We love reading. Especially reading together as a family. We read to the boys from a young age and they have always ‘read’ to each other. They love books. My biggest worry with Ioan learning to read independently, was that the process would put him off reading. I’m happy to say that isn’t the case, if anything he’s a bigger bookworm than before!
Resources
- Books – lots of them in different shapes and sizes, including fiction and non-fiction
- Reading den
To support early reading:
- Set of Jolly Phonics Readers
- Set of Ladybird I’m Ready for Phonics books
- Selection of early reading/ phonics stories from the library
Method
These pictures are from World Book Day 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019. Every year I’ve taken a picture when I have seen reading occur naturally in our house. My favourite part is seeing Finn grow from being the little brother being read to, to the big brother reading to his own little brother!
Since Cian was born, Ioan has gone even more book mad, he wants to spend all his free time practising his reading. He told me that the reason he wants to be really good at reading is so he can reads any book he likes to his brothers.
The first time Ioan reads a book through, he reads it just to Cian. This initial read through is often slower as the story and some of the words are unfamiliar to him. Then after reading a new book, he picks one of his books to re-read and this time he reads to Finn as well. He is usually much more fluent second or third time round.
The following video is a first read through of one of his school books:
During the day time, we enjoy making reading dens. These are so simple to make and keep them happy for hours. We drape sheets over garden chairs or clothes horses, then add cushions and blankets to make them cozy.
After their bed time story, they read to themselves. Book stealing takes place when one of them falls asleep, as you can see in the final picture from back when they had day time nap times.
However reading looks and wherever it takes place, I hope they all enjoy reading together for many years to come.
DfES Early Learning Goals (2017)
Literacy
ELG 09 – Reading:
Children read and understand simple sentences. They use phonic knowledge to decode regular words and read them aloud accurately. They also read some common irregular words. They demonstrate understanding when talking with others about what they have read.
