Literacy
Reading at home
Readin
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During Reception and beyond, our children learn to read using schemes such as Jolly Phonics, Rigby Star and Oxford Reading Tree.
As they travel on their journey to becoming independent and enthusiastic readers the children have access to a full range of exciting books.
All children are encouraged to take home a reading book to share with parents or to read on their own – for our fully independent readers these books may not adhere to a particular scheme and may be a book borrowed from our library.
Sharing Stories and Learning to Read
At Spring Bank we value parents’ involvement in their child’s reading. It is important for you to read regularly with your child, so that they may practise regularly the skills we teach them at school.
Here are some tips which may be helpful:
1. Choose a quiet time
Set aside a quiet time with no distractions. Ten to fifteen minutes is usually long enough.
2. Make reading enjoyable
Make reading an enjoyable experience. Sit with your child. Try not to pressurise if he or she is reluctant. If your child loses interest then do something else.
3. Maintain the flow
If your child mispronounces a word do not interrupt immediately. Instead allow opportunity for self-correction. It is better to tell a child some unknown words to maintain the flow rather than insisting on trying to build them all up from the sounds of the letters.
4. Sounding out
If your child does try to ‘sound out’ words, encourage the use of letter sounds rather than ‘alphabet names’. Encourage them to keep the sounds clipped short, without an ‘uhh’ at the end, as this helps with blending the sounds together.
e.g. ‘mmm – u- mmm’ makes ‘mum’, but ‘muh-u-muh’ makes ‘muhumuh’, which doesn’t make much sense!
Or ‘c – ah – t’ makes ‘cat’, but ‘cuh-ah-tuh’ only makes ‘cuhahtuh’ – nonsense!
5. Be positive
If your child says something nearly right to start with that is fine. Don’t say ‘No. That’s wrong,’ but instead say ‘Let’s read it together’ and point to the words as you say them. Boost your child’s confidence with constant praise for even the smallest achievement.
6. Visit the Library
Encourage your child to use the public library regularly.
7. Regular practice
Try to read with your child on most school days. ‘Little and often’ is better than longer sessions.
8. Communicate
Your child has a school reading diary. Try to write in it regularly with positive comments and any concerns. Your child will then know that you are interested in their progress and that you value reading.
9. Understanding
There is more to being a good reader than just being able to read the words accurately! Just as important is being able to understand what has been read. Talk to your child about the book; about the pictures, the characters, how they think the story will end, their favourite part. You will then be able to see how well they have understood and you will help them to develop good comprehension skills.
10. Favourite stories
Allow your child to re-read favourite stories, or hear you re-read them. Knowing a familiar book will help them notice more about the words on the page and they will start to recognise the patterns in new words and stories.
