Reading - Helping your child
Overview
We use the Oxford Reading Tree at The Raglan Junior school and continue this up to stage 16 where children (often in year 6) are reading adaptations of Shakespeare, Jane Eyre and Frankenstein amongst others. Click here for a guide booklet from OUP (Oxford University Press).
The scheme is structured in such a way so as to expose children to a broad range of fiction and non-fiction texts. Levels are determined by teachers and children can move onto the next level if a teacher is convinced that the child has confidence in the range of texts within the current level.
Reading is one of the most important skills your child will ever acquire. Parents are encouraged to do all they can to help their children become good readers. But how can you help? This article puts forward some ideas to get you started.
How do I make a start?
The first thing to do is to show your child, from a very early age, that print is all around us. Read things out loud, such as posters, signs, cereal packets, birthday cards – anything that has words on it. It’s important to show your child that reading is something that doesn’t just happen at school:
– Let your child see you enjoying reading and finding it interesting – for example, reading magazines, adverts and letters.
– Show that reading is useful. For example, look in the paper together for the names of your child’s favourite TV programmes to find out when to put the TV on. Or let your child see you writing a shopping list and then use the list together in the shops to help you remember what you need.
– Show your child how reading is a normal thing to do many times during an average day. Read the signs around you, for example OPEN and CLOSED on shop doors.
– Join the local library.
– Sometimes buy books as presents and rewards.
– Make simple books together by folding a piece of paper in half and encouraging your child to draw pictures in it which tell a ‘story’.
When should I read with my child?
There is no best time of the day for reading. It goes on all the time and can happen anywhere. However, it is worth making a special time to share books with your child – just before bed is often a favourite:
– Choose a time and a place where it is quiet and cosy and where you are not likely to be disturbed.
– Choose a time when you’re not feeling rushed and when there aren’t other things your child wants to do.
– The length of time may vary from day to day, but a rough guide to aim at for young children could be up to 15 minutes, gradually increasing to 30 minutes as your child grows older.
– Sit in a position which is comfortable for you both and where you can both see the book.
– Stop if you’re not both enjoying it – for example, if one of you is finding it difficult to concentrate or is nodding off.
How do I share books with my child?
Children can start to enjoy books at a very young age, long before they can read any of the words:
– Enjoy it. If you do nothing else, this enjoyment alone will help your child with reading. Don’t worry if you are reading a favourite book again and again. Your child will be remembering the story and will ‘read’ it with you from memory, gaining confidence on the way.
– Get a feel for the book by:
* looking at the cover and talking about it
* saying things like ‘This looks like a good book because…’ or ‘I think this might be a funny story because…’
* letting your child hold the book the right way round and turn the pages
* looking at the pictures and talking about what you can both see in them.
– Read stories together slowly, clearly and with expression. Children love readers using different voices and it helps them to remember the characters in the stories.
– Help your child to pick out some words they know and any favourites, such as repeating phrases, or words that start with the same letter as their name.
– Share information books as well as story books. Some children prefer these and can see a reason to read if they are finding things out.
– Choose books that have rhythm and rhyme like Hairy McClary from Donaldson’s Dairy. This helps children to guess what the next word is going to be.
– Choose stories that repeat phrases, such as The Three Little Pigs. Your child will remember the repeating sentences and will ‘read’ them with you.
– Read books with exciting stories or interesting facts. Your child will want to know what happens next and will look forward to reading again.
– Encourage your child to join in and ‘read’ with you. Use your finger to show that you read across the page from left to right, starting at the top of the page and then reading down to the bottom. On picture books which may have few words, always check the top of the page together, before reading the bottom.
– Praise, praise, praise!!! Children will succeed if they feel good about what they’re doing, so praise your child for every little step along the way.
What can I ask my child about the book?
Questions help to develop children’s ideas about what a book is. Give your child the chance to ask you questions, too. However, don’t ask too many questions, as this may spoil the flow of the story and your child’s enjoyment of it. Sometimes, just read a story all the way through without stopping, simply for the enjoyment of it.
Here are some questions you might find useful:
– Looking at the cover: What do you think this story is going to be about? Do you think it’s going to be funny/sad? Do you like the picture on the cover?
– What do you think is going to happen next?
– About the character: Why do you think he or she did that?
– How do you think he or she feels?
– What would you do if that happened to you?
– About the story: Have we read any other stories like this one?
– Which was your favourite page?
– Did you like the book/story? Why?
– About the illustrations: What can you see in the picture? Which do you like best? Why?
Don’t worry if your child can’t frame any answers to your questions at first. With a bit of encouragement from you they’ll gradually get the idea, and, over a period of time will be better able to express their opinions on what you’re reading – so you’ll be giving them extra skills for the future, too. One way to get them started is, of course, to express your own opinion:
‘Which was your favourite part of the story? Mine was where he was peering out from behind the curtains, watching his grandma put her slippers on!’
But don’t do this unless your child seems a bit stuck – you don’t want to impose your ideas on them, and they will tend to echo yours.
What do I do when my child gets stuck on a word?
– Don’t let your child struggle. When he is young, supply the word yourself. Gradually help less and less and use clues to help your child.
– If your child reads a word wrongly, but has got the right meaning, don’t stop and correct him. For example, if your child reads ‘The dog came out of the house’ when the text says ‘The dog walked out of the house’, don’t stop him. Talk about how fast the dog was moving at the end of the story.
– If your child reads a word wrongly and it doesn’t make sense, stop and suggest going back to the beginning of the sentence. Read it through together to correct the mistake and to help him to make sense of what he is reading. Do this calmly and kindly, without making him feel worried. For example, simply say ‘Let’s read from here again’. Don’t say ‘No, that was wrong’.
– Praise and encourage your child at all times.
What do I do when my child starts to read on his own?
Still carry on sharing books with him. Start this by you reading one page and your child reading the next. When your child begins to read the whole text alone, encourage him to read regularly and talk to him about what he’s reading. Keep reading some books to him, so that he can enjoy books that are slightly above his reading level - this is called the instructional level of reading.
At this stage ask for opinions and responses beyond that of the actual text and enter lively debate about style and enjoyment.
Reading is a difficult skill to master - it is more than reading words from a page. It is understanding them in comprehension, in real life, in emotional responses and in context. The tips above will help you to give your child the confidence to read and the chance of developing a love of reading.