Reading in the Early Years

With Book Week taking place this week, it is important to remember that the early years are critical to developing a lifelong love of reading. You cannot start too soon! It is the beginning of a journey. Reading is about books. It is also about words in our environment, it is about signs, labels, captions, sentences and storytelling! Sharing books is important, as is reading to your child every day. Make this a special time when you can share a book together. Bedtime is an especially great time for reading together. Tell your child how much you enjoy reading with him or her. We hope that you will look forward to the time you spend reading together. Talk about "story time" as the favourite part of your day. Read to your child with humour and expression. Use different voices for different characters. Children love reading and sharing the same stories over and over again. There are so many ways to help your child to learn to read and enjoy reading. In the Foundation Stage, we introduce children to reading using different strategies and developing an enjoyment of books and stories. Reading eggs as a learning platform will now be introduced to support developing reading skills with your children. There are plenty of different games and activities online that children enjoy.  We are also sending a booklet home that will provide ideas for supporting your child’s reading at home.

Happy Book Week! We look forward to sharing the children’s favourite books as we share our activities with you through our Facebook page.