Tips to support your child at home with reading and writing

Learning should not stop even without the physical presence of teachers. Hence, the virtual school period becomes a perfect opportunity for you to become involved in your child’s learning progress. However, we understand that many parents might feel overwhelmed having to work from home and run the household while keeping the children on track with their virtual schoolwork. So we put together a few practical suggestions for you to support your child at home with reading and writing.

Five tips for home reading practice 

1. Aim for your child(ren) to read every day. In Phase 1, reading time should be around 15 minutes. In Phase 2, you can extend the time to 20-30 minutes. In Phase 3, children should spend at least 30 minutes on reading.   

2. Advocate your children to share their favourite books or any part of their books. For younger children, get them to act out their favourite scene. For older children, ask them why they love the book. 

3. Get your children to talk about what they have read. They can describe the details in their home language if needed. Encourage them to provide as much detail as possible when talking about their reading.  

4. Show children how reading material is everywhere! They can read either paper books or online materials (e.g., Bug Club) but get the kids to look for wherever they can see words.  

5. Try to read non-fiction and poetry as well as fiction. Children loved performing poetry on Book Day, so go online and find a poem they love to boost their spirit.   

Five tips for home writing practice 

1. After your child has finished reading a book, get them to write about the book. They can write a review, a continuation of the story or a retelling of the story.   
2. Encourage children to create their own story. A storyboard will be an effective tool to help them with their creation. They can split their story into 5-9 parts and draw images for each stage of the story before writing.  
3. Suggest to your child to keep a diary. Diaries are great because they are informal and allow children to write from their perspective. They might not want to share what they’ve written, and that is ok, once they are enjoying writing.  
4. Using the BIS Superheroes as inspiration, your child can create their own superhero comic strip.  
5. A great way to ensure children produce high-quality work is getting them to practise sentences verbally before writing them down. This process allows them to edit out mistakes before writing their ideas on paper. 

Oliver Wray & Jasmine Reilly 

Primary Teachers / English Leaders