1. Home Reading Helping Families to Support Their Children http://helpingchildren.ezabu.com/2009/05/17/be-a-great-role- model/&usg=___gUoOhmUTICIZI4EAHYsPqPQ2eY=&h=682&w=1024&sz=155&hl=en&start=31&zoom=1&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=mbk58zVDJgeyDM:&tbnh=100&tbnw=150&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dchildren%2Breading%26start%3D20%26 um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Dactive%26sa%3DN%26ndsp%3D20%26tbs%3Disch:1&ei=RbVVTbCnD5SosQP-17GpBQ

2. The Kindergarten Home Reading Program Every Thursday your child will bring a special reading book home with them These books are for the students to read to you They should read this book to you once a day and at the end of the week you are to record your feedback on the reading log Every Wednesday the reading package comes back to school

3. Leave your child alone to read the book to themselves Read the book to your child Let them struggle alone over words Leave the book outside of the ziplock bag when not being read Send the reading package to school on days other than Wednesdays Do Nots:

4. Make your home reading time a special and cherished time Display your own excitement and enthusiasm with reading Model and encourage one to one finger tracking Have your child start reading with the title Give prompts when they are stuck on a word If he/she has unsuccessfully tried the word several times give them the word Praise their efforts! Dos

5. Done the first time reading the book Look at the cover and predict (wonder out loud) what the book will be about Starting at the beginning have your child turn the pages of the book and tell you what they see in the pictures If they are stuck use prompting questions Ask leading questions to identify difficult words in the story Encourage them to connect the pictures instead of listing individual items Encourage and praise their comments and predictions What is a “Picture Walk”?

6. Look for picture clues Try using the beginning letter sounds Sound the word out: blend, don’t fragment! Look to see if there are any parts of the words they know (little words inside of big words) Skip the word, read to the end of the sentence then come back to the word. Ask “Does that word make sense?” Reading Strategies

7. Reading is: Decoding & Comprehension

8. Decoding is when your child deciphers the word and can read it out loud Comprehension is when your child understands what he/she has read Some children can decode many levels higher than they can comprehend Reading is when a child can both decode and comprehend adequately

9. With the book closed ask what happened in the story. Can he/she recall what happened in sequence? Does he/she refer to the characters by names or does he/she use pronouns? Can he/she give the beginning, middle and end of the story? Does he/she recall details? Can they do this things with 2 or less prompting questions? How do I know my child is really comprehending? www.usd231.com/webschools/Page_Images/5/ParentChildReading.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.usd231.com/we bschools/Forms/SubPage.aspx%3Fmenu%3D5_612&usg=__XGlSWcXb6pG_LV5LXhiWczl7epQ=&h=1024& w=1024&sz=192&hl=en&start=19&zoom=1&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=91r92QWV3_vR7M:&tbnh=150&tbnw=150& prev=/images%3Fq%3Dchildren%2Breading%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Dactive%26tbs%3Disch: 1&ei=nKtVTc4Cj_qzA7Tj2aMFTexthttp://www.usd231.com/we bschools/Forms/SubPage.aspx%3Fmenu%3D5_612&usg=__XGlSWcXb6pG_LV5LXhiWczl7epQ=&h=1024& w=1024&sz=192&hl=en&start=19&zoom=1&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=91r92QWV3_vR7M:&tbnh=150&tbnw=150& prev=/images%3Fq%3Dchildren%2Breading%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Dactive%26tbs%3Disch: 1&ei=nKtVTc4Cj_qzA7Tj2aMFText

10. Comprehension Continued... Talk about the book: What did you like? What did it make you think of? What was your favourite part? http://www.saidaonline.com/en/newsgfx/reading%20to%20children-saidaonline.jpg

11. Look for words: Can you point to the word ‘dog’? Can you point to a word that has 3 letters? Can you point to a word that begins with the letter ‘d’? Can you point to word that ends with the letter ‘g’? Can you point to a word that rhymes with ‘bat’? Count how many times a word appears in the book. My child has mastered the book, now what?

12. Continue to read pictures books to/with your child Visit the library.....often! Read on the run: signs, packaging, grocery lists, etc. Educational Websites eg. Starfall.com Have fun! Should I do anything else to support their reading? development?

13. ‘Kid Writing’ http://wwcsd.net/~ormondk/images/MVC-566Frs.jpg

14. What is “Kid Writing” Kid Writing (Inventive Spelling) is when a child writes down a word by using the letter sounds they identify in the word

15. Why not focus on spelling? When they have to worry about spelling, they become fearful what they are writing down is wrong, this causes frustration, frustration leads to avoidance and negative feelings towards writing Focus on spelling will happen later in their literacy development

16. The single graphemes need to be strong!!!!

17. How does it work? Initially you model to your child how to sound the word out Elongate the word. DO NOT fragment Have your child say it with you Gradually have them do this more and more independently

18. continued.... What’s the first letter sound you hear? What do you hear after that? Continue to work through all the sounds in the word.

19. Examples Initially they might hear only 1 or 2 letters in the word Vowels are hardest to identify Might also add additional letters “I picked a pumpkin. I see a rainbow.”

20. What’s your role? Be close by to help them sounding Scribe below their writing Ask “Tell me about what you’ve written” vs. “What does that say?” Remind about finger spaces Remind about periods at the end of a sentence Remind about using an upper case letter at the start if the sentence Praise and encourage their efforts!

21. The most important goal is for your child to see themselves as readers and writers!