Literacy 

LITERACY NEWS - HOLIDAY READING

Continued reading during the holiday period is essential to maintain the progress your child has made this term. Take the time to visit the local library and borrow books which capture imagination and interest. Focus on reading for enjoyment, talking about the text and nurturing a love of literature

We understand that your child’s reading is important so in lieu of take home readers there are several programs that you can use at home over the next two weeks 

1. Read with your child regularly. You can borrow books from your local library and co-read with them.
2. In the junior school use Pm online or in Prep and Year 1 MultiLit readers
3. There are a multitude of websites with fun literacy based activities. For examples: ABCya - Please note this website does not work on iPad’s. 
4. Keep a diary of what is happening during the holidays, read this to someone in the family.
5. Visit the local library.

Fun ways to encourage reading in the school holidays

Some children bask in the uninterrupted reading time that the holidays allows, whilst others celebrate the end of the term – and enforced reading requirements – with glee. However, it’s important for children to continue reading over the school holidays in order to maintain their literacy skills.

There is nothing more important for your child’s education than for them to read. We’ve put together some ideas to help you nudge your children into action.

Discover new genres – Books and Reading Apps

When children read they learn new words, they get idea we suggests using trial and sample books on Amazon and Apple Books. If your kids don’t want to read the first two chapters, they’re probably not going to pursue the third chapter and you can try something else.

One of the real advantages of stores like the Amazon Kindle store, she says, is that it learns from your preferences. Once you start to find some books in a genre that you like, it recommends new books for you. It can be a great challenge for someone who doesn’t yet know which genre of books they like to read but the school holidays are a great time to figure it out.

Play Word, Board and Card games

One effective way to consolidate children’s learning is to play games. It’s reading that doesn’t feel like reading! A game of eye spy in the car helps kids practice associating letters with objects in the real world. Board games like Scrabble and card games all cultivate language and literacy skills. Try Bananagrams or Hangman.

Try Audiobooks and Podcasts

Using audiobooks and podcasts is an effective strategy to help children who dont want to read on the holidays  connect with words and literature. Children can engage with the material in a way that is more entertaining and less stressful for them. 

Audiobooks

Children can find themselves captivated by a narrated story. Music and sound effects are also part of the production and make listening to an audiobook a truly immersive experience. Even though it’s not technically reading, audiobooks support reading and literacy skills by building vocabulary and modelling fluency.

Audiobooks are fantastic for long car rides to holiday destinations or to use when your little ones need to wind down at bedtime. Let their minds wander through the wardrobe and into the land of Narnia with stories of C.S Lewis, or imagine themselves climbing the treehouse, higher and higher, to inhabit the ‘stories’ of Andy Griffiths. Older children can wander the wild plains of Africa listening to stories by Paul Theroux while they walk the dog.

Audiobooks can be accessed via a number of streaming services like Audible and Spotify, and most e-readers have audio functions. Your local library is likely to have an audio borrowing system too, so speak to your librarian.

Audiobook suggestions

In the Junior school try:

• Winnie the Pooh by AA Milne, narrated by Stephen Fry
• Charlotte’s Web by E B White, narrated by the author
• The Faraway Tree By Enid Byton, narrated by Kate Winslett
• Fantastic Mr Fox by Roald Dahl, narrated by Chris O’Dowd

For our older readers try:

• Harry Potter series by JK Rowling, narrated by Stephen Fry
• The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, narrated by Tatiana Maslany
• The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkein, narrated by Rob Inglis
• A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket, narrated by Tim Curry

Thank you for a fantastic term of literacy. Have a wonderful holidays. We look forward to hearing all about the amazing adventures you read about in Term 2. 

Antoinette Ferrari and Mandi Joplin

Literacy Leaders