Raising Readers

Reading at Home | “Reading for Fun”

Our literacy focus this year will be reading. While many of us read on different

platforms and enjoy the different formats that reading is presented to us in, it’s

important that we share our reading journeys with our learners at home too.

This fortnight’s focus is reading for fun.

Every so often, reading becomes work. It is often with the best intentions that we

may try to enforce reading at home. It may be because our learners haven’t

completed their homework, or their chores, or maybe they just need a break from

their digital devices, whatever the reason, we sometimes assume that the solution

to these issues is to read. Without a doubt, reading is beneficial; however, it should

not used as a punitive tool, because reading at home should be fun and inspiring.

A. Don’t make reading work: our learners are consistently reading - usually

incidentally. Our goal is to foster a love for reading and to show that

reading is a tool for enjoyment - not punishment.

GUL VOL I | NO II

B. Make finding books together a family activity. Visit our school library

with your learner after school. Find a local library and search for books

together.

C. Talk to your learner’s teachers. What’s being read in class? Are they up

to date? What can you do to support your learner? Don’t be nervous

about your learner being behind their peers, so will provide further

opportunities for discussion and support.

D. Ask, “what are you reading?” Make this question a big part of your life.

Ask this question to other family members and friends too. Your learner

may want to read what someone else is reading.

Our goal is to raise readers for life. I’m really curious about your learner’s reading

journey. If you have any suggestions, questions or comments, please do not

hesitate to contact me. I would love to know what you’re reading at home!

Ecehan B. Gulbayrak

ecehan.Gulbayrak@education.vic.gov.au

PS: I am currently reading - “Men without Women” (2014) by Haruki Murakami. I

love short stories and Murakami is a short story telling genius. This book is a

compilation of short stories about individual men who have lost a woman in their life

and the impact this had had on them.