Reading at home
Welcome to our Reading Page!
It is a place where you can find information and resources, as well as other websites to support your child at home with learning to decode words and other important reading concepts.
As whānau you play a big part in your child's learning every day, and you can support and build on what they learn at school too! Research shows that the single most effective way to improve a child’s reading ability is by reading! It is recommended that primary aged school children should read at home every day for 20 minutes.
Make reading fun!
Reading at home should be fun and easy – something you both look forward to - a time for laughter and talk.
Share the reading, take turns or see whether your child wants to read or be read to today
All children like to be read to, so keep reading to them. You can read in your first language
Visit the library together and help them choose books to share
Read emails from family or whānau aloud
Play card and board games together.
- Reading makes more sense if your child can relate it to their own life. Help them to make connections between what they are reading and their own lives and experiences. For example, "that’s a funny story about a grandad – what does your grandad do that makes you laugh?", "We saw a big mountain in that book, what is our mountain called, and where did the name come from?"
- Look for opportunities for your child to read wherever you are – signs, advertising billboards, junk mail, recipes
- Show your child that reading is fun and important to you by letting them see you reading magazines, books, newspapers.
Here's a tip - talk a lot to your child while you are doing things together. Use the language that works best for you and your child.
Talk about reading
Talk about pictures in books
Sing waiata and songs, read poems and make up rhymes together – the funnier the better
Be a role model. Let your child see you enjoying reading and talk about what you are enjoying
Point out words on signs, shops and labels
Play word games like "I Spy" and "Simon Says…"
Make it a special time together
Reading is a great chance for you and your child to spend special time together. Make reading:
quiet and relaxing
a time to sit close to your child
10–15 minutes without interruption, away from the TV
an enjoyable, interesting and special time
a time to praise your child for making an effort
Here's some tips:
- If your child is stuck on a word wait a few seconds, give them a chance to think.
- If they are still stuck, help them to try to work the word out by saying "read the sentence again and think what would make sense".
- Ask "could it be…?" (and give a word that might fit).
- The pictures also help them check they have got the right word. If they still can’t work out the word, tell them and praise their efforts. Remember, reading should be fun.
- Help your child to link stories to their own life. Remind them about what they have done when a similar thing happens in the story.
Teacher's Read aloud:
Now for something a wee bit special... the teachers at Kauri Flats really enjoy reading stories to the students, so here you can find some of our wonderful teachers and awesome support staff, reading some of their favourite stories!
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| Our teachers in Year 0-6 are able to allocate readers at the right level and monitor the reading progress of the students in their Base. There are interactive activities, games, audio and reading prompts to make the whole learning to read process fun and rewarding. Please check your child's home learning book for their login details. | Epic! - the leading digital library for kids, where kids can explore their interests and learn with instant, unlimited access to 35,000 high-quality ebooks, audiobooks, learning videos, and quizzes for kids 12 and under. This means your child can read and learn anytime, anywhere. | Study Ladder is an online learning platform that covers a wide range of subjects including Mathematics, English, Science and project activities. It allows students to practice skills and strategies across the curriculum and includes videos, interactive activities and learning games. Students in Base 2-5 have accounts set up for them. Please check your child's home learning book for their login details. |
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| Radio NZ's collection of free children's audio books. All written and produced in New Zealand for little kids, kids and young adults. | Do you know any young detectives, artists, or inventors? Or children fascinated by dinosaurs, planes, bugs, birds, the night sky, or music? You'll find 24 topics to dive into for a summer full of learning! | Storyline Online is available 24 hours a day for children, parents, caregivers and educators worldwide. Storyline Online, streams videos featuring celebrated actors reading children’s books alongside creatively produced illustrations. Readers include Viola Davis, Chris Pine, Lily Tomlin, Kevin Costner, Annette Bening, James Earl Jones, Betty White and dozens more. |
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Camp Wonderopolis® is the free online 'Camp like' learning destination that's full of fun, interactive STEM and literacy-building topics boosted by Maker experiments! Keeping kids and their families learning together throughout the summer and out-of-school time, Camp Wonderopolis can help build vocabulary, background knowledge in science, reading comprehension, critical thinking, and other literacy skills along the way. | HEIHEI is a combination of shows, games, audio and competitions. A lot of the content has been commissioned especially for HEIHEI and made by New Zealand creators. Alongside our locally made work is a curated selection of high quality international content. | |
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| Reading comprehension exercises — online, free, personalised & adaptive. |
