The Reading Bug…. How You Can Help Your Child To Catch It!

Although many children have well-developed pre-reading skills by the time they start school, the teaching of literacy skills begins in earnest from day one of Prep. Speaking and listening, reading and writing are all part of literacy and your child needs to develop all these skills so that he/she can learn, understand, and communicate in an increasingly complex and challenging world.

And while some children seemingly learn to read overnight, with very little help, most children need plenty of encouragement and guidance before they are flying solo as independent readers.

With a reader coming home in the school bag each day, many parents feel ill-equipped to help their child on the exciting journey to independent reading, but there are many ways you can help and encourage your child to become a reader:

Your child will want to read if:

• There is a choice of things to read. If everything you own has been read a million times and now seems a little young for him/ her, take a trip to the library or perhaps try swapping some much-loved books with a friend.

• You offer a variety of texts. Have him/ her read a recipe to you as you cook or read the instructions for a board game you're going to play together, or even the back of a DVD she wants to rent. By doing this, she'll begin to understand that by reading, she can make a lot happen in her world.

• You're not too ambitious. Reading at home with you should be about building her confidence in reading –he/ she's worked hard at school all day mastering new literacy concepts so your time with her shouldn't be about challenging her further. That's her teacher's job.

• You have regular reading times together. The end of the day is often a great time to read together or a lazy Sunday morning in bed - you can either take turns reading aloud from the same book or just lie side-by-side reading your books quietly.

IMPORTANT!

Make sure that you take some time to read for pleasure too. The best way to get your child enthused about reading is for you to model the behaviour you want to see in him/her.

At Pacific, all our classrooms are a hub of reading and writing every day. Teachers put an enormous effort into planning exciting, creative, and relevant activities that encourage all children to catch the reading bug!

Mrs Sue Zweck, Head of Learning K-5