SHARING BOOKS AND LISTENING TO CHILDREN READING
Watching and supporting a child learning to read is one of the most exciting developmental
journeys that happens for teachers and parents. It is an area of the curriculum where we
particularly value the support of parents and friends.
STARTING SCHOOL
On their first day at school each child will be encouraged to choose a book to take home.
This is to share and enjoy. Each day this book may be changed from the basket in Class
1. The children will also be given a selection of words to learn that are part of the high
frequency words introduced through our structured scheme – The Oxford Reading Tree.
Children memorise these words by playing memory games. We would appreciate your
help and ingenuity in supporting this learning process. Once a selection of words are
known the children move onto a book from the Oxford Reading Tree which they will also
bring home to share with parents. As they progress they will read a selection of books
from this scheme and others including Sound Start Books which support phonics
development.
Every child is an individual and will learn to read at their own pace with their own particular
learning preferences. The Early Years Coordinator monitors progress on an individual
basis and uses resources to support areas that are developing.
Listening to your child read at home is probably the most common and effective way for
parents to help their children’s ready – as long as the book is not too difficult for them.
There are certain points to bear in mind to make this time together as effective as possible:
Choose a time when you both want to read – unwillingness on either side is unlikely to be
very helpful!
Try to sit comfortably alongside your child in surroundings which are free from distraction –
with the television turned off, for example.
If it is a new book, look at the cover together, at the title, and ask your child what he thinks
the book might be about. Perhaps glance through at the pictures, too. All this is intended
to give your child some idea of what the book is about so that reading it is approached with
more confidence and ease.
If the book is one your child has already started reading, then ask what has happened so
far and look at the pictures for reminders. Finish this introduction by asking what your
child thinks might happen next.
From time to time during the reading at suitable points, ask what might happen next or
say: ‘I think so and so might do such and such next – what do you think?’ Occasionally
you can make a wrong or silly prediction so that your child has the fun of being proved
right when you were wrong.
Depending on your child’s preference, take time to look at, comment on and discuss
illustrations – either during the reading or at the end. Some children like to linger over
illustrations as they go through a book; others prefer to get on with the story. Looking at
illustrations afterwards is a good way of recapping on what has been read: ‘Do you
remember what was happening here?’ for example.
After the reading, try to check your child’s understanding – but do it subtly, not as an
interrogation. Try any of the following ways:
 ‘Which bit did you like best/ Why was that?’
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‘Was there anything you didn’t like in the story?’
‘I can’t remember, why did so and so do such and such?’
‘Why don’t you tell mummy/daddy about the story we’ve just read?’ (Make sure you
listen to the retelling to someone else.)
‘I wonder how so and so felt when such and such happened?’
Always finish off the session on a note of praise and encouragement.
The session should last as long as your child’s interest holds and no longer. Five minutes
of enjoyment and fun are ten times better than ten minutes of a reluctant struggle.
If you find yourself losing patience for any reason then STOP. It is irritating and frustrating
when children cannot read the work they’ve just read on the previous page (or even the
previous line), for example. But don’t let your irritation show and don’t let yourself say
things like: ‘But you must know that word, we’ve just read it!’ Much better to say
something like: ‘That’s the word you read just now, it says because.’ Only do this if the
word is on the same page, point to the word and speak encouragingly, not critically.
Remember, if your child could read the word, he would.
DEALING WITH UNFAMILIAR WORDS
When we read we are using three lots of information and knowledge:
1
Meaning
This is the meaning with a text but it is also the meaning that we impose on a text; in life
we expect things to make sense so we try to make it so when we read. We expect to find
meaning in our reading and we try to relate what we read to our own experience and to
what we know already. This is called using semantic information.
2
The Way Language Works
We know about the ways words hang together, how you can say certain things but not
others. We know, for example, that we don’t say: ‘The barking dog the door is at.’ But we
do say: ‘The dog is barking at the door.’ Like children, most of us cannot say why this is
so – we just know that one sounds right and the other sounds wrong and we have learned
this because we have learned to speak. We bring this understanding of the way language
works to our reading. This is called using syntactic information.
3
Sounds to Symbols
Language is made up of sounds which makes words. We understand that certain patterns
of letters are likely to be pronounced in a certain way. You have never seen these words
before (because they don’t exist) but you could, all the same, pronounce them: Silfew,
bonter, articious. This is called using grapho-phonic information.
We use these three lots of information and knowledge when we are reading to anticipate
what the next words might be; but we are not aware of what we are doing until we meet an
unfamiliar word. Then we tend to skip over it, read on a little, go back and have another
shot and look at parts of the word and puzzle out what they might be. Finally we satisfy
ourselves that what we think it is that makes sense and we carry on. Reading has been
well described as a problem solving activity. Children in the process of learning to read
need to be helped to make use of the three kinds of information and knowledge outlined
earlier. However, it is useless telling them about it in the way that I have described to you.
Instead, we help them to use the knowledge and information by the way we prompt or help
them when they come to an unknown word. Learning how to read concerns learning how
to cope with and work out unfamiliar words. The advice which follows is what teachers do
(and should do), because it is the approach recommended in the National Curriculum
Programme of Study for Reading.
WHEN YOUR CHILD MAKES A MISTAKE BUT DOES NOT CORRECT IT:
Encourage your child to correct it for him or herself by saying something like:
‘Something didn’t make sense/sound right there, did it?’
‘Have another look at this part here’
‘Are you sure that’s what it says?’
Children will often not correct themselves if the word they have substituted makes sense
within the context of what they are reading: saying ‘mum’ for ‘ mother’, for example.
More often than not children need to read on a few words before they realize that a
mistake has been made, so do give your child time to self-correct before your intervene, by
waiting until the end of a sentence or a ‘natural break’ in the text.
WHEN A CHILD STOPS BECAUSE A WORD IS UNKNOWN;
Prompt by saying something like:
Can you guess what this word might be?
What would make sense there?
What would fit in here?
Help your child to guess sensibly asking things like:
Let’s miss it out and read on… now can you guess?
Go back to the beginning of the sentence and have another try
How does the word begin? Now can you guess what it could be?
What do you thin the beginning of the word sounds like?
Look at the picture…does that help you guess what the word could be?
Get your child to check the guess by asking:
Does that make sense?
Does it sound right?
Does what you said match the look of the word?
Give your child some feedback about what he or she is trying to do. For example:
Yes, that would make sense but it’s not the word the writer used. Have another
look. The actual word says….
I like that way you tried to work out what that word says.
Well done! You realized that something didn’t make sense there didn’t you?
Aren’t you clever working that bit out like that. Tell me what you tried to do.
I really like the way you read that – you made it sound really exciting/just the
way people talk.