Encouraging
your child to read - a few tips
Read yourself!
Show a good example by reading
for fun and talking about the reading
you do at work and at home: books,
newspapers, magazines, letters,
lists.
Keep books at home. Let your
child know that books are a part
of your life.
Keep books safe. Make your child
their own special place to keep
their books in their bedroom.
Visit your library – it’s free
to join! As well as taking out story
books use visits to the library
as a time to find books and CD ROMs
about your child’s hobbies and interests:
pets, football, music, bikes, etc.
Make a time to read. Set aside
a time for reading for the family
– after school or before bedtime.
Encourage independent reading but
don’t be afraid to still tell a
bedtime story.
Don’t just read books. Encourage
your child to read newspapers, TV
guides, comics and magazines.
Use reading to get information.
Ask your child to find out information
from the Yellow Pages, the Internet,
cookery books, etc.
Talk about books. Talk to your
child and their friends about why
they chose a book and their preferences.
Talk about the books you like to
read.
Let your child read with younger
children. Encourage them to
read to other members of the family:
brothers and sisters, cousins.
Keep in touch with school. Make
sure your child swaps their home
reading books regularly at school
and try to make a regular time slot
of about 10 minutes to hear them
read. Talk to the class teacher
about your child’s reading.
Help
your child with reading
Be positive! Praise your child
for trying hard at their reading.
Let them know it’s all right to
make mistakes.
Give them time. Let them make
a guess before you tell them the
word. Let them read to the end of
the line before correcting their
mistakes.
Spot words inside words. Help
them to spot words they know within
larger more complicated words.
Read on then go back and guess.
Read the sentence through to
the end then go back and guess the
difficult word.
Don’t make them try too hard! It
doesn’t matter if you have to tell
them the word sometimes.
Let them read their favourites.
Don’t worry if they want to read
the same books over and over, or
stick to one kind of book. If they
are really stuck, ask the librarian
or teacher to suggest something
they might like.
Make the story come to life.
Encourage your child to read with
expression. This will help them
read more fluently.
Ask lots of questions about
the story.
What would you have done if you
were…….?
Does this book remind you of any
thing that has happened to you?
Which is your favorite character?
Why?
Does this story remind you of any
others you have read?
Can you guess what is going to happen
next?
Use a dictionary. Buy a
simple dictionary and use it to
check the meanings of new words.
Don’t read for too long. A good
ten minutes is better than a difficult
half an hour.
Homework
Help
Where does your child do homework?
Ideally, the child should sit at
a table in a room where there is
little distraction and where you
are available to help.
When does your
child do homework?
How long does homework take?
Encourage your child to begin homework
as soon as is reasonably possible.
e.g. shortly after coming in from
school; as soon as dinner is cleared
away.
Don’t wait till it is too late when
the child is tired, or homework
has to compete with T.V.
Encourage your child to concentrate
and work without distraction till
the task is finished.
Don’t allow breaks every few minutes
and don’t allow your child to sit
all night at a piece of work. If
the homework is taking over long,
contact teacher.
Insist that
your child always does his/her best!
Don’t be afraid to ask the child
to repeat any work that is not up
to standard.
What is Homework?
Homework may take many forms. It
may be …
Written
Learning
Telling
Asking
Looking
Collecting
Reading
Making
All homework is important!
Why do we do Homework?
It helps your children to consolidate
and extend what they learned in
class.
It may provide opportunities to
prepare for future lessons.
It provides an opportunity for you
to interact with your children.
It helps keep you informed of what
your children are doing in school
and how they are managing.
It allows your children to develop
discipline in organising their learning
Resources:
Try to ensure that your child has
everything needed to complete homework.
Useful items might include.. Ruler
pen/pencil (coloured pencils are
useful) sharpener, rubber, dictionary,
calculator*
Other stationary like stencils,
glue, highlighters etc. are useful
and children love using them.
Access to reference books, CD roms,
internet, teletext, magazines, newspapers
can also be a help.
