Here at Grange, we believe that reading at home is invaluable in supporting your child in their development as a reader. Reading for pleasure at home every day not only boosts your child’s reading confidence but also supports them to develop a broader vocabulary, increased general knowledge and a better understanding of other cultures.

You can make a huge difference! Parents are the most important educators in a child’s life - even more important than their teachers - and it’s never too early to start reading together.

We would ask that children read at home a minimum of twice a week. This is a minimum but we would hope children read at home every day if possible. The more the better!

As your child progresses through our phonics programme, they will bring home a reading book which will contain decodable words linked to the sounds they have been taught. Once your child is a confident word reader, they will move to our Accelerated Reader programme.

The aim of this programme is to encourage children to choose reading books from a wide range, enabling them to select books linked to their interests. Once they have read a book, they will complete an online quiz to monitor their understanding of what they have read.

To support your child, please spend some time listening to them read and discussing what they think of what they have read.  If your child would prefer to read independently, please spent some time talking about what they have read, checking any words they have found difficult and asking them what they think about what they have read.

Alongside their chosen reading book, your child will bring home a purple reading card. Please can you sign the card each time you have read with your child or they have read independently.

Your child will also have access to a range of ebooks and our Lexia programme. Lexia allows your child to practise their word reading as well as understanding of vocabulary and comprehension. If you are not sure of your child’s log in details, please speak to your child’s teacher either in person or on Class Dojo.

To reward children’s efforts to read at home, we operate a book prize system. For each full reading card (to fill a card a child needs to read at home 68 times) or for 20 points, 50 points, 100 points and 150 points earned on Accelerated Reader, children can choose a book from our book prize selection to take home and keep.

Below you will find a selection of links to websites which can give you ideas and tips on how to support your child with home reading.

Reading | Oxford Owl

Tips for parents | Coram Beanstalk (beanstalkcharity.org.uk)

Parents and families | National Literacy Trust

If you have any questions about how you can support your child with home reading, please ask your child’s class teacher.

Thank you for your continued support.