Sharing a book with a child is fun! It’s a time for closeness, laughing and talking together – and it can also give children a flying start in life and help them become lifelong readers.

Please see the links below of fantastic tips to embed a love of reading at home.

Top Tips for Reading at Home:

• Keep sessions short
• Keep sessions relaxed – find a comfortable place where you and your child can settle down
• Give lots of praise, progress may not always be fast – children do not always find the skill of reading and understanding easy to grasp
• Talk about the book before you begin to read – look at the front cover, and the pictures (if any) and ask your child to think about or even guess what the book may be about.
• Ask questions to check your child’s understanding e.g. What might happen next? Why did something happen?
• Talk about the book afterwards – did your child enjoy it? Why? What was the best bit?
• If your child struggles over a particular word, try to find ways to help them remember it e.g. by looking at the ‘shape’ of the word, or by guessing the word from the meaning of the sentence.
• Don’t give up on the bedtime story, even if your child is a good reader.
• The more stories and books your child hears, the more they will want to read.
• Be a good model for your children – let them see you reading – anything and everything – newspapers, magazines, catalogues, books etc. – let them know that reading is a valuable skill.
• Telling them about a book or story you liked when you were a child. You may still be able to find a copy of it on the internet!
• Making up a story or telling them about when you were a child or something that happened to you at school, remember you don’t always need a book to tell a good story.
• Taking it in turns to read parts of the story.
• Telling them one thing you really enjoy about listening to them read.

Helpful questions to ask children when reading

Children’s understanding of what they have read is the key to success and enjoyment of reading. It allows children to challenge ideas, collect a wider range of vocabulary and become creative writers as they use the language they have acquired to improve their writing. Below are some examples of questions you could ask your child. 

Literal Retrieval  - Finding information directly from a text

Where does the story take place? When did the story take place?
Can you describe the character’s appearance?
Can you predict what the story may be about the title?

Where do the characters live?
Who are the main characters?
What happened in the story?
Can you describe the problem in the story? How would you solve it? Can you identify words that describe the setting or character? What happened after....?

Can you tell me why....?

Look at the picture of the character, how do you think they are feeling? Why might this be?

Describe what happened at/when. What do you think will happen next? What did the character say to....?

What does the word ... imply/make you think of?

Inference - finding clues about a character, setting or event

If you were going to interview/ask a character a question-who would you ask and what would your question be?

What do you think will happen because of ......? Through whose eyes is the story told?
Why do you think ... feels...?
If this was you, what would you do next?

How have the characters changed during the story?

Predict what you think is going to happen next. What makes you think this?

How do you know that...? (Deduce/Infer)

What does the main character feel at this point in the story? How do you know this-can you pick out a sentence?

Language - finding vocabulary

Which words has the author used to make the writing sound more formal/informal?

Why has the author used ... (italics, bold, exclamation marks, headings, bullet points, captions etc.)?

What has the author used in the text to make the characters sound funny/sad/angry?

Think of another word you can use here. What different effect would your word have?

As a reader, how do you feel about this character? What makes you feel that way?

Can you find any similes/metaphors in the story?

Find some adjectives that help you picture the scene/character in your mind.

Find a sentence that encourages you to want to read more of the story.

Why has the author set out the text like this?

Writer’s Viewpoint

What is the writer’s purpose and viewpoint of writing the story? Can you think of another story that has a similar theme? (good/evil/weak/strong)
Why does the author choose this setting?

What makes this a GOOD story?

What effect do you think the story has on the reader?

Could the story be better? What would you suggest?

What impression does the author want to give of this character? Why?

What is the purpose of this paragraph? (e.g. time moves on) What question would you like to ask the writer of the story? Who is this advert trying to persuade?
Would you solve the problem in the story in a different way? Do you think...was right to .........?

Does the article/story try to get you to care about anything? What can you tell about what the author thinks?

The Wider World links

Do you know any other stories like this? (good over evil, wise over foolish)

Where is the story set?

How is the hero/heroine of this story similar to others you have read about?

What does the story remind you of?

Does the story remind you of something that has happened to you?

How would you have felt in that situation?

What might you have done instead?

What other stories have similar openings/endings to this one?

Many stories have messages, what is the message of this story?

Are there any familiar patterns that you notice? E.g. story structure, imagery.

Does the story make you want to find out anything else about ... the history, cultural, social area being discussed?

After Reading

Talking about the book with your child at the end will help your child in their enjoyment and understanding of the book.

• Did you enjoy that book? Why? Why not?
• Who was your favourite character? Why?
• Which part did you like the best? Why?
• Was there any part you didn’t like? Why?
• Would you choose this book/story again?

Which books are best?

• Books your child likes.
• Books suggested by your child’s teacher
• Books your child chooses from a library or bookshop that they want to read
• Never be afraid of re-reading books

What else can my child read?

• Comics or Magazines
• Instructions or recipes
• Information books
•  Newspapers
• Poems
• Recorded stories

My child is a good reader. Can I still help?

Absolutely! Although children will often want to read in their heads when they become fluent readers and you should not insist on too much reading aloud, there are still many things that you can do. Discuss with them what they have read – about the character, about the plot, about the important parts of the story, about what they have learnt from the information, about their feelings as they read the story...

My child won’t read, no matter what I do. How can I help?

• Read to your child as much as possible
• Talk to your child’s class teacher - working together will help.

Below, there are more useful tips for supporting your child with reading at home.