Reading support at home
12th January 2021
Dear Parents/Carers,
Reading together as a family counts!
Children need support to develop the habit and love of reading. Three core strategies support readers:
- Reading aloud
- Time to read as a family
- Book chat and being playful.
So ‘just relax and read’. Time and space to hear stories, poetry, rhymes etc and to read and talk informally about what you’re reading makes a difference to children’s pleasure in reading.
What counts as reading?
We would like all families to celebrate of reading of all types, including non-fiction, poetry, graphic novels, audio books, e-books, songs and song lyrics, rhymes and nursery rhymes, magazines, sports programmes, Top Trump cards, blogs and even road signs, board game instructions, baking recipes and take away menus!
School Support Accessing Reading Resources
We are providing children in Reception and Key Stage 1 with Read Write Inc books via Google Classroom to help them develop the skills of reading as well as reading comprehension.
Books for all ages can be ordered from our Library for delivery in school if they are currently attending, collection from the School Office (preferred) and home delivery, every Monday afternoon. Full details of how to order books are published on our website: https://www.st-peters-school.org.uk/parents/school-library/
Book Trust: www.booktrust.org.uk/
We recommend that you visit the Hometime section of their website which includes these free resources:
- Storybooks including audio stories and animated stories;
- Games, quizzes and competitions;
- How to draw videos by a variety of illustrators and artist;
- Rhymes and songs;
- Book themed recipes.
There is also a Bookfinder tool to help you and your child choose their next reading book – you can search by age, genre and read a synopsis.
Devon Libraries Online: www.devonlibraries.org.uk/web/arena/children
Whilst the library buildings have closed, you can use RBdigital, OverDrive and BorrowBox to download free magazines, eBooks and eAudio using your existing membership card.
Being Playful With Books
Encourage your children to: role play stories with their toys, find a joke to share, build a reading den, read via Zoom with a family relation, make a mini-book, tell a friend about a favourite book, recreate a favourite book or comic cover, use Lego/Duplo to recreate a setting, arrange their books by genre/colour/author/preference etc.
We have attached a Treasure Hunt activity which celebrates reading in all its varied forms. This can be adapted for different age groups, if necessary. If you have a go, please send your class teacher a photo!
Please contact your child’s class teacher if you or your child need any support with reading.
Mr Lee
Deputy Headteacher plee@sps1.org.uk