literacy at home

READING

Reading for pleasure is a good way of capturing your child's interest, imagination as well develop their vocabulary. Reading to your child aloud or having them read to you develops early literacy skills, sparks their imagination and stimulates their curiosity. Therefore the earlier you start reading to your child the better it is for them to understand how stories work, make connections, begin questioning their curious minds and stretching their ideas and thoughts.

By you reading a book aloud to your child you are modelling reading behaviours such as reading the text from left to right, reading for enjoyment, meaning as well information. For example, you might be looking at a road map to find directions or read an instruction manual to build a lego piece. 

Sharing your thinking and questions while reading is a good way of modelling your understandings and thoughts.  Reading different genres such as cartoons, picture storybooks and recipes models the importance of reading and how the same reading skills are transferable to everything you read.

Read EVERY DAY either to your child or have them read to you. Encourage them to talk about the pictures seen or tell you their version of the story as this allows them to express their thoughts and creativity. Providing and creating a supportive warm inviting environment is important, giving your opportunities to enjoy books whenever they like. Choosing books that are of interest is a way of engaging your child to read. 

WRITING

'Having a go' when writing at home is strongly encouraged. It is important that you let your child doodle with a writing implement and encourage them to tell you about their design/drawing. Have them tell you a story from their design/ drawing, ask them questions to stretch their creativity and imagination. When ready your child may start writing letters to represent their design/drawing. Praise them for their effort and cleverness, as this will only encourage them to be more adventurous with their writing.

Encourage your child to write for a reason as they will soon see that it is a form of communication. For example, have your child write the shopping list, write a birthday card to a family member or a short note. You may need to model this first to your child and support them whenever you can.