Supporting Your Child’s Reading at Home 

(Prep–Year 2)

Here are some simple, effective ways to support reading at home,  whether in the car, looking at words, reading library books together or using your child’s Little Learners Love Literacy decodable.

🗣️ 1. Build Comprehension

• Use the decodable comprehension questions at the back of the book.
• Ask your child to retell the story in their own words.
• Encourage full sentence answers.
• Ask: Who? What happened? Why? How do you know?

👂 2. Strengthen Phonemic Awareness

This is hearing and playing with sounds in words.

• Enjoy rhyming books and songs together.
• Play sound swap games in the car:
  • “What’s cap with a b instead of a p?” → cab
  • “What’s cab with a t at the start instead of c?” → tab
• Change the first sound, last sound or middle sound to make new words.

🔎 3. Make Speed Words Fun 

Quick oral games build strong readers!

• “I spy something that starts with /sh/…”
• “Tell me three words that end in th” (e.g. moth, with, sloth, Seth, depth).
• Add a suffix: moth → moths.

💬 4. Grow Vocabulary

• Talk about the Speed Words in the book.
• Ask your child to draw or illustrate what a Speed Word means.
• Try a word hunt:
  • “Find a word that means excited.” (thrill)
  • “Find a word that is the opposite of thin.” (thick)

Discussing word meanings builds deep understanding — not just decoding.

✏️ 5. Connect Reading to Writing

• Write a short story using the Speed Words and Heart Words
• Write out the words, encouraging consistently sized handwriting and correct letter formation.
• Practise Heart Words using:
  • Flash cards to play match or memory games
  • Look, cover, write, check
  • Writing in sentences

 📖 6. Practise Fluency

• Re-read the decodable several times across the week. Short, repeated readings build accuracy, automaticity and confidence.
• Aim for smooth, confident reading (not robotic).

• Try different voices for characters or making voices louder or softer depending on punctuation.

  Remember, the decodable selected for your child is meant to be easy.

❤️ 7. Enjoy Rich Reading Experiences

Decodables build skills. Library books build a love of reading.

When borrowing from the library:

• Read the book to your child.
• Talk about the story and pictures.
• Laugh, wonder, predict and enjoy it together.

Lynsey Breen & Monica Waterworth

Learning Specialists