READING IN YEAR 4

School is an important part of your child’s life.In Year 4 we will encourage your child to retell a story they have heard. This will help your child to put ideas in the right order. Children will also be encouraged to read things around them – cereal packets, notices and signs. We will discuss words. Children will have the opportunity to read each morning and will also have guided reading sessions each day. 

Read with your child – 10 minutes a day can help. We will send home levelled books once a week, but we also strongly encourage children to read books they have chosen. This is really important to help develop their love of reading

10 MINUTES A DAY

“Reading aloud is much more than just telling a child a story and if you can spare 10 minutes a day you can make a huge difference to their development,” said Inez Bailey, CEO, National Adult Literacy Agency (NALA).

“Storytelling is not all about teaching your child to read. You learn to talk a long time before you learn to read, and sharing stories and giving your child time to respond is a wonderful way to help your child’s language development”, she said.

“Reading aloud combines the benefits of talking, listening and storytelling within a single activity and helps to build the foundation for language development. From stories your child learns many things such as how to listen and concentrate, new words and understand why things happen. They also learn to put ideas in order, develop their memory skills, notice how spoken words relate to words on the page and learn how to predict,” she said.

“The most important thing is that reading is fun and enjoyable for both of you – just turn off the TV and find a quiet place so there are no distractions. And remember stories are not just found in books, it’s just as good to tell your child short, simple stories you know. The most important thing is that you enjoy it, that way your child will too.