HOW PARENTS AND CAREGIVERS CAN HELP THEIR CHILDREN TO READ

SPEAKING AND LISTENING

You can help your children develop language skills by talking with them about everyday events, such as a trip to the grocery store. Tell your child stories and share books. Don’t be afraid to use big words. That is how they will learn new ideas and new vocabulary words.

SOUNDS IN WORDS

Words are made up of individual sounds. Every would-be reader must be able to hear these sounds, pronounce each one individually, then put them back together again. You can help your child tune into individual sounds. Ask them what sound they hear at the beginning, end, or middle of a word.

SOUNDING OUT WORDS

Children begin to read written words when they can match letters to the sounds they make. You can help your child by pointing out patterns in words (such as rhyming words, cat, fat, hat, sat).

KNOWLEDGE OF THE WORLD

By having different kinds of experiences, children will gain facts, information, and skills. These help them understand the world around them. This will help them make sense of what they are reading. Help your child learn about the world by engaging them in everyday experiences like cooking dinner. Take them places where they will see, hear, taste, touch, smell, and think about new things they experience.

WHAT WORDS MEAN

You can help your child learn new vocabulary by pointing out interesting and unfamiliar words, helping them understand their meaning/s, and encouraging them to use them. Ask your child to write the word and draw a picture of it. Hang up each word on the refrigerator or wall, clip them to ribbon, or collect words in a jar. Each day ask your child to use one of the new words in a sentence.

MAKING MEANING

You can help you child by checking their understanding of the text they are reading. Ask questions about information in the story—“Who?,” What?,” “Where?,” and “When?”. Questions that children need to think about—“How?,” “Why?”—are also important. Have your child tell you the story in their own words.

K - 2

What The Research Says

Year 3 - 6

Reading Is Thinking

Readers are able to use the questions below as a responding activity when they read, listen to or view texts. Parents and carers may use these questions as prompts when assisting their children read.

Like any conversation, talking about books can happen anywhere and at any time — in the car, at the bus stop, or over dinner. Books can elicit strong feelings that need to be shared. A great way to start is to bring up what you have read recently and how it made you feel. Then, invite your child to do the same. Some questions you can ask:

● If you could be friends with any character in the book, who would it be and why?

● What was the most exciting part of the book?

● What surprised you most about the story? Why was it surprising?

● What do you think the saddest part of the story was? Why?

● Is there anything in this story that is similar to something that has happened in your life? What was it and how is it similar?

● What would you do in a situation similar to that faced by a character in the story?

● What part of the story made you think it would end the way it did?

● How would you change the book's ending if you could re-write it?

● How is this book like one you read in the past? Discuss how they are alike and different. (Note: This could be a book by the same author, but doesn't have to be.)