Author: Cara Trott

Reading with children is not only a wonderful way to bond with them but also an essential activity that fosters their cognitive and emotional development. However, getting kids excited about reading can sometimes be challenging, especially in this digital age where screens compete for their attention. To make reading a joyous experience for both you and your child, here are ten tips and tricks that will make reading fun and engaging:

1. Create a Cozy Reading Environment:
Designate a special reading nook or corner in your home where you and your child can snuggle up with a book. Make it inviting with soft cushions and blankets to create a cozy atmosphere that makes reading time a cherished ritual.

2. Select Books Together:
Involve your child in the process of choosing books. Take them to the library or bookstore and let them explore different genres and themes. By giving them a say in the selection, they will feel more enthusiastic about the reading material.

3. Use Expressive Voices:
As you read, use different voices for the characters in the story. Get creative and animated with your expressions, making the characters come alive. This theatrical approach will captivate your child’s imagination and make the story more engaging.

4. Encourage Participation:
Encourage your child to participate actively while reading. Pause at strategic points and ask questions about the story, characters, or their predictions about what might happen next. This involvement will help them stay focused and develop critical thinking skills.

5. Incorporate Props and Visuals:
Bring the story to life by using props or visuals that relate to the plot. For example, if the story involves animals, have some stuffed animals ready for your child to hold while you read. This hands-on approach will make the reading experience more interactive and memorable.

6. Organize Book-themed Activities:
Extend the reading experience beyond the book by organizing related activities. For instance, if you read a book about pirates, create a treasure hunt in your backyard, or if it’s a story about baking, make cookies together. Connecting the book’s content to real-life activities will enhance their comprehension and enthusiasm for reading.

7. Make Use of Audiobooks:
Audiobooks can be an excellent addition to your reading routine. Play audiobooks during car rides or bedtime to mix up the reading experience. Hearing professional narrators can also improve their listening skills and pronunciation.

8. Start a Family Book Club:
If you have older children, start a family book club where everyone reads the same book and then discusses it together. This fosters a love for reading in the entire family and encourages healthy conversations about books and literature.

9. Celebrate Milestones and Achievements:
Celebrate reading milestones, such as finishing a book or reading for a certain number of hours, with small rewards or treats. Positive reinforcement will motivate your child to read more and enjoy the sense of accomplishment.

10. Be a Reading Role Model:
Children often imitate the behaviours of their parents. Demonstrate your love for reading by reading your own books or newspapers in their presence. Your enthusiasm for reading will be contagious, and they will be inspired to pick up books on their own.

Reading with children should be a joyful and engaging experience. By creating a positive reading environment, involving them in the book selection process, using expressive voices, and incorporating interactive elements, you can instil a lifelong love for reading in your child.

Have you noticed a change in the take home books that you are seeing? Maybe you are hearing the words Daily Review or Core Literacy.

If you are hearing these terms at home, that’s great!

At Beaconsfield Primary School we pride ourselves on high-quality explicit instruction, using research to guide our practice and gaining the BEST outcomes we can for our students. It is because of our passion for education that we are always seeking to learn how we can improve what we do.

Introducing Core Literacy!

Core Literacy is a structured approach to teaching the foundational skills that are required for successful, fluent reading and comprehension.

Multiple times each week our teachers provide targeted, explicit instruction on phonological awareness, phonics, decoding, reading fluency, writing fluency and opportunities for targeted guided learning in a high-impact, sequential and structured way.

These short, sharp activities support students to develop the skills of decoding and language comprehension, skills that are necessary to become successful readers, consumers and producers of text.

Each day students participate in Daily Review tasks to enable them to grasp new concepts and transfer new learning into their long-term memory. This structured review provides opportunities for multiple exposures to new concepts, revisiting of prior learning and opportunities to clarify students’ misunderstandings.

Daily review techniques minimise cognitive load as the routine is structured, predictable and sequential, therefore freeing up our students working memory to make space for important learning.

To support our Core Literacy program we have invested in bulk sets of decodable texts for use in the junior school area, you may have seen some of these books from Australian Decodables come home in your child’s satchel. They are beautifully illustrated and phonetically controlled to support the development of decoding skills in early readers.

In addition to these books, we have access to an online decodable library of fiction and non-fiction texts, providing our senior grades with access to high-quality texts to support the development of phonics knowledge and instruction across the whole school.

If you’d like to know more about Core Literacy, please ask your classroom teacher or myself.

Mrs Trott