Your role in making a child a reader

By the time they arrive in primary school, our children will generally have an interest in books; some of them will have an interest in reading some words or even writing them.

The range of words will vary from child to child, but most children will recognise their own names, familiar words such as Mam, Dad and other frequently seen words.

As reading really develops from children's ability to speak, the language they hear and use at home and in school is particularly important. At this stage, the teacher will put a great emphasis on the spoken word to help them increase their vocabulary and become familiar with as many words as possible. As they are getting ready to use books, the teacher will involve them in what are known as pre-reading exercises:

listening to sounds, stories and rhymes;

sequencing stories using pictures;

matching words (your child may have an "expanding" envelope or package of words which you can assist them in learning);

matching words to pictures;

labelling items in the classroom;

learning groups of words, such as colours;

doing simple news by writing the words on the board or placing cut-out words on a suitable surface;

copying patterns going from left to right, to get them used to the direction in which the words go on the page.

Do not worry if your child does not have a reader; do not compare your child to other children in the class - or in the same class in a different school. When they are ready, the children will be given readers from a graded reading scheme which is geared towards their abilities to read.

If you are unsure as to what is happening go and meet with the teacher. In many infant classes, children are not given books until at least Christmas, as the teacher works with words the children will later encounter in the readers.

The two main approaches most commonly used to teach reading in primary schools are "look and say" and phonics. The approach used will depend on school policy.

"Look and say" is also referred to as the "whole word" approach. It is based on looking at words and remembering them. The children are taught to learn words by looking at their shape and using their memory to remember them.

Teaching children how to read demands much creativity and energy. It may involve the blackboard, flash cards, labels, jigsaws, printed rhymes audio-visual aids and even television programmes.

Many kinds of "games" are played with the printed words: matching words; matching words to pictures; copying words and later phrases or sentences on a clear sheet; hiding words; putting words in the proper place where there are gaps in a phrase or a simple sentence; reorganising words in phrases and sentences; picking the odd word out in a group of words or a mixture of pictures and words; picking the correct word to put in a sentence or group of words; re-assembling a word from mixed-up letters (usually using the picture of the word as a clue); making sentences using known words; fishing for words from a jar of words; reading words, phrases and sentences aloud; playing "word bingo".

Using the look-and-say approach the children build up what is known as a sight vocabulary. Then they move into working on the readers to developing fluency and other higherorder skills. The other approach commonly used in our schools is known as the phonic approach, or, as most people call it, "phonics". Here children learn how sounds build up and bind together to form an entire word. The one great advantage of the phonics approach is that children have a system for breaking down words. Children learn a system which allows them to work through a combination of sounds to read new words. They break up the word into its different sounds and then bring all of the sounds together to sound the full word. This skill is particularly helpful as they progress through their readers and they meet new and more difficult words.

"Phonics" can be quite difficult for children at the start,but again a variety of strategies, some of which employ fun and games, are used. "Letterland", which has become popular in recent years, is phonicsbased and provides great variety for teacher and children. Where phonics is used, you will probably find that look-and-say also plays a part in building up the children's vocabulary.

Teachers welcome the support of parents who:

listen to their children reading from their readers;

read to their children;

teach them rhymes and stories;

read with their children even long after the children are able to read for themselves;

read words on flash cards which the children sometimes bring home from school;

play games with cut-out words on card - you may get advice from the teacher on what you can do in this area;

play word games, e.g. "I Spy" words, matching and using jigsaws to build up words or sentences;

encourage children to take an interest in books through telling or reading them stories and rhymes;

talk and chat to their children about stories and rhymes;

encourage reading by means of comics, newspapers, labels, notices, menus, the TV guide or even timetables.

My advice is to use anything to encourage children to develop an interest in and an enjoyment of reading.

The teacher has the specialist training and skills to teach your child how to read. When you support the teacher's work, make it fun and enjoyable for the children. Correct their mistakes sensitively and gently. Help them to build up confidence in their reading; praise and encourage them in their efforts to become fluent and interested readers.