Enjoying reading and writing
at home with your children
Heather Retter
Every Child a Reader Teacher Leader
Primary English Consultant
Welcome!
Talk time
What do you enjoy reading?
Have you read anything good lately?
‘The
books transported her into new
worlds and introduced her to amazing
people who lived exciting lives. She
went on olden day sailing ships with
Joseph Conrad. She went to Africa
with Ernest Hemingway and to India
with Rudyard Kipling. She travelled
all over the world while sitting in her
little room in an English village.’
Roald Dahl Matilda
What does research say about the impact of
parental involvement in their children’s
education?
In the primary years, family influences have a
more powerful effect on children’s attainment
and progress than school factors
2006, Dearing et al, Journal of Educational Psychology
Early Years: the earlier parents become involved in their
children’s literacy practices, the more profound the results
and the longer-lasting the effects
2008, National Literacy Trust
Reading achievement is best where parents engage in activities
that involve putting words into broader contexts (such as telling
stories or singing songs), reading to the child (in the early years
and the first year of school) and listening to their child read (at
age seven)
Parental Engagement, Oxford School Improvement
Children ‘need experience of talking at length,
talking about things that are not present in the
here and now. Talk with parents and caregivers
about their day and a bedtime story every
night……marked advantages when it comes to
their own reading development during the later
years of schooling’
2014, Raban, Talk to Think, Learn and Teach
Enjoy reading at home
Reading at home should be fun and easy – something
you both look forward to - a time for laughter and talk
• Share the reading, take turns or see whether your child
wants to read or be read to today. Your child might also
like to read to the cat, the dog, their teddy or a big brother
or sister
• All children like to be read to, so keep reading to them
• Read e-mails from family or friends aloud
• Encourage your child to read all sorts of things – the TV
guide in the newspaper, street signs, food labels. Simple
recipes are great – you get to eat what you’ve read about!
• Play card and board games together
• Visit the library together to choose books to share
Talk about reading
• Talk about the story and the pictures, similar
stories you have read, and experiences you
have both had that are like those in the story
• Sing songs, read poems and make up rhymes
together – the funnier the better
• Be a role model. Let your child see you enjoying
reading and talk about what you are enjoying
• Point out words on signs, shops and labels
• Play word games like "I Spy" and "Simon
Says…“
Earliest reading
Children point to the words to match what is
read to the words in the print
Use phonic skills – sound out and blend the
sounds in new words
Think about what would make sense,
checking the word and using the pictures
Getting going with reading
Reading sentences expressively with the right phrasing
and intonation and at a good pace, so that it sounds
like natural speech
Why?
Supports understanding and comprehension of the text
Using the punctuation
When my sister, called Mary Ann,
answered……….
When my sister called Mary, Ann
answered…………….
Stressing certain words in a sentence
She wore the red dress to school
She wore the red dress to school
She wore the red dress to school
She wore the red dress to school
Supporting fluent reading
Reading familiar text – books that have been read before,
focusing on making the reading sound good
Reminding your child to make their reading sound good, ‘like
talking’ and demonstrating yourself if it helps
Pointing out the punctuation if the first time the reading
wasn’t quite right.
Discouraging finger pointing, as this gets in the way
Not interrupting too much during the reading.
Talking about the book
Understanding develops through talking about
the book and asking questions
Questions require children to recall or locate
information in the text, give their opinions as well
as justify their answers
On the run!!
As he climbed the first flight of rusty iron stairs, Ben’s heart
was pounding. Suppose Miss Fisher were to catch him-or one
of the uncles. The terrible Uncle Tuku and in his chief’s robes!
Ben thought about Uncle Tuku and moved more slowly; with
each step he took his feet seem to grow heavier and heavier
until it was like heaving two balls of lead. Once he kicked a
little stone that had somehow got onto the fire-escape and it
rattled down and down, with a dreadful, ear splitting, heartstopping sound. Ben stood still, half expecting all the windows
in the house to blaze with light. None of them did.
How was Ben feeling? What makes you think that?
What did Ben’s feet feel like?
What are balls of lead?
Enjoy writing at home
• Water and a paintbrush on a dry path and a stick on sand
are fun ways to write letters and words
• Have felt pens, pencils, crayons and paper available
• Put magnetic letters on the fridge
• Help your child to write an alphabet letter, then go letter
hunting in your house or in a book to find that letter
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Be a good model - let your child see you writing
• Play with words. Find new words in the dictionary or on the
Internet
• Encourage your child to write – on paper or on the
computer. You can help and share the writing. Give lots of
praise
Give your child reasons to write
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Write shopping lists and birthday cards together
Write letters, cards, notes and e-mails to friends and family
and the Tooth Fairy
Make a photo book, scrapbook or holiday journal - your child
can write captions, draw the pictures or stick in photos
Write to each other. Write notes to your child and leave them
in interesting places, like their lunch box. Ask them to write a
reply
Write labels for special things – like the door to their room or
their toy box. Write more lists – ‘Games to play when I am
bored’, ‘Things I want to do in the holidays’.
Write out recipes or instructions for other people to follow
(especially fun if the instructions are for an adult)
Cut out letters from old magazines and newspapers and use
them to assemble messages e.g. write secret messages for
others to find under their pillow
Talk about writing
• Talk about the letters in your child’s name and where the
name comes from
• Ask your child to write about pictures they draw or to tell
you what to write and you write it under the picture for
them
• Look at scrapbooks or journals your child has made and
talk about them
• Talk about what your child writes. Show lots of interest, ask
them to explain if you’re not sure what your child’s picture
or story is about
• Make up a different ending for a favourite story together
and suggest your child writes it down or write it together
Keep writing fun and use any excuse you can think of to
encourage your child to write about anything, any time
Enjoy reading and writing with your
children!