Literacy at Home 

Finding opportunities in everyday life 

We know life is busy! We also know that supporting your child with their learning can be challenging outside of school. This quick guide tells you how everyday life can bring about opportunities for supporting learning in literacy. 

Speaking: 

• Talk! That’s what it’s all about. Talk about your child’s day in school, discuss what they would like to do on the weekend, share their ideas about their favourite toy or game, marvel at something they’ve made, natter about a book, waffle-on about the weather...anything! As long as it’s interesting to them, they are learning to communicate effectively.  

• Be sure not to have a screen nearby when engaging with your child; this is distracting for everyone and children need to feel that their talk is important. 

• Promote good language structures; don’t be afraid to gently correct grammar, e.g. “I putted it in the bin." Every opportunity is a learning opportunity, so use big words and then explain what they mean. 

• Sing your socks off! This not only supports spoken language, but rhythm and rhyme in songs will support children later on with reading and writing. 

 

Listening: 

• It is so important to model listening skills: we have to teach listening explicitly. They learn best by watching role models, like you. 

• Children must learn to take turns and respond to the talk of others. Remind them not to talk over each other/you when you are talking and make sure that you don’t talk over them when they are talking.  

• Praise good listening: “I really liked how you waited your turn!” or “I can tell that you were listening then, well done.” 

• Show them how to listen by looking at them when you are talking to them and when they are talking to you. If you can’t look at them, e.g. you are driving the car, then make sure that your body language shows them that you are listening. Nod your head as they talk and then respond at the appropriate moments. 

Reading: 

• If you can, make sure that there is a wide variety of literature available at home, such as magazines, comics, stories and non-fiction, such as recipes, instructional texts for toys, how to play a game etc. They will read what interests them most. Use free resources, such as local libraries, which are brimming with brilliant books! 

• When out and about, look for signs, labels, packaging, leaflets, advertising etc. and assist your child in decoding and understanding what they are reading and why they are reading it. If your child is at the pre-reading stage, make an effort to read things aloud to them; this is good role modelling. 

• When using computers or tablets, your child can be supported to use search engines effectively to find specific information, they could read emails from friends and family. 

• When you are cooking/baking with your child, ask them to read out and locate the ingredients and equipment and then to follow the instructions, or when building a toy or playing a game, ask them to read the instructions—a real-life context is fundamental in sustaining interest. Again, if they cannot yet read for themselves, read the instructions aloud and see if you can ‘work out’ what they mean together. 

• Show your child/ren that you enjoy reading on your own and reading with and to them. You are their number one role model! 

 

Writing 

• Once again, purpose and meaning are key elements of writing; children need to know that what they write is for a good reason, so look for opportunities to send emails, letters, cards to family, to write labels for boxes or food containers, to write a list for shopping, a care plan for their pet, to write creatively for fun and enjoyment —write a story or poem and read what they have written to an audience, such as a younger brother or sister, a grandparent or even the dog! 

• Early writing might look like a jumble of squiggles mixed with some recognisable letters but to the child writing it, it will definitely mean something! Praise and encourage their mark-making and ask them to tell you what they are writing about.

• Practise letter formation with exciting tools and equipment – the most fun can be had with an old washing-up liquid bottle and some water on the garden patio! Get them making shapes and practising movements, large and small. Tips about handwriting can be found on the website or just ask your child's class teacher.

Above all, have fun and don’t be afraid to try new things! We would love to hear about it in school too! 

 

Here is a link to the Book Trust website where the writer and poet, Michael Rosen, gives some excellent tips for reading at home. Please have a look!

Michael Rosen's advice for encouraging your children to… | BookTrust