Helping your child with reading
Reading has always been an important skill. In our modern world it is more important than ever. Children learn about the importance of reading as they watch family members use reading and writing for everyday purposes.
Reading with your child at home will help your child in all learning areas of school. Children see you reading and writing in everyday life – reading for pleasure, sharing a story with your child, using a recipe, making a shopping list, writing a birthday card or reading street signs. This teaches them that reading and writing are useful skills in today’s world.
Often parents are asked by the school to listen to their child read at home. It’s a good way of supporting your child’s reading.
What you can do at home to help
* Be yourself. Involve children in everyday conversations.
* Read aloud to children. It helps them to learn the language of books and will encourage them to
enjoy books and reading.
* Talk about books, read together and make reading an enjoyable, shared activity.
* Make sure there is a wide range of reading material for your child at home, both fiction and
non-fiction.
* It is important to read to your child in your home language if your first language is not
English. Experience shows that using your home language will help your child to learn to read
in English.
* Try not to let television intrude on reading time. Make a special time for reading with your
child, away from interruption.
* Listen to your child every day, even for a short time.
* Give books as treats and presents.
Hints for listening to your child read
* Before reading, talk about the cover, the title, the pictures, and discuss what the book may be
about.
* During reading, discuss what has been read up to that point, and imagine what will happen
next time.
* After reading is finished, talk and ask questions about the story and the pictures.
* When reading a harder book together, take turns. Beginning readers can read the repetitive
parts and more experienced readers can read a paragraph or a page.
* On finding an unknown word:
Pause to give your child time to work out the word
Prompt
– go back to the beginning of the sentence, or read past the difficult word to the end of the
sentence.
– look for a clue in the picture or the words
– look at the first letter and think about what the words could be
– ask “Does this make sense?”
– try to sound out the word
– if necessary tell your child the word
Praise your child for trying even if mistakes are made.