Ways to encourage reading

• Want your children to be good readers? Let them see you read. If you have books, newspapers and magazines around your house and your child sees you reading then they will realise you value reading.
• Try relaxing your family's bedtime rules once a week on the weekends. Let your children know that they can stay up as later, as long as they are reading in bed.
• Try holding D-E-A-R times at your house. "DEAR" stands for "Drop Everything and Read." During DEAR time, everyone in the family sits down for some uninterrupted reading time.
• Use the "Rule of Thumb" to see if a book is on your children's reading level: Have them read a page of the book aloud. Have them hold up one finger for each word they don't know. If they hold up four fingers and a thumb before the end of the page, the book is probably too hard for them to read alone. But it might be a great book for you to read together.

Some general guidelines

Don’t fret over technology. The text messaging phenomenon is not ruining kids’ ability to read and write. As new technology comes along, reading and writing may change, but literacy won’t vanish. The goal is to try to understand technology and celebrate it and you can help their children use their tech devices to access the types of reading that interest them. For example, your child might be able to download e-books or audiobooks from the library, or research a favourite author online. Many children enjoy reading blogs and these are all good ways for children to engage with texts.

Remember that everybody struggles with certain types of reading.Many of us struggle with some type of reading, for example some children may love nonfiction books with science themes, which others would have a hard time reading. If your child has been labeled a reluctant reader, expose him/her to a variety of books tied to his interests.

Talk about personal reading challenges. Your children might be surprised to know you didn’t exactly adore Shakespeare or you struggled with Steinbeck. Emphasise the sense of accomplishment you get when you finish a challenging book. Let them know that it’s normal not to understand a difficult book right away and that one way to develop an understanding of the book is to discuss it with others.

Branch out. If your child loves mysteries, help her find the best mysteries. If your son loves graphic novels, help him find high-quality graphic novels. You can find great book suggestions of every conceivable type if you use the following website links:

• Random House’s Modern Library top 100 fiction and non-fiction books
• National Book Award winners
• Man Booker Prize winners
• Pulitzer Prize winners and finalists
• Young Adults Book Trust

Help your child tackle a difficult book. If a book required for school has your child intimidated, share some strategies for getting through it. For example, he/she can maintain a list of characters to refer back to, or you can take turns reading the book aloud. See whether an audiobook is available to listen to while reading. Help your child make connections with the book. Does a particular character remind him of someone in real life?

Encourage reading for pleasure. Appreciate magazines, websites, and other short bursts of language. If it involves words, it’s reading.

Model good reading habits. Telling your child to read isn’t enough; your child needs to see you reading. At the dinner table, talk about books you are reading. Read the books your children are reading. Talk about whom you would cast if you were making the book into a movie.

Ways to encourage writing

Like reading, writing can easily be embedded as an everyday activity at home. Try some of these writing ideas at home:

• Write a shopping list or add items to the list and tick off the items as you buy or unpack them.
• Keep a board to write and read family messages.
• Give your child a pad of sticky notes to write reminders for themselves.
• Plan and write your weekly menu together.
• Write captions for photographs in your family photo albums.

Family projects

Take the opportunity to involve the whole family in reading and writing. Some family projects could include:

• Emailing friends or family members.
• Using social networking sites to communicate with family and friends and update them on a recent event.
• Reading a book series together.
• Reading the instructions for a new item together to find out how it works.
• Recording family events or travel experiences in a journal or on an online blog.
• Writing plays and performing them for family and friends.
• Reading, selecting and collecting news articles and creating an album about, for example, a sporting team, pet type, or leisure activity.
• Solving crosswords, word puzzles, brain teasers, playing word games and quizzes together.
• Browsing libraries and bookshops together.
• Following a map or brochure on an outing, including reading public transport timetables and information signs at public sites.

Working out difficult words

It is important to give your child time and strategies to read or write any long or unfamiliar words. Before telling your child the word when he or she is reading, try these prompts:

• Look for clues for the word’s meaning in the sentence.
• Look at the word closely. Does it look like another word you know?
• Can you break the word down into smaller parts?
• Do the words before and after this word help?
• Before spelling a word for your child when he or she is writing, try asking:
  • Does it look right?
  • Does it sound right?