The adults in Wolf Rock love to read and our aim is to get our children as passionate as we are. We want children to read books that they are interested in, with characters and plots that they can relate to.
Every child will have an individual reading book in school. These are levelled and are pitched to provide suitable challenge for their reading age. We would like all children to have their reading books, and records, in school every day so that they can read at any given opportunity.
Please encourage your children to keep reading regularly and discuss what they have read, making it part of their everyday routine.
Supporting the initial stages of reading development: what can a parent do to help at home?
* Try to choose a quiet time every night with your child and makes yourselves comfortable.
* Let your child hold the book.
* Point to the words as you read them.
* Use the pictures as well; there is often an additional story in them.
* Allow plenty of time for discussion before you turn over a page. A valuable question is: “what do you think will happen next?”
* Let your child read the story to you afterwards, even if this is reciting by heart, or making the story up from the pictures. This is a very important stage.
* Memorising is not cheating. Make reading fun!
* Children learn to behave like readers by these activities. Praise all their attempts.
* If your child is too tired or reluctant to join in, just make it an opportunity for you to read in a relaxed and enjoyable way. Do not force participation.
For more confident readers, it is still important to read with your child even when they have become a more confident reader. Continue to support and guide your child. Do not worry if your child‟s reading is not word perfect. If they are making sense of the text, this does not matter, e.g. “house” instead of “home”, “Good dog Spot” instead of “Good boy Spot”. It would matter, however, if they read “he got on his house and rode away” as this would have changed the meaning. Always be ready to take over if your child is struggling. With your help, they will succeed and will want to read more and more as a result.
What should I be looking for when I listen to my child read?
The following list is not an exhaustive list but offers suggestions that may be appropriate. It is very important to remember that the enjoyment factor is always worth commenting on. Parents are not expected to comment on each of the following areas after each reading session!
* How enthusiastic is the child about the choice of book?
* Can the child remember the story so far?
* Is the child reading using only the pictures for clues?
* Does your child understand that the words they are reading mean something?
* Can the child read words out of context, e.g. when you point to a word without reading the whole sentence?
* Is the child confident to attempt new words?
* What reading strategies is your child using, e.g. sounds, use of the picture, use of the context?
* Can the child follow the text without using a finger or marker?
* Is there a pattern to the mistakes your child is making, e.g. words ending in “ed” or starting in “sh”?
* Does the child recognise mistakes and self-correct?
* Is the child recognising many key words?
* Is the child aware of punctuation?
Here are some links which will help with reading at home: