Starting to read
All children need to learn to read and all parents want their children to be able to read and write. The most important thing is that children learn better when they enjoy reading.

How to start reading with your child
Most children when they first start school come home with a "book bag" intended for daily reading with a parent. Here are some pointers for starting to read which are also useful for begining pre-school reading.

1. Choose a quiet time when the child is relaxed and free from distraction. If you make it part of the daily routine eg. just before bedtime, it will become much easier.
2. For children who can't yet read, talk about what they see in the pictures on each page. Label items and elaborate on descriptions ie. instead of saying "a house" ask questions like what does the house look like?, Is it small or tall? What colour is the door? How many windows? etc.
3. Let the child tell his own story from the pictures. This will extend the child's vocabulary and they will begin to understand how stories are composed.
4. Share the book with the child so you can both see it and share the reading. Let the child read a few lines, then you read a few lines.
5. If a child can't manage a particular word, don't always jump in immediately and tell them, but ask what it beings with and break it down into small parts.
6. Ask a child to guess what they think will happen next. Explore how they think the characters in a story might think. Get as much out of a book as you can.
7. Use your finger (and your child's) to follow the words on the page from left to right.
8. For reluctant readers let them choose a book they really like or use a variety of materials such as comics, toy catalogues etc - anything to get them interested.
9. Make reading as fun and varied as possible and hopefully you will minimise the problems of a reluctant reader.

Look at words everywhere and anywhere

1. At breakfast time - Look at words on cereal packets, milk and fruit juice cartons.
2. Going shopping - Look at shop signs, advertising posters, street names, food packets, supermarket aisle names
3. Videos, CDs and cassette tapes - look at the titles and other words on the boxes
4. Titles on TV programmes
5. Holiday brochures, catalogues, newspapers, magazines and comics
6. Unpacking the shopping - look at the words whilst putting things away
7. Play word games eg. three words that begin with 's'; I Spy; or what words rhyme with cat.

Using Reading Schemes at Home
There has always been controversy about reading schemes. Some experts claim that it is better to teach children to read from the whole language found in "real books". Real books are great and the natural language helps children to predict which word is coming next. One of the main drawbacks, however, is that many real books may not have sufficient repetition of words for children to learn them thoroughly.

Now, it's accepted that reading schemes have an important part to play in teaching children to read. Carefully planned first and early readers help children to learn essential sight vocabulary (key words) and to understand the relationship between sounds, letter and words (phonics). The most frequent 100 words in the English language makes up half of the total number of words found in children's reading. Good reading schemes will also develop children's confidence in reading that will also encourage them to continue reading further.

When choosing a reading scheme for your child look for a scheme which:
- progresses in small steps
- has lots of repetition
- is colourful and fun to look at
- gives you the information you need to help your child
- contains funny stories and rhymes in simple language
- fits in with the way children are taught at school
- is simple enough to give children a rapid, confidence-boosting feeling of success

Start off slowly - enjoyable, regular and short practice really does help. Ten minutes each day spent together enjoying a short story from a good reading scheme is a marvellous investment. If possible speak to your child's nursery/pre-school teacher who will be able to give you advice and guidance on both choosing and using early reading books. Finally, learning to read should be fun and always encourage your child every time they read with