20 Apr 2006 - Reading
Dear parents,
Have you listened to your child read today?
Did you read to your child yesterday?
Have you discussed a book with your child this week?
The Early Years (0-5 year olds)
Did you know that from the time your child is born, you play a crucial role in helping your child to become a fluent reader? Talking with your child, reading to your child and reciting nursery rhymes, all encourage language development. Listening to speech and then developing fluency in their own speaking, drives a child's ability to read and write.
When children listen to stories, look at illustrations and discuss the story, they learn an enormous amount that will help them to become readers. By spending some time every day enjoying a book with your child, you are laying the foundations for reading.
Most young children enjoy retelling a story in their own words, turning the pages and looking at the illustrations, but pay little attention to the print. Running your finger along the line encourages them to notice the words and then children will start to join in with phrases in familiar books.
Learning to read and developing reading skills (usually 5- 8 year olds)
Children become successful readers by learning to use the full range of strategies to get at the meaning of text:
* Phonic (awareness of sounds within words)
* Graphic (letter and word recognition)
* Syntactic (grammatical relationship between words)
* Contextual (meaning of sentence)
When children are developing reading skills:
* Share a book on a daily basis
* Start with the cover and the title and chat about what might be inside
* Encourage your child to predict what might happen next
* If your child gets stuck encourage them to predict what word might fit in
* If they are having difficulty tell your child the word to avoid losing momentum
* If they hesitate or leave a word out, say nothing provided the meaning is not lost
* At the end find time to discuss the story or content of what has been read
* Did they enjoy the book? Was it funny? What did they like best about the story?
* Extend the amount that they read to you depending on their confidence and stamina!
Experienced Readers (usually 9-11 year olds)
As children become experienced readers many will enjoy reading quietly to themselves - others will not! All primary aged children should be reading at home on a daily basis.
You can play an important role in encouraging this by:
* Showing an interest in what your child is reading
* Ensuring there are quiet times at home without television or other distractions
* Asking them about the book they are reading. What are the characters like? What do they think might happen next?
* Letting your children see you enjoying reading ? fiction and non fiction, newspapers, articles in magazines. Discuss what you are reading with them.
* Asking your child to read aloud once a week to help with comprehension and expression in reading
* Encouraging your child to use the school library to borrow books to read at home. They can borrow two books (fiction or non fiction) and can change them weekly.
* Carrying on reading to your child even when they are reading independently
* Making sure your child has a wide choice of books to read
* Praising your child's achievements and encouraging their efforts
* Motivating your child to read through choosing books linked to their interests
Reading is a complex process involving many different skills. For some children learning to read is effortless, however others experience a range of difficulties. Some children rely too heavily on sounding out words without using their knowledge of the story while others rely too heavily on meaning without paying enough attention to the details of print.
If you are worried that your child is experiencing difficulties when learning to read, don't let your anxieties show and don?t prolong reading if your child is tiring. If you have any concerns do come and discuss them with your child?s teacher.
With your help, all our pupils will become keen and able readers who develop a love of books that will enhance their lives.
We are planning an evening for parents on "Helping children with Reading" at 7 p.m. on Tuesday 20th June. Please put this date in your diary now.
Yours sincerely,
Linda Northover
Have you listened to your child read today?
Did you read to your child yesterday?
Have you discussed a book with your child this week?
The Early Years (0-5 year olds)
Did you know that from the time your child is born, you play a crucial role in helping your child to become a fluent reader? Talking with your child, reading to your child and reciting nursery rhymes, all encourage language development. Listening to speech and then developing fluency in their own speaking, drives a child's ability to read and write.
When children listen to stories, look at illustrations and discuss the story, they learn an enormous amount that will help them to become readers. By spending some time every day enjoying a book with your child, you are laying the foundations for reading.
Most young children enjoy retelling a story in their own words, turning the pages and looking at the illustrations, but pay little attention to the print. Running your finger along the line encourages them to notice the words and then children will start to join in with phrases in familiar books.
Learning to read and developing reading skills (usually 5- 8 year olds)
Children become successful readers by learning to use the full range of strategies to get at the meaning of text:
* Phonic (awareness of sounds within words)
* Graphic (letter and word recognition)
* Syntactic (grammatical relationship between words)
* Contextual (meaning of sentence)
When children are developing reading skills:
* Share a book on a daily basis
* Start with the cover and the title and chat about what might be inside
* Encourage your child to predict what might happen next
* If your child gets stuck encourage them to predict what word might fit in
* If they are having difficulty tell your child the word to avoid losing momentum
* If they hesitate or leave a word out, say nothing provided the meaning is not lost
* At the end find time to discuss the story or content of what has been read
* Did they enjoy the book? Was it funny? What did they like best about the story?
* Extend the amount that they read to you depending on their confidence and stamina!
Experienced Readers (usually 9-11 year olds)
As children become experienced readers many will enjoy reading quietly to themselves - others will not! All primary aged children should be reading at home on a daily basis.
You can play an important role in encouraging this by:
* Showing an interest in what your child is reading
* Ensuring there are quiet times at home without television or other distractions
* Asking them about the book they are reading. What are the characters like? What do they think might happen next?
* Letting your children see you enjoying reading ? fiction and non fiction, newspapers, articles in magazines. Discuss what you are reading with them.
* Asking your child to read aloud once a week to help with comprehension and expression in reading
* Encouraging your child to use the school library to borrow books to read at home. They can borrow two books (fiction or non fiction) and can change them weekly.
* Carrying on reading to your child even when they are reading independently
* Making sure your child has a wide choice of books to read
* Praising your child's achievements and encouraging their efforts
* Motivating your child to read through choosing books linked to their interests
Reading is a complex process involving many different skills. For some children learning to read is effortless, however others experience a range of difficulties. Some children rely too heavily on sounding out words without using their knowledge of the story while others rely too heavily on meaning without paying enough attention to the details of print.
If you are worried that your child is experiencing difficulties when learning to read, don't let your anxieties show and don?t prolong reading if your child is tiring. If you have any concerns do come and discuss them with your child?s teacher.
With your help, all our pupils will become keen and able readers who develop a love of books that will enhance their lives.
We are planning an evening for parents on "Helping children with Reading" at 7 p.m. on Tuesday 20th June. Please put this date in your diary now.
Yours sincerely,
Linda Northover