this time is special to them.

Importance of book talk Chambers (2011) advocates the social element of reading by promoting a system of “book talk,” that encourages children to be critical of what they have read by discussing their likes, dislikes and any puzzles or patterns with the rest of their class. He argues that this type of discussion helps children to articulate their responses to a book and to begin to develop an awareness of how authorial choices impact on them as a reader. It is crucial that children are given the opportunity to read and to discuss books with their peers, and to ask questions to their teachers and parents about what they have been reading, as this creates critical and confident readers. It is of vital importance that children are questioned about texts they have read. This can be whilst reading aloud to the class, during guided reading or even with individual children. This questioning allows children to discover patterns and think in a higher order way about what they have read, thus developing their comprehension skills and allowing them to respond to texts in a more sophisticated way. Chambers, A. (2011) Tell Me. Children, Reading & Talk. The Reading Environment. How Adults Help Children Enjoy Books. Stroud: The Thimble Press

Closed Questions! Change these questions so that the answers cannot be yes or no. Closed Questions Do you like this book? Do you like this character? It’s a good story isn’t it? Do you like reading? Are you good at reading? Do you like this kind of story? Open Questions What do you like about this book? What do you think of this character? Why do you think this is a good story? What’s great about reading? Why are you a good reader? What is it about these stories that you like so much?

Creativity... It is not a test! For fun: Have them act out a scene from the book. Draw a picture of their favourite part Write a follow up story, letter or postcard to the author... There are many creative ways to engage in conversation with your child about the book they are reading! Enjoy and have fun