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.