Supporting reading at home
1. Find a place to sit together that suits you both.
2. Try to read for at least 5 to 10 minutes a day and once over the weekend.
Encourage it as a pleasurable experience.
3. Find some time to talk about the book as well as reading it. Start with the
title, look at the cover and briefly chat about what you might find inside. At
the bottom of each page, encourage your child to predict what might happen
next. If your child gets stuck, ask what word would fit best, ask them to
sound it out (if appropriate), or simply supply the word yourself.
4. Ask a range of questions: What happened in the story? Does this remind
them of anything in their lives or anything they have read before? Did they
think the book was funny? Did they spot any interesting words and phrases?
Did they enjoy the book?
5. Read the story to your child. You can help your child to understand the
emphasis of particular parts of the story.
6. Encourage your child to retell the story you have just shared. This will give
you an idea of how much they have understood.
7. Read together for pleasure. Turn off the TV and share a book on the
settee. Read a favourite story at bedtime. Read in the bath. Take a book to
the park. Visit the library. Visit a bookshop. Give a book token as a gift. Take
part in World Book Day activities at home. Spend your £1.00 world Book day
voucher at a bookshop!
Games and activities to enjoy at home
Bingo games using keywords. Make it as much fun as possible, for example
challenge by giving a time limit.
Simple flash cards – “look and say” for immediate sight recognition. Again,
challenge with a time limit. Use an egg timer and see how many can be read
before the timer runs out.
Find a pair game. Have a set of keywords on cards. Place them on the
table face up at first so that you can see and read them together. Then turn
them over so that you can’t see any but be careful to leave them in the same
position so that your child can remember where they are. Take it in turns to
reveal two cards each, turning them one at a time and reading as you do. If
the cards are the same, you have won them. If they are not then turn them
face down again. The winner has the most pairs at the end of the game.
Hunt for target words in their books. Challenge your child by using a timer or
asking him/her to find all the ‘and’ or ‘the’ or ‘to’ words in the book.
Read print in the environment: when out shopping or reading the newspaper
or a magazine, looking at recipes, ingredients, instructions for games, road
signs, letters delivered to the home – anything and everything!
Fish for a word – write words onto fish shapes then catch them from the
pond. You could make this a challenge by giving the words a point score
and trying to beat the last score each time.
Play snap with matching sets of words.
Use magnetic letters to make words and sentences. How many can you
make before the timer runs out?
Useful websites
Mr. Thorne Does Phonics
A great website about phonics with lots of fun clips to practise the correct
pronunciation of each sound.
http://mrthorne.com
Cale Green Primary School
March 2015
Supporting your child’s reading
Letters and Sounds
This website provides the full details of the DFES Letters and Sounds
programme. It also gives links to a number of free and fun phonics-based
games.
http://www.letters-and-sounds.com
Phonics Play
Lots of free interactive games.
http://www.phonicsplay.co.uk
Twinkl
A brilliant site for free printable resources including flashcards, worksheets
and games.
http://www.twinkl.co.uk
World Book Day
Many ideas and activities for developing a life-long love of reading.
http://worldbookday.com/
A parent’s guide