1st & 2nd Class: Literacy

Suggestions to Reinforce Literacy Skills at Home

• Partnered Reading Approach 

1. Engage in shared reading aloud (child/adult) at the child’s reading level.

2. The adult accentuates reading with expression and being mindful of his/her reading rate as well. 

Guidelines for Parents/Guardians:

1. Make sure the atmosphere is happy and relaxed.

2. Find a quiet place where there are no distractions.

3. Keep each reading session short (about 10 minutes).

4. Sit down together so that both child/parent can see the book.

5. Talk about the book and any illustrations first.

6. Encourage your child to begin reading. 

7. If your child is trying to sound out an unknown word, give him/her time to do so. Many young readers may attempt a guess at a word based on its first letter, so encourage your child to sound out the whole word.

8. When your child misreads or is unsure of a word, provide the word in order to avoid the meaning of the story being lost. 

9. After reading, ask your child questions about the story they have just read and spend time together talking about the book. 

10. Give lots of praise for effort.

•  Rereading Familiar Books

1. Rereading familiar books provides opportunities for your child to develop their reading fluency, comprehension and the enjoyment of a variety of books. 

2. Encourage your child to reread familiar books aloud to younger/older siblings, or other extended family members (about 5 mins) 

• Challenging Books

1. The parent/guardian can also read more challenging books to the child. 

2. This provides opportunities to extend your child’s range of vocabulary and to further develop their listening skills.

• Summer Stars Reading Programme

1. Information on the Summer Stars reading programme for children can be found by following this link: https://www.librariesireland.ie/services/right-to-read/summer-stars

• Audio Books and eAudio Books – Borrow Box

1. We also recommend the use of eAudiobooks/eBooks.

2. Information on the Borrow Box service can be found by following this link:    

  https://www.librariesireland.ie/elibrary/ebooks