Reading

The early years are a critical time for students to develop foundational literacy skills. Children in Kindergarten to Year 2 benefit from a range of activities that support their development of language and early reading skills. The resources below offer advice to parents and a range of engaging reading and writing activities.

Using language to think, read and write

Does your child need some additional support for reading, writing and spelling? Here are some resources to help you:

• Using language at home to think read and write with Kindy to Year 2

Activities to support language at home in Prep to Year 2

There are many ways to encourage children in Prep to Year 2 to read and write. These resources offer some reading and writing activities that can be used for a range of texts and topics of interest to your child.

• Activities to encourage reading and writing at home in Prep to Year 2
• Being creative with literature in Kindy to Year 2

Supporting your child’s understanding of phonics

Phonics is the term used to refer to the ability to identify the relationships between letters and sounds when we are reading and spelling. While learning at home, some children may benefit from some additional practice. The following resource assists parents and carers to engage with their children while they are learning their letters and sounds.

• Decoding one syllable words with long vowels

Supporting children with language difficulties through shared reading

Shared reading is the interaction that occurs between an adult and a child when reading or looking at a book. The following videos highlight how parents can help support their children who experience language difficulties with skills that are foundational to reading success. They are designed to assist parents challenge, extend, and support their children’s reading skills.

• Video—Building phonological awareness through shared reading
• Video—Building word knowledge through shared reading
• Video—Building print knowledge through shared reading
• Video—Building narrative knowledge through shared reading

Supporting children with language difficulties

• Using prompts to support children with language difficulties to access learning

Retelling stories at home

Learning to tell a good story is an important step for young children. Being able to tell a good story means children can share their experiences, their ideas and their feelings. Understanding how stories work also helps children to understand the stories they read, and helps them to write good stories. This resource, Retelling stories at home, will help you to support your child to understand the elements of good storytelling.

• Introduction: retelling stories at home
• Instructions: retelling stories at home
• Illustrations: retelling stories at home
• Scripts: retelling stories at home

Partners in learning

Daily reading at home is one of the best ways to ensure your child continues to learn. The more reading your child does, the further he or she will develop as a reader and a learner.

Children in Years 3 and 4 benefit from ongoing support with their reading at home. This video provides ideas on how to support your child to progress their reading at home.

• Video—How do I support my child's reading at home in Years 3 to 6?—Transcript

Reading a range of literary texts

Children in Years 3 and 4 are required to read a range of texts such as picture books, simple chapter books and poetry. The resources below offer a range of engaging reading and writing activities.

• Supporting your child’s reading and writing in Years 3 and 4
• Supporting your child's reading and writing in Years 3 and 4: Literary texts
• Being creative with literature in Years 3 and 4

Words are my superpower

Parents and carers, this resource will help you to support your child to understand word meanings.

Understanding how morphemes work is important for decoding and spelling. Morphemes, or root words, prefixes and suffixes, help us to decode words because morphemes are usually spelled the same way and they always have the same meaning. Building our understanding of morphemes allows us to make meaning of words we hear and words we read, and helps us to grow our vocabulary.

• Words are my superpower—Introduction
• Words are my superpower—Activity sheet

Children in Years 5 and 6 are becoming more independent but may still require support with their reading of a range of texts. This video provides ideas on how to support your child to progress their reading at home.

• Video—How do I support my child's reading at home in Years 3 to 6?—Transcript

Reading a range of texts

Children in Years 5 and 6 are required to read a range of texts including junior and early adolescent novels, plays and poetry. The resources below offer a range of engaging reading and writing activities.

• Supporting your child's reading and writing in Years 5 and 6
• Supporting your child’s reading and writing in Years 5 and 6: Literary texts
• Being creative with literature in Years 5 and 6

Words are my superpower

Parents and carers, this resource will help you to support your child to understand word meanings.

Understanding how morphemes work is important for decoding and spelling. Morphemes, or root words, prefixes and suffixes, help us to decode words because morphemes are usually spelled the same way and they always have the same meaning. Building our understanding of morphemes allows us to make meaning of words we hear and words we read, and helps us to grow our vocabulary.

• Words are my superpower—Introduction
• Words are my superpower—Activity sheet

Children in junior secondary are learners that are more independent but may still require support with reading and writing a range of texts, across several learning areas. The resources below provide advice on how to support your child’s reading and writing at home.

• Reading and writing activities Years 7 to 10
• Supporting your child’s reading and writing in Years 7 to 10: Literary texts
• Being creative with literature in Years 7 to 10