Children are expected to read at least 3 times a week to an adult but preferably 5 times per week for a minimum of 15 minutes each time. There are no reading records to be completed. Instead, children will be asked in school about the book they are reading at home on a regular basis.

As children move into Key Stage 2, we continue to focus on reading fluency but also develop their reading stamina.

At the beginning of Year 3, many children will bring home a book from the school library that has a ‘gold sticker’ on it. This is their ‘learn to read’ book. These books have been carefully selected as an introduction to early chapter books with the text broken up with illustrations. We keep a close eye on the book that the child has chosen, making sure that it is at a level that the child will be able to read with an adult at home.

When your child has finished reading their library book, please remind them to bring it back into school and to write their name up on the library list in class. This then alerts the adults in class that they need to change their library book and we will find a suitable time for this to happen.

Top tips when reading with your child:

• Make sure they are following the text, pointing to the words as they go, to help with tracking.
• If they struggle with a particular section of a text, consider getting them to reread it a few times to help develop their fluency.
• Model how to read parts of the text and then have your child ‘echo’ back what you have said, copying your intonation and expression. This is especially useful when children are trying to read speech.
• Engage in book talk during or after the reading session as this is a great way to discuss what has been read. See below for ideas on book talk.

Book talk

As well as checking that the children understand what they have read, know who the main characters are, know what is happening etc it is also really useful to engage in book talk. And this can be along the lines of:

• Make links and connections. Do the characters/settings remind you of anyone/anywhere? Have you been in a similar situation? Have you learnt about this from TV/School?
• Make predictions. Can you guess what the story is about? What will happen next?
• Discuss/ introduce vocabulary. If there is a tricky word, can you explain what it means? Use other words to describe a character, words that a child of their age may not be familiar with (they might then try to use it in their writing)
• Discuss emotions. How does the story make you feel? Some children find it hard to articulate their feelings, so if it is modelled for them by adults it can help them understand their own feelings.

Follow the links below to discover new reading recommendations for your child.