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understand what they ’ re reading . You can do this by talking about the pictures on the page before you read it , predicting what will come next in the story , and then at the end of the book , summarising the whole thing . Engaged readers are better readers !
Repetition – this is the key to learning everything at this age . Use the ' me-we-you ' method to guide your child to read their favourite books independently . First , just the parent reads , and then parent and child together . Then , when the child is confident enough , they can start to read words and sentences on their own . Even though this seems more like memorisation than reading to adults , this is a vital tool to help little ones match the marks on the page to the sounds in their mouth .
Reading Schemes – kids love goals , especially when you mark off their achievements with stickers . Spend the summer working through a series of books , with a goal to reach the end by September . The Oxford Reading Tree series is a favourite with all young kids and offers a great range of levels for them to work through . You can also join in with the Hong Kong Public Libraries ’ Reading Programme , and earn a certificate if you meet your reading target by September .
For Older Kids With the benefit of unstructured time and without the pressure of school assignments , summer can be the perfect time for even the most reluctant reader to develop a passion for books . Make sure to be encouraging about whatever your child chooses to read . A whole summer of obsessing over Captain Underpants is a great introduction to the love of reading , so try to keep laughing at jokes about the Turbo Toilet 2000 and his army of talking toilets for as long as you can .
For enthusiastic readers , books are a great tool to expand vocabularies and keep their learning going all summer long ! Check out the ideas below for some creative ways to challenge and excite your young reader .
Listen Along – for those who don ’ t even want to crack the spine of a book , audiobooks are a great first step . On sites like Audible , you can even listen to samples of stories to help you pick . Once your child gets into the story , try following along with the physical book while you listen , and then move on to alternating chapters between listening and reading . Find something they love , and your little one will race ahead on their own .
World-Building – create the map of a book ’ s setting for another fun way to make reading interactive . Your child can even plot out the journey of the characters across the map while they read ! This works especially well with fantasy stories like The Hobbit or Percy Jackson , where children can practise finding details in what they read to hone their comprehension skills .
Act It Out – get a group of your kid ’ s friends to read the same book and then turn key scenes into short plays . This is an excellent way to get children thinking about the deeper layers of a story , such as the characters ’ feelings and the motivations behind their actions . These deeper reading skills are the key to long term literature success .
Online Resources – if your child is itching to have some computer time , why not find something for them that links back to a book ? Lots of popular authors and series have websites which are packed full of great resources . Check out the fun games on the Diary of a Wimpy Kid site , or the fantastic quizzes , crafts and more on Roald Dahl ’ s official page .
Useful Info
Hong Kong Public Libraries www . hkpl . gov . hk / en / index . html
Oxford Reading Tree www . oxfordowl . co . uk
Audible www . audible . com
Willow Hewitt is the Head of English at the Tsim Sha Tsui branch of i-Learner Education Centre . She has been teaching in Hong Kong for several years , and has a highly experienced international teaching team who love to share their knowledge and resources with parents whenever they can . www . i-learner . edu . hk
Make a Graphic Novel – turn a book into a graphic novel by drawing out the panels for key scenes . This is a great way to bring a book to life . It ’ s also the perfect tool for practising summarising skills by choosing which details to include in the pictures and dialogue . Your child can even tackle a challenging new book using this technique and work on it bit by bit throughout the holiday .
44 www . playtimes . com . hk