At Alexandra Park, we value the importance of children being read to, especially during the stages of early reading development. From reception to Year 6, children choose a book from one of our school libraries to take home. These are books which you can share with your child at home, either by you reading it to them or just talking about what the book is about. All children across school are read to regularly in story time sessions which allow children to relax and enjoy being read to by an adult. Staff in school talk to children regularly about what books they enjoy and any wider reading they do. We discuss specific authors or book series which children like and ensure we reflect these in our selection of books in school. Children are also encouraged to recommend books to each other.
We encourage parents/carers to read with their child regularly and this can be logged in their reading records which help us build up a picture of each child as a reader. Many teachers are parents themselves and know the challenges of getting children to read at home. To help, try to make reading fun, relevant and a habit.
Fun - separate reading practise from reading for pleasure. Let them choose a book for you to read, find an audio book for them to get lost in, read a book that has been made into a film (read it before or after watching the film).
Relevant - let them choose what to read (a blog, information, comics/graphic novels, magazines, web pages), find texts that are relevant to them.
Habit - put aside a set time for reading, don’t try and do other things at the same time, have family reading time where everyone spends time reading.
If you are having any difficulties with reading at home, please contact your child’s class teacher via seesaw.