Ready, Ears, Go

Reading is about more than decoding letters on the page – in fact that comes much later, with school and the classroom environment. The building blocks for reading are developed in the preschool years – before they know their ABCs.
Research shows that a child’s journey to becoming an independent reader starts with spoken language at home. Integral to their readiness for formal teaching at school, are the foundation skills and experiences that you, as a parent or carer, can enjoy with your child. These include:

Phonological or phonemic awareness is a proven pre-reading skill that is vital to our ability to decode the written word. Children need an awareness of the sounds that they hear in speech so that they can later link these sounds to printed letters on the page.
The sound-to-print connection can be fostered by listening to and playing with sounds on a regular basis. When working with speech sounds, it is important to pronounce the sounds as clearly as possible. Read Write Ready provides you with a variety of picture cards and games to develop these skills and prepare children to become confident readers.

• Growing their spoken vocabulary
• Developing their listening skills and comprehension
• Enjoying looking through books and listening to stories
• Understanding the concepts of print (such as what letters and words are, reading direction, where the top of the page is)

Phonological or phonemic awareness is a proven pre-reading skill that is vital to our ability to decode the written word. Children need an awareness of the sounds that they hear in speech so that they can later link these sounds to printed letters on the page.
The sound-to-print connection can be fostered by listening to and playing with sounds on a regular basis. When working with speech sounds, it is important to pronounce the sounds as clearly as possible. Read Write Ready provides you with a variety of picture cards and games to develop these skills and prepare children to become confident readers.
 

Home Tips to Get Reading Ready

• Make reading a special time. Make books come alive and link them to your child’s interests. Ask questions about the story and discuss the meaning of words.
• Point out printed words in your child’s environment.
• Play games such as ‘I Spy’, tongue twisters, sing nursery rhymes and choose rhyming stories.
• Talk to your child about how a book works – ask them which is the picture/word, or the title.
• Play ‘Spot the Difference’ games, snap games and enjoy books such as ‘Where’s Wally?’.