Reading
Helping your child develop a love of reading!
“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” Dr.Seuss
Children can benefit tremendously from being read to aloud. Studies show that children who are read to aloud are more likely to do better in school both academically and socially. Effective reading aloud time is all about creating a positive reading experience to engage the students, so you will want to model your enthusiasm for books and reading for them.
How to encourage your child to read.
Read yourself!
Set a good example by sharing your reading. Let your children see that you value books and keep them at home.
Keep books safe.
Make your child their own special place to keep their books. Show them how to turn pages carefully. Point out words all around you. Help your child to read the words around them: on food packets in the supermarket, on buses, in newspapers, in recipes.
Visit your library – it’s free to join!
All libraries have children’s sections. Many also have regular storytelling sessions. Make time to read.
Read a bedtime story with your child EVERY night. Encourage them to share reading with grandparents, brothers and sisters and aunts and uncles.
Keep in touch with school. Make sure your child swaps their home reading books regularly at school and try to make a regular time slot of about 10 minutes to hear them read
How to help with reading
Be positive. Praise your child for trying hard at their reading. Let them know it’s all right to make mistakes.
Turn off the TV! It's easier for your child to concentrate if there are no distractions.
Give them time. Let them make a guess before you tell them the word. Help them to get the first sound or try breaking the word up into smaller sections.
Point with a finger. Encourage them to follow the words with their finger. Don’t make them try too hard! It doesn’t matter if you have to tell them the word sometimes.
Ask questions about what you have just read or the pictures they have been shown. This will help improve students’ comprehension of the story.
When choosing books to read aloud, strike a balance between following the students’ preferences and inviting them to try new types of books to expand their horizons and spark new interests. Say, “this looks like a good story. Let’s give it a try!”
Repeated reading helps children become familiar with the vocabulary, repeated themes, and the language in the story. You can use repeated story readings to help preschool children understand, talk about, and be part of the story. Having books read a number of times helps children understand and internalise story language – which in turn makes for fantastic writers!