helping your child read

Most parents are more concerned about their child's progress in reading than in any subject taught in school - and rightfully so. In order for pupils to achieve in maths, science, English, history, geography and other subjects, reading skills must be developed to a point that most of them are automatic. Pupils cannot struggle with word recognition when they should be reading quickly for comprehension of a text.

Since reading is so important to success in school, parents and carers can and should play a role in helping their children to become interested in reading and encouraging their growth in reading skills. At the same time, parents and teachers need to work together.

What can parents and carers do to help their pre-school children in the learning-to-read process?
Research shows that children learn about reading before they enter school. In fact, they learn in the best manner through observation. Young children, for example, see people around them reading newspapers, books, maps and signs. Parents and carers can do a lot to foster an understanding of print by talking to their pre-school age children about signs in their environment and by letting their children know they enjoy reading themselves.

As I read to my pre-school age child, what should I do specifically?
Many parents and carers recognise the value and enjoyment of reading to their young children, but perhaps are not clear about the specific skills that could be enhanced through the process. Most important, reading should be an enjoyable experience. Research reveals that when young children experience warm and close contacts with their parents and/or carers when they are being read to, they develop more positive attitudes towards reading.
Run your index finger under the line of print. This procedure is simple and helps children begin to notice words and that words have meaning. They also gain an awareness of the conventions of reading (eg, one reads from left to right and from the top of the page to the bottom; sentences are made up of words and some sentences extend beyond a line of print).

One of the greatest advantages of reading to pre-school children (or children of any age) is the opportunity for vocabulary development. Children learn the meaning of words through good literature; words take on rich meaning when used in an interesting way.

What can I do for my school age child who doesn't like to read?
During your child's first years at school she or he will be continuing to learn how to read. It is a complex process, difficult for some and easy for others. Care must be taken during these early years not to overemphasise the learning-to-read process. Reading for pleasure and information develops reading interests and offers children the opportunity to practice their reading skills in meaningful ways. Parents of primary age school pupils should provide reading material at home that arouses curiosity or extends the child's natural interest in the world around them.

By encouraging and providing leisure reading time at home, parents and carers will be providing the most important step in fostering their child's reading development. How can the results of research in reading be useful to me as a parent or carer? Current research in reading reveals three important considerations for parents and carers and teachers:

• children who read, and read widely, become better readers
• reading and writing are complementary skills
• parents and carers are important to children as role models and supporters of their efforts.

What does research say about ways parents can help their children with reading?
The following suggestions have been beneficial to many parents and carers:

• provide a good role-model yourself and read often to your child
• provide varied reading material - some for reading enjoyment and some with information about hobbies and interests
• encourage activities that require reading - for example, cooking (reading a recipe), constructing a kite (reading instructions), or identifying an interest in bird's nests or a shell collected at a beach (using a reference book)
• establish a reading time, even if it is only ten minutes a day
• write notes to your school-age children;
• encourage written responses
• ask your child to bring a library book home to read to a younger sister or brother
• establish one evening a week for reading (instead of television viewing)
• encourage your child in all reading efforts.

Subscribe to reading
Not all reading takes place between the cover of books! Some of the most lively, informative, and entertaining writing can be found on the colourful pages of magazines.
If your child is not enthusiastic about reading, but passionate about sports card collecting or rollerblading, hand her or him an issue of a special interest magazine. It may be a kind of reading that she or he could subscribe to.

Reading buddies
Reading is not an activity always to be done alone. Turn it into a social event. Are you headed for the library? Invite your child's friends to come along, help each other choose, and swap favourites; they'll discover that reading is another way of having fun together.

Extra! Extra!
Newspapers and news magazines are wonderful supplements to your family's reading. Although some material is over the heads of children, plenty is appropriate to share. Use them to:

• read aloud about human interest stories
• marvel together over the latest photographs from a satellite or space telescope
• keep up with your favourite teams in the daily sports section
• use the weekend section to plan a family outing
• also look for special features, such as a weekly science section that reports on new discoveries and advancements in a way that families can understand
• try a recipe from the weekly food section.

Most Sunday newspapers even include a special activity insert for children.

Books of choice
Have a special place where your child can keep her or his books. Schoolbooks can stay where they belong - on the desk or in your child's schoolbag. But books taken out of the library, received as gifts, or chosen to buy at a bookshop deserve a shelf or box of their own.

And don't forget ... use a  library!
No matter where you live in the Borough you will find one convenient to you. Make sure that your child joins a library and knows how to use it. All  library staff will be pleased to show you and your child around our libraries which all have special areas designed and designated for the younger reader.

Many of our libraries organise events throughout the year, but especially during holiday times. These range from story telling, to activity workshops and children's entertainment. There is also a growing network of Home Work Clubs in  libraries where your child can use all the library resources and obtain additional support from a Home Work Club teacher and library staff whilst doing her or his homework or planning future school projects.

Telephone 0181  to find the nearest library to where you live.