WE READ - Literacy & Education for Life

Parents Corner

Session Plans

To help you plan your daily reading, here are some guidelines to assist you with organizing for your sessions:

Non-readers

15-minute session:

Select two or three books of short to medium length (16-24 pages).

Tell your child you'll be reading one of these books and let him/her select which one they would like to read. (For a toddler, you may simply show him/her the covers and select the book which makes the child smile.)

Read the book, and don't forget to read the cover.

Spend any remaining time talking about the story, reading the book again, or looking at the funny or silly parts again.

30-minute session:

Select five or six books of short to medium length (16-24 pages) or two to three longer books (32-40 pages).

Tell your child you'll be reading two of the books (or one of them if you chose longer books) and let him/her select which one they would like to read. (For a toddler, you may simply show him/her the covers and select the book which makes the child smile.)

Read the first book.

Spend a minute or two discussing it or answering any questions.

Read the second book.

Spend any remaining time talking about the stories, reading one of the books again, or looking at the funny or silly parts again.

Early Readers

15-minute session: Alternate pages

Let your child select one very easy book of short to medium length (16-24 pages) with very simple words.

Take turns in reading the pages of the book. Whenever s/he is having difficulty, help out by slowly reading the word with them.

Spend any remaining time talking about the story, reading the book again, or looking at the funny or silly parts again.

15-minute session: Read together

Let your child select one very easy book of short to medium length (16-24 pages) with very simple words.

Read the book aloud, encouraging him/her to read with you. This can be done by the two of you reading each word together.

When you encounter a more advanced word, take a second to explain it to him/her and then read the sentence again.

Spend any remaining time talking about the story, reading the book again, or looking at the funny or silly parts again.

15-minute session: Supervised reading

Let your child select one very easy book of short to medium length (16-24 pages) with very simple words.

Let him/her read the book to you. Whenever s/he is having difficulty, help out by slowly pronouncing the word with them and explaining what it means, until they can read it by themselves.

Spend any remaining time talking about the story, reading the book again, or looking at the funny or silly parts again.

30-minute session: Taking turns

Let your child select one very easy book of short to medium length (16-24 pages) with very simple words.

Read the book to him/her.

Then let him/her read the book to you, helping whenever s/he is having difficulty by slowly reading the word with them.

Spend any remaining time talking about the story, reading the book again, or looking at the funny or silly parts again.