One of the greatest gifts that you can give your child is to read with them from an early age. You don’t have to be an expert. There’s no magic in supporting children’s reading, just patience, time, plus a little skill.
It’s important to remember that learning to read is not a race! For some children, learning to read will seem to happen easily and quickly. For others, more time and support will be needed. If you have any questions or concerns about your child’s reading, please come in and talk to us.
Here at Ashurst C of E Aided Primary School, we are using the Read Write Inc (RWI) programme to get children off to a flying start with their English. RWI is a method of learning based upon letter sounds and phonics, and we use it to aid children in their reading and writing. Alongside other reading skills they are given the opportunities to develop an enjoyment of books. Story books from a variety of published reading schemes including ‘Read Write Inc’ and Oxford Reading Tree’ are used as a Foundation. Skills in reading for information and reference are also developed progressively.
Reading opens the door to learning. A child who reads a lot will become a good reader. A good reader will be able to read more challenging material. A child who can read more challenging material is a child who will learn. The more a child learns, the more he or she will want to find out.
The children are assessed regularly and grouped according to their ability. They will work with a teacher or teaching assistant on a daily basis.
Reading
When using RWI to read the children will:
- Learn 44 sounds and the corresponding letter/letter groups using simple prompts.
- Learn to read words using sound blending (Fred talk).
- Show that they comprehend the stories by answering ‘Find It’ and ‘Prove It’.
Blending
Help your child learn to read words by sounding-blending (Fred talk) e.g. c-a-t = cat, sh-o-p = shop. Children learn to read words by blending the letter-sounds that are in the Speed Sounds set.
Help your child to say the pure sounds (‘mmm’ not ‘muh’, ‘ssss’ not ‘suh’ etc) as quickly as they can and then blend the sounds together to say the whole word.
Reading in school
As well as taking part in a daily RWI, your child will be heard to read a minimum of twice a week through 1:1 reading or a guided reading session. This will be with a teacher or a teaching assistant.
Reading at home
All children will bring home a RWI reading book plus an additional book for enjoyment either from our class library to share with you. All books will be changed regularly and monitored by staff. Parents are asked to comment in the children’s Reading Diary when they hear their child read. Please encourage your child to read through the Speed Sounds page first, then the Green and Red words page and then check your child understands the meaning of words on the vocabulary check page, before they start reading the book. At the back of the book are ‘find it/prove it’ questions to do with your child.