Reading Skills - Early Years

READING SKILLS: How To Help Your Child

Early Years

How to Support Your Child’s Early Reading Skills There are many things you can do with your child that will support their reading as and when they are ready: * Jigsaw puzzles – children need to be aware of different sizes of letters and playing with jigsaw puzzles helps them to look at the shape, size and patterns. * Rhyming – rhyming is a prerequisite to being able to read. Sing rhyming songs and spot the rhyme in stories. Use puppets to encourage focus and attention. * Listen to audio stories – this is a different skill, and requires children to process auditory information. * Make up your own stories – story cubes, puppets or picture cards are great fun and really ignite the imagination. * Play games – such as eye-spy or matching an item to the initial sound. * Tuning in to words – can they hear the sound at the beginning, middle and end of a word? Clapping syllables helps to support this skill. * Spotting letters when out shopping or visit the library. * Enjoy reading together, make it special and let them see you read too.

Before Reading the Book * * * * * *

Encourage your child to handle the book and hold it the correct way around.

What can you see on the front cover?

What do you think the book might be about?

What type of book is it? Fiction/ non-fiction, poem, rhyme, etc.

Who is the author and illustrator?

Can they recognise any letters in the title?

Whilst Reading the Book * * * * * * * *

Encourage your child to talk about the pictures and what is happening in the story.

They may also like to turn the pages, join in with repeated words and phrases, and listen to/identify any words that rhyme.

What might happen next?

How do you think the character feels? Why do you think that? Encourage them to draw on the illustration, facial expressions and any text.

What does this word mean? Extend their vocabulary. Use synonyms to broaden their language.

What might happen at the end of the story?

Can you find something beginning with ‘b’ in the picture?

Can you find the c-a-t? Use ‘Fred talk’ to help them tune in to sounds and the notion of blending.

Whilst Reading the Book *

* * *

Giving them time to sound out every letter, repeat back the sounds if they are struggling to blend it themselves. Try not to jump in too quickly and read it for them!

Encourage them to use the illustration to help them decipher new words.

Sound out ‘red words’ (these are words that cannot be phonetically spelt) i.e. put, tell them it is a red word, make it fun and it will help them remember.

Use your finger to indicate the words as you speak. This will allow children to notice that we read from left to right and top to bottom.

At the End of the Book * * * * *

What did they think of the story?

Can they think of another ending?

What would they have done if they were the main character?

Can they re-tell the main parts of the story in the correct sequence?

Can they find the part of the story that showed ‘x,y and z’?

Children will read when they are ready and we would rather they learn at a pace that is comfortable for them. This ensures we do not come across any gaps in learning as they get older.

Most importantly make sure it is fun!

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