Page 4 - Newsletter 2023 ENGLISH & ARABIC

"Today a Reader.

Tomorrow a Leader "

“Today a reader. Tomorrow a leader.” -Margaret Fuller

EPG shares the same sentiment and recognises Early Years as a critical stage for children
to learn to read, develop their love for reading and use their knowledge in becoming
a leader in their own way. That is why the school exerts its very best efforts to partner
with parents in providing the most ideal reading experiences for the children.

How can you help your child at home?
Create appreciation of the written word
• Share stories with children and invite them to explore a story's magic.
• Share informational texts and invite children to wonder about the new ideas
presented.
• Take every opportunity to point out the ways in which reading is essential to the
communications of everyday life (e.g., on labels, instructions, and signs).
Develop awareness of printed language and the writing system

• Be explicit in pointing out that in English, texts are read from left to right and top to
bottom. Talk about how pictures add meaning to the print and that the pages are numbered.
• Read to children from books with easy-to-read large print. Use stories that have
predictable words in the text.
• Use "big books" to help children notice and learn to recognise words that occur
frequently, such as a, the, is, was, and you.
• Label objects at home.
Develop phonemic awareness
• Begin with simple words and simple challenges, e.g., listen for initial /s/ in sat, sit,
sip, and sad... or for long /e/ in me, see, bee...
• Blend phonemes into words. Begin by identifying just one phoneme, e.g., /m/-ilk,
/s/-at, working gradually toward blending all the phonemes in words, e.g., /s/-/a/-/t/.
• Model how to break up words into component sounds, e.g., /b/-/oo/-/k/= "book".
Help children develop uent and re ective reading
• Invite your child to read new stories and reread old stories every day.
• Relate information in books to other events of interest such as holidays, pets, siblings and
games.
• Encourage wondering. For example, "I wonder what will happen next?",
"How do you think the father feels?" or "I wonder what frogs do in the winter?,
Do you think that's a problem? Why?"
Together, we will help children imagine, develop their critical thinking skills,
expand their understanding of themselves and get a glimpse of the world before
going out into it.

Helpful Link:
https://home.oxfordowl.co.uk/
Naomi Veras
EY Curriculum Director
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