Reading, What can I do at home to help?

Reading with your child and helping them with writing and spelling can help boost their achievement. Certain skills, like reading and counting, are worth really practising at home because they're fundamental to your child's progress later on.

Did you know?

Reading

Promoting reading at home is one of the most important ways that parents can support their child. Make sure your child has regular reading practice and check they understand what they read.

Here are some more tips on helping your child with reading:

• when you read to your child, make the experience interactive - ask questions about the story, the pictures, and what they think of the characters
• as their reading skills grow, gradually let them turn the tables until they're reading to you
• use dictionaries together for difficult words - a picture dictionary can make exploring language more interesting
• enrol your child at the local library so they can try new books regularly
• keep an eye out for the themes that catch your child's imagination at school - and help follow it up with more reading
• when you come across an unusual or funny-sounding word, help your child find out what it means and write it on the fridge door with magnetic letters.
• as your child gets older encourage them to pick up other books around the house to boost familiarity with 'grown-up' language. Suggest a reading list, and encourage your child to write down thoughts on the books they have read.

How does reading differ at home from in school?

Spellings, reading & maths should be practiced at home. These ‘Academic Tasks’ are outlined on the homework sent out at the start of each term.

Reading in a group/class is to ‘teach’ the skills of reading and/or comprehension, inference & deduction.

Reading 1:1 at home helps children ‘practice’ the skills of reading and/or comprehension, inference & deduction.

• Children only read 1:1 in school if they need the ‘practice’. You can help them & the school if you read 1:1 at home regularly.
• The more ‘practice ‘at home the children do the better they will be!

• Reading