In an effort to better meet the needs of our students, we are looking to implement a new Home Reading program in our Early Childhood classrooms this year. This change has been based on our experience over the past few years.

As our focus is on developing our children’s oral fluency as well as their comprehension, your child will be bringing home two books each week. One will be a decodable phonics book that will be at the appropriate level for your child to read successfully. The other will be a picture book, similar to a library book, for you to read with your child – this will have a set of comprehension questions to accompany it which will be included in the pack. We hope that by alternating these books across the week, our student’s will develop their reading fluency as well as their understanding in a relaxed, enjoyable way. In the second half of the year, we will look at progressing our Year 2 students onto the SURFS program in preparation for working independently on this in the middle and upper primary years. This will allow our teachers time in the classroom during Guided Reading sessions to develop the comprehension skills students’ will need to achieve the most from this program.

The home reader books will be managed through the cabin, they will be signed in and out on a weekly basis to match the phonics that are being taught.

The cabin will also still visit the Chartroom once a week, during class time, so they will still have the opportunity to select books that are of a topic that interests them.

Watching your child become a confident reader and sharing the journey with them is a wonderful experience. A large part of our everyday life depends on reading. Helping your child to read will open their minds to a whole range of topics. There are many ways you can help your child build their confidence and develop strong reading skills every day. One of the easiest and most valuable things you can do at home is to read to your child and show them how much fun you can have when you read.  Discover simple ways to encourage your child’s reading.

For more information on how you can help your child with reading view the resources described below.

Kindergarten to Year 3 – A quick guide to helping your child with reading
Discover simple ways to encourage your child with their reading here

Kindergarten to Year 3 – Raising a reader- Helping your child learn to read

Discover more way you can help your child with their reading here