Why is it important for your child to read at home?

Sharing stories, talking and singing every day helps your child’s development in many ways.

Reading and sharing stories can:

• Help your child get to know sounds, words and language, and develop early literacy skills
• Learn to value books and stories
• Spark your child’s imagination and stimulate curiosity
• Help develop your child’s brain, ability to focus, concentration, social skills and communication skills
• Help your child learn about the world, their own culture and other cultures.

How to read a story to your child

If you can find the time beforehand, read the read-aloud book to yourself first, so you can think about how you’re going to read it to your child.

On the first reading:

• Make reading aloud feel like a treat. Make it a special quiet time and cuddle up so you can both see the book.

• Show curiosity about what you’re going to read: ‘This book looks interesting. It’s about an angry child. I wonder how angry he gets…’

• Read through the whole story the first time without stopping too much. Let the story weave its own magic.

• Read with enjoyment. If you’re not enjoying it, your child won’t. Read favourite stories over and over again. On later readings:

• Let your child pause, think about and comment on the pictures.

• If you think your child did not understand something, try to explain: ‘Oh! I think what’s happening here is that…’

• Chat about the story and pictures: ‘I wonder why she did that?’; ‘Oh no, I hope she’s not going to…’; ‘I wouldn’t have done that, would you?’

• Link the stories to your own family experiences: ‘This reminds me of when …’

• Link stories to others that your child knows: ‘Ah! Do you remember the dragon in ….? Do you remember what happened to him?’

• Encourage your child to join in with the bits they know. 

•Avoid asking questions to test what your child remembers.

• Avoid telling children that reading stories is good for them.

 

Questions you can ask when reading

Before reading the book:

• Can you point to the title? Or what is this (pointing at the title)
• What do you think this story is about? What might happen in the story?
• What do we call the writing on the back of the book? (Blurb)
• What does the blurb tell us?

While reading the book:

• What is happening in the pictures?
• What has happened so far?
• Is that what you expected to happen?
• What might happen next?
• How do you think the story might end?
• What sort of character is …. ?
• Is she/he friendly/mean/nice… ?

At the end of the book:

• Did you like this book? Why? (encourage children to develop an opinion about books by encouraging them to explain their reasons)
• What was your favourite part? Why?
• What was the most interesting/exciting part of the book? Can you Find it?
• What sort of character was…?
• What happened in the story?

 

It is helpful if you

• Say go back and try that again…’Fred Talk’ it to help you.
• Let your child read the book again so they become more fluent and their reading sounds like talking
• Talk lots about the book
• Read to your child as well as listen to them read – make reading fun

 

Things that are unhelpful

• Don’t ask your child to ‘Fred-Talk’ (sound out) all of the words - remember some can’t be sounded out (to, the, said, was)
• Don’t Tell them they should know a word – help them work it out together