Top tips
You play a vital part in your child's development as a reader. It begins when they are still babies and continues even when they are reading fluently.
Top three tips
Things to remember whatever the age of your children:
- Read every day: read aloud to your children and encourage them to read to you.
- Have all sorts of books at home: borrow books from the library, give them as gifts and help your child to build up a collection of their own favourites.
- Read yourself: make sure your child sees you reading for pleasure and for different purposes.
Tips for different age-groups
Birth and pre-school
Babies and young children learn through play and by copying adults so you can start to follow the 'Top three tips' straight away.
- It is never too early to start sharing books. Babies will love listening to your voice as you read aloud.
- Babies can play with books - look for board books, touchy-feely books, books for the bath and many more
- Toddlers love to hear familiar stories and rhymes over and over again. Look out for a good book of nursery rhymes and stories that have a strong rhyme or rhythm.
- As they get older, children will start to take interest in the text as well as the pictures. Encourage them to join in with words they know and look out for print all around you – road and shop signs, print on packets, etc. The list is endless.
- Join your local library – there will be a special section of books for the youngest children and many libraries run story sessions during the day.
5-7 year-olds
Now your children are at school, they will be learning how to read. You can support this at home, but don't forget to carry on with the 'Top three tips'. Reading a little each day is better than a longer session only occasionally.
- Take an interest in the books your child brings home from school. Celebrate their achievements as they try reading to you.
- Play games like ‘I Spy’ to help your children to hear and identify the initial letter sound (or phoneme) in a word.
- Carry on reading aloud. Your child will be able to understand and enjoy longer stories now, but will not be ready to read the books all the way through by themselves. Children of this age often enjoy series of books about the same character.
- Keep visiting the library. At this stage, children need a constant supply of new books so they can clock up those ‘reading miles’ and get more confident.
- You may wish to return to a favourite, easier book from time to time, to allow children to really enjoy and relax with their reading.
8-11 year-olds
Now your children are moving towards independence as readers. They may be trying to read much longer and more challenging texts or they may have lost some of the enthusiasm they used to have.
- Continue to take an interest in what they are reading. You could offer to take it in turns to read a page each, or read one character in the story. Celebrate their success as they complete longer texts.
- Get your child interested in activities you can do together that involve reading. You could follow instructions for building a model or try out a new recipe together.
- Don’t panic if your child doesn’t want to read. Offer a wide range of reading material – information books, comics and magazines. Keep visiting the library and borrow story tapes as well as books.
- Carry on reading aloud. You can introduce your child to some great adventure and fantasy stories and have fun exploring them together. Children will often re-read a book that they have first heard read aloud.
- You may wish to return to a favourite, easier book from time to time, to allow children to really enjoy and relax with their reading.
Find out more
There are many websites with useful information for parents which are well worth a look. For example: 'Reading is Fundamental' has hundreds of fun ideas for reading activities with different age groups: www.rif.org The Department for Education and Skills (in England) has good advice about supporting your child's reading development: www.dfes.gov.uk/read