Tips for helping your child to develop their reading

Let your child hold the book. Do not point or turn the pages for your child.

They need to be independent and get used to ‘behaving like a reader’.

If your child makes a mistake, let them get to the end of the sentence before saying anything. This will give them the chance to correct the mistake on their own.

If you know your child cannot work out the word from the text then tell them.

Praise them for what they do and the effort that they are making.

For example “Well done you noticed that the sentence didn’t make sense“.

If your child has difficulties you could prompt with a question like:

Does that make sense?

What is happening?

What would make sense?

Now check the sounds.

When the book is finished, talk about the story.

Ask them questions like:

Who are the characters?

Where does the story happen?

Which bit did you like best?

What happens at the end?

Most importantly, enjoy spending time sharing the books with your child!