WHAT CAN I DO AT HOME?
This information is to help you see what you can do as a parent using the resources available in New Zealand. The first thing you need to do is to understand where your child’s gaps are. You need to find out what they do know and what they don’t. Not what you think they know. Assessments are key – we can’t say this enough: KEY, KEY, KEY.
What you want to know is your child’s phonological awareness, reading, spelling, fluency and comprehension. We have listed some free assessments under the Resource Hub. You can also ask the school or your child’s tutor what assessments they have completed.
Next you need a good Structured Literacy approach with a scope and sequence and decodable books that align with the scope and sequence. You may need to combine a few programmes to cover all five components from the Science of Reading research.
Five Components of Reading:
- Phonological Awareness
- Alphabetic Code
- Fluency
- Vocabulary
- Comprehension.
We recommend you read through everything under ‘Getting Started’ and the following:
- ‘What we do recommend’
- ‘What we don’t recommend’
- ‘Curriculums for Parents‘
- ‘What is the Science of Reading?’
- ‘What is Structured Literacy?’
- ‘What does a a Structured Literacy lesson like in intervention?’
- ‘Free Reading Assessment’
- ‘Free Spelling Assessment’
- ‘Free Symbol to Sound Assessment’
This document was created by Sharon Scurr, founder of the deb in December 2021