Reading at Home
Reading at Home Top Tips
Whatever stage your child is at in their reading journey, it is essential that you spend time reading together daily, discussing the text and new vocabulary.
TOP TIPS
- I read to you, you read to me – take turns to read a paragraph aloud to each other.
- Be patient when your child is trying to sound out an unfamiliar word – give him or her time to do so. Then, one more time for understanding – ask them to re-read the sentence again to understand the meaning.
- Find three words or phrases you like in the text and explain why.
- Ask who, what, when, where and why questions.
- Create a distraction-free reading space to sit quietly in and enjoy your book. Make reading a book a natural thing to do.
DELVING DEEPER
EYFS/KS1
What has happened in the story so far?
Who is the main character?
Find 3 clues in the story that tell you what kind of a character this is.
What do you think of the main character? Have you changed your mind as you read the story?
What is your favourite part of the story? Why?
Can you make a link between this story and say why you like them?
Was there a problem in the story? How was it resolved?
Identify the key events in the story and put them in order.
Discuss new vocabulary and can you use it in a sentence of your own?
KS2
What has happened in the story so far?
Discuss new vocabulary and can you use it in a sentence of your own?
Find words or phrases that tell you about the setting.
Choose a character and say how they felt. How do you know?
What does… tell you about how a character is feeling?
What impressions of…do you get from this part of the text?
Did your opinion of any characters change as the story progressed?
Identify favourite words and phrases and say why you like them.
Discuss the theme of the story, e.g. good over evil, weak and strong characters, mean and generous, rich and poor.
Predict what will happen next e.g. I wondered whether…I think it might…etc.
Identify the key events in the story and put them in order.
USING THE READING DIARY
A successful home school reading partnership is essential. Indicating your child’s reading diary that you have heard them read and what you have discussed is helpful for the teacher.
Below are examples of parental entries that may support you in what you record:
EYFS/KS1
‘Read to page 15. We discussed words to describe the dragon.’ Parent name/initials
‘Read pages 13-19. We found words with the ‘ew’ sound.’ Parent name/initials
Read pages 20-30 as a shared read – we enjoyed reading a page each and discussing new words that we found’ Parent name/initials
KS2
Read pages 21-34. Fluent and enthusiastic reading with great expression. Parent name/initials
Read Chapter 2. We discussed new vocabulary and I asked him to create his own sentences using them verbally to check understanding. Parent name/initials
Read pages 30 -40…..loves this genre and author! Parent name/intials
Useful Links
Newburgh - A quick guide to reading.
Children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 have subscriptions for Reading Eggs and Fast Phonics. Login details are in the front of their Reading Diaries. There is a Reading Eggs Parent Guide for more information.
Top 10 Reading Tips - tips for reading at home from the Department for Education.
Ideas to support your child's literacy at home a document for early readers
EYFS (Nursery and Reception)
Reading Workshop - the presentation from the Reading Workshop for parents by Mrs Duthie
Recommended Reading List for Early Years Foundation Stage.
Ideas to support your child's literacy skills at home.
Department For Education Top Ten Tips
Early Language Gap is more than just words
How to read a bedtime story - 5 top tips to master bedtime reading - BBC Tiny Happy People
Bedtime stories are one of the most important parts of a day with your child! Find our top tips and tricks from Speech & Language Therapist, Janet Cooper to make it extra special.
Key Stage 1 (Years 1 and 2)
Recommended Reading List for Year 1
Recommended Reading List for Year 2
Key Stage 2 (Years 3 - 6)
Recommended Reading List for Year 3
Recommended Reading List for Year 4
Reception Reading Pets
Children in Team Crane have the opportunity to foster a Reading Pet for a week. They should read to their pets for 5 minutes every day. Our pets are:
Echo the Dolphin
Derby the Horse
Chipper the Chipmunk
Spinner the Spider
Scaly the Lizard
Ears the Rabbit
Summer Reading Challenge 2023
Our new challenge aims to test how extreme our reading community is. Where is the most unusual place that a book can be read?
