Home Reading Program

Home reading is a fantastic way of developing a student’s love of reading. It should be an enjoyable activity where students practice fluency, build confidence, learn about the world around them and develop their imagination. The school provides quality, high interest, levelled reading texts that are designed to engage students and progress them through the levels. Students are encouraged to read each night to a parent or family member.

Every Monday a home reader will be sent home that is close to the independent reading level for your child. The independent reading level is one where your child will be successful at not only reading the text but also comprehending what they have been reading about. It is a good idea for this text to be read more than once to assist them in developing fluency. Children are encouraged to develop a love for and appreciation of reading. This comes from reading texts they enjoy.

Helping With Home Reading

Before Reading

Talk about the cover, title and the pictures
Encourage the student to guess what the book may be about

During Reading

Discuss the story so far
Encourage the student to guess white might happen next
Ask him/her questions about the story and the characters

After Reading

Talk about the story
Ask questions about the story and the pictures
Relate any relevant aspect of the story to the child’s experiences

If A Child Is Stuck On A Word

Pause for 5 seconds so the student can think and have a try If the student is still stuck, prompt him/her:
Ask the student to sound the word out
Look for a clue in the picture or the words
Look at the first letter and think about what the word could be
Give the student a hint eg. “Where was the …?”

If A Word Read Does Not Make Sense

At the end of the sentence ask them “Did this make sense?”
Ask them to read it again
Tell them the word

If A Word Read, Does Make Sense, But Is Wrong

At the end of the sentence, point to the incorrect word and ask “What does this word say?”
If the word has regular letters that can be “sounded out”, ask the child to check the sounds
Tell them the word

Praise The Students For

Efforts
Accurate reading
Self-correcting
Making a determined effort to work out a word by sounding out the word, using the picture or using the story plot to have a guess

Some Hints

Read for 10 minutes each day
Arrange a regular time which suits you and your child and stick to it
Choose a special place with no distractions eg. TV, small children
Let your child know this is a special time for just the two of you, and that you enjoy it.

At Al Amanah College, reading is recognised as a fundamental skill, and students are encouraged to read for both pleasure and learning. The school provides high-quality, engaging texts across a range of abilities to ensure all students access enjoyable and meaningful reading experiences.

Each week, home readers are sent home at a level aligned with your child’s independent reading ability. This is a level at which students can successfully decode and comprehend the content. Re-reading texts is recommended to improve fluency and build confidence. Families are encouraged to create a literacy-rich environment by reading daily with their child, helping to instil a love for books and reading.

Improved Literacy Skills

Enhances comprehension, decoding, and vocabulary essential for academic achievement.

Expanded Vocabulary

Increases exposure to new words and enhances communication.

Enhanced Comprehension

Builds understanding and retention, supporting critical thinking.

Increased Knowledge

Introduces students to diverse topics, cultures, and perspectives.

Stronger Parent-Child Bond

Strengthens family connections through shared reading.

Nurturing a Love for Reading

Encourages lifelong learning and reading enjoyment.

Improved Attention and Focus

Develops concentration and sustained engagement.

Boosted Imagination and Creativity

Inspires creativity through exposure to stories and ideas.

Better Writing Skills

Supports the development of writing through varied exposure to language structures.

Emotional Development

Helps students recognise and process emotions, fostering empathy.

Home Reading in K–2

Students in Kindergarten to Year 2 receive decodable fiction and non-fiction texts tailored to early readers. These texts are designed to support developing blending, segmenting, and alphabetic knowledge. Decodable readers offer students the opportunity to practise using phonics skills within continuous, meaningful text.

Check out this online picture book about starting Primary school: Daisy’s First Day.

Home reading in 3-6

After students move beyond decodable texts, they can progress to a wider variety of texts, including novels, informational texts, picture books, and other engaging materials that match their reading level and interests.

Practice in reading aloud is very important for literacy development.

Refer to website for ideas:Reading Games & Activities to do at Home! – SPELD NSW.
Reading with anolder sibling, parent or carer is a great opportunity to do this following the research-based and effective‘Pause, Prompt, Praise’ Refer to websitestrategies:Reading Strategies Bookmarks – SPELD NSW.

When your child is a beginning reader in K-2 and has difficulty reading a word, the following has been shown to be the best way to help them:

PAUSE for around 3-5 seconds—this is important because children can often work it out if given the time. They read more slowly than we do and need time to think. If we jump in too quickly, not only do we make them reliant on us to help them, but we undermine their self-confidence.
PROMPT—if the child cannot read the word, we can offer them a phonic prompt.

The first prompt should be a phonic prompt: “What’s the first sound in that word?”
If they still can’t get it, sound the word for them with a slight pause between each sound (e.g., f..r…o…g). Encourage your child to sound out and then blend all through the word.
You could also identify the first sound and encourage them to sound out the rest or break the word into its syllables. It may be useful to cover the word and reveal it slowly, looking at the sounds or the sections of the word.
If they still have difficulty, tell them the word—and move on.

PRAISEis an important part of reading and you should give specific praise when they have corrected an error or read the word correctly after a prompt. Praise should be specific, e.g: “You figured that out by yourself” or “You worked that out with only a little bit of help.”

For older students in 3-6 who might misread a word and continue, wait until they get to the end of the sentence before stopping them. Sometimes the reader will realise their mistake because it doesn’t make senseand then self-correctbut they often need to get to the end of the sentence to realise this. We want readers to be able to read for meaning, and it’s an important skill for them to develop. If we immediately stop and correct them again we undermine the development of this process.

If they read on into the next sentence you may then want to ask them: “Did that make sense?”
If they think it made sense, then ask them to read the sentence again. Sometimes they get it correct because they read more carefully this time.
If they have misread a word for the second time, go back to the word and ask them to have a close look at it. If they recognise their mistake, read the sentence again with the correct word.
If they cannot read the word, help them to break it up using the strategies above.
If they still have trouble, provide the word and move on—but make a note of the word and have a look at it later on. Talk about the meaning of the word, perhaps it’s a new word for them, there’s an unfamiliar part of the word, or they don’t know how to pronounce it.