1. Reading With Children Some guiding principles by Mr. Martin Kennard

2. Location Find a safe and comfortable place, not on the MTR on the way home from a restaurant! For younger children, the bedroom may be the best location.

3. Preparation Read what your child is interested in, repetitive language is recommended. This can get children more involved in the story. The difficulty should be slightly above their current reading level with about 5% of the vocabulary being new words. Take some time to prepare by reading the book yourself.

4. Make it fun Show yourself enjoying the book Use different voices. Highlight punctuation. Use puppets, if you have them. Personalize the reading.

5. Interacting with the text Focus on the positives. Don’t dwell on errors. Be prepared to answer questions. (This takes priority over ‘getting the book done’). Try to think of some open ended questions of your own. If your child wants one part of the story to be repeated, that’s okay.

6. Develop a routine To instill a love of reading, make it an enjoyable routine. Keep sessions short and sharp. About 20 minutes each day is recommended. Keep it separate from homework.

7. Go beyond the story book Reading can take place in many different forms and contexts -talk about signs -put messages in lunch boxes -write notes -play word games

8. Be a good role model Let your children see you reading all different kinds of texts. Be a reading family. Keep, borrow and buy books.

9. References The Read Aloud Handbook, Jim Trelease Reading Magic: Why Reading Aloud To Our Children Will Change Their Lives Forever, Mem Fox http://www.youngreadersfestival.org.hk