‘Reading, like thinking, is very complex. When you think, all you have to do is produce responses from within you. When you read you have to produce responses which interpret what the author wrote, you have to try match your thinking to his.’ Marie Clay 1991
And this can only happen once a child has effectively learned to decode a text!
We teach reading through a balanced literacy programme, using a variety of approaches and materials.
We introduce and practise skills and strategies within a meaningful context. Activities are used to reinforce skills which are then always applied to context, to the complete reading picture.
Concepts around print are developed early:
To be independent readers, children need to use a range of reading cues:
Visual cues – these enable children to identify letters, and their associated sounds (phonics) either on sight or by using these to problem solve.
Semantic cues – these enable children to use meaning to support problem solving. Whilst emerging as readers, this is likely to involve them using the pictures.
Syntactic cues – children use their inherent knowledge of correct grammatical structures to predict what would sound right.
When listening to my child read, what to do if…
…a word is misread or missed out…?
…my child won’t concentrate…?
…my child stops at a word…?
You could try several approaches (not in any order)
If they are really stuck, tell them so they don’t lose the flow.
…my child is not reading clearly…they are plodding through with no expression…?
…the book has been memorized…?
Don’t worry, this is part of learning to read. Children build confidence and can read with fluency and expression. They work on early reading behaviours, such as direction, build high frequency word recognition, and develop visual matching.
How to help…
Play…
Talk…
Listen…
Read…
How can I Help?
Over time, your child will start to bring home a reading book to practise their reading. Children are taught to read at school, but a small amount of daily practise at home has a massive impact on the progress and development of reading.
Hearing children read can be divided into
3 parts…
Warm Up: Get comfortable, look at the front cover, what can children see, link it to their own experiences (inc. other books)
Reading: Read through the story
Reflection: Response to what has been read, relating it to experience, other books. Talk about characters, enjoyable bits and interesting sections. Give your opinions, too.
Before your child is ready to read he/she will spend time developing these skills:
Remember: