Kookaburra Educational Resources

Helping your children to read is vitally important to support their learning and development, but it is also a great opportunity to spend some special time at home bonding.

Research shows the importance of parents reading with children. Parents and carers don't need to be bookworms to play a valuable role in helping their children become independent readers, nor should it be something to be stressed about.

Here we share some practical tips for helping your children learn to read so it is both educational and enjoyable for your both.

Before you begin reading talk about the cover, the title, and the pictures, and ask them what they think the book may be about. As you continue reading, take the opportunity to pause and take a moment to discuss what has been read up that point and what they think might happen next. Here, you are teaching your children the important skills of reflection and prediction.

After you have finished reading, take the time to talk about the story and the pictures in the book and ask questions about key things that happened. The ability to recall the key elements in a story is valuable in the development of comprehension skills.

As your children grow in confidence and it’s time to introduce more advanced texts, start by taking turns. Beginning readers can be given the task of reading the repetitive parts of the story, while the more experienced reader can read a paragraph or a page.

On finding a challenging word, the following is a great technique to use when helping your children to read:

Pause to give your child time to work out the word.

Prompt – go back to the beginning of the sentence or skip over the difficult word and read to the end of the sentence. Helpful prompts include “look for a clue in the picture or the words” or “look at the first letter of the word and think about what the words could be” or ask “Does this make sense?”. You can also ask them to try to sound out the word, but if necessary, tell your child the word and note it down to refer to again later.

Praise your child for trying even if mistakes are made.

Another great tip when helping your children to read is don’t overlook opportunities when you’re out with your children. Reading signs and identifying letters and words, wherever they occur, is all part of their learning experience

The Kookaburra Educational Resources team has the following five key tips to encourage successful reading at home:

Prepare a Healthy Reading Environment. Try to find a quiet space with limited distractions. Learning to read can be challenging and that can be made harder if there are lots of distractions at home. Find somewhere that is physically comfortable and is well lit.
Create a Routine. There is never a perfect time or place to read but setting a regular routine for reading time is beneficial for everyone. Reading at the same time each day will result in routine, structure and results! Bedtime can be a good choice however morning times can be more successful with an alert child ready to read.
Prioritise reading time – little and often. Quality reading time together doesn’t have to take a long time. Just ten minutes a day makes a positive impact. If your child is very engaged in the book continue for a little longer, alternatively just a few pages is beneficial and helps to maintain routine.
Get comfortable and engage success. Are you and the child comfortable? Can you both see the text? Is this an active learning environment? Your main role is a listener and active mentor – checking for accuracy of word reading/decoding.
Praise after reading. Even if you feel the session has not been successful, there is always something to praise when helping your children to read. It is vital that you offer encouragement during the reading session and at the conclusion as ending on a positive note helps your child look forward to the next session.