Reading At Home

We all lead a busy life and it's not always easy to find a spare few minutes to listen to and read with our children.

Hopefully some of the ideas below will help reading time be an enjoyable experience for everyone.

Try to find somewhere (perhaps take advantage of the improving weather and read outside) that is

• Quiet
• Comfortable
• Where you can sit closely together
• Relaxing
• Where you won't be interrupted

Some Do's

• Encourage your child to guess what the story might be about before you begin reading
• Praise every effort made ; you worked hard on that word!
• That's a tricky word, but I'm sure you will be able to work it out.
• What a good idea you had about the story.
• Look how much easier it is for you now, reward progress with a smile and encouraging word.
• I really enjoyed listening to you read, thank you.
• Ask your child what story or part of the story, they would like to read to you
• Share the reading. You read some to them, then they read some to you, maybe even read a few lines together
• Ask questions about what happened in the story, who was in the story, which character they liked (and why), 
• Ask your child to find words on the page 
• Encourage your child to use what they know about letter and their sounds when working out a word.
• Miss a tricky word out and read on to the end of the sentence then go back and make a guess about what the word may say.
• Praise their efforts.
• Let your child see you reading. It shows them that you also value reading.
• Make it a happy, shared time in your busy day.
• Read a variety of books to keep it interesting.

Please ask if there is anything you would like to know regarding helping your child with their reading.

Mostly, read, read, read