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Reading

Why do we feel reading is so important? 

At Meadow Farm children are surrounded by and exposed to a wide range of books and  literature because we want the children to: 

• Become reflective readers;

• Be attentive listeners who find pleasure in books;

• Read for enjoyment;

• Be able to extract information. 

Above all, to encourage a love of books. 

How do we teach reading? 

• We use a variety of approaches to teach children to read:

• New words by the “look and say” method.

• Letters by their sound and name.

• Words using letter sounds.  We call this phonics. 

The children use a variety of structured reading schemes to support their reading development. An emphasis is placed on

developing fluency, accuracy and under-standing to enable them to become confident readers.

Do the children bring a reading book home? 

The first books your child will bring home will have only pictures.  Encourage your child to talk to you about the story. Discuss the pictures. Tell the story to each other from the pictures. Talking about the story at this stage is as important as reading the words.

Your child will also bring home new words to learn. Children rely on a bank of words which they need to recognise. This is the “look and say” approach. 

How is home reading organised? 

Your child will always have a book to bring home. If you could listen to your child read for 10 to 15 minutes at least four times a week it would make a tremendous difference to their reading. 

Your child will also have a reading diary with their book. Please support your child’s reading by writing a comment next to the date and pages they have read. Try to make this positive to encourage their reading . 

What if the book is too easy or too difficult? 

A very important part of children enjoying reading is to encourage them to choose the book they want to read.  It  may be that a book may be chosen that is perhaps a little easy or to difficult. We would not want a child to always choose easy or hard books but at the same time we want them to make their own choices so that they can decide what they enjoy reading. If a book seems easy, this will enable a child to read with confidence, enjoyment and understanding.   

If a book is too difficult this could be an opportunity for parent and child to read a book together. 

The book your child reads in school will always be at the right level to improve their reading skills. 

It is likely that your child may be given the same book for a second time.  Re-reading a book will help them to develop a fuller understanding of the text, consequently they will  enjoy their story more and increase their confidence. 

Helpful Hints

Please do: 

• Allow a quiet time when you can enjoy reading with your child;

• Encourage your child to read to the end of the sentence when they make a   mistake, then give clues  - “Which word makes sense?”

• “Look at the first letter.” - help in working out the word then carry on.

• Use the pictures to get a clue!

• Discuss what has been read, ask questions about the story and the characters.

• Complete the reading diary (F2—Y4), passing on any comments or questions you may have.

• Praise your child as their fluency increases when reading.

• Encourage your child to take care of books.

 Above all, have fun! 

Please don’t : 

• Risk losing enthusiasm by stretching the time.  With younger children 10—15 minutes is ample.

• Have distractions like T.V or other members of the family interrupting.

• Pause for too long over words they can’t read.