Home Learning: Reading and Spelling

HOME READING

Your child should have reading material to take home almost every day unless they are at the stage of reading chapter books independently. If they are bringing short readers home, please keep them for a few days and re-read now and again to help build fluency and confidence- or in case the books don't make it home from school! Home reading practice should be fun, short and regular (about 10-15 minutes a day).

READING ROCKET WORDS AND HOME SPELLING PRACTISE

Tautoru Home Spelling Practice has been designed to support the whole word learning of the NZ Essential Lists. These lists make up 70% of all the text that a child will read and write as designed by the New Zealand Council of Educational Research (NZCER).

READING ROCKET WORDS

In Autahi/ Tautoru we begin by learning to read the words from List 1 to List 5 using the Reading Rocket Words. These are 5-6 words that children take home once a week, or fortnightly when we have other events. The words are then tested at school before a new list is issued. The new words are posted to Seesaw.

We encourage children to practise their words 2-3 times a week at home. Here are some of the ways we can practise Reading Rocket Words at home.

• Write them with chalk.
• Draw them with our fingers in flour or sand. 
• Paint them with water outside.
• Build them with Lego or magnetic letters.  
• Make up silly sentences as we read the words e.g. The really big giant likes umbrellas.

SPELLING WORDS

Then we move onto learning how to spell Lists 1-6 independently. Children choose between 6-10 words to take home to learn every fortnight.  These are posted on Seesaw. Earlier levels will be tested weekly and higher levels will be tested fortnightly. 

We encourage children to practise the words 2-3 times a week at home in their Home Spelling book. Some ways to practise at home are:

• Look-Cover-Write- Check: Look at the word, cover the word, write the word on a piece of paper then check it.
• Write a silly sentence with each word.
• Write each word four times in different colours.
• Write them with chalk.
• Draw them with our fingers in flour.
• Paint them with water outside.
• Build them with Lego or magnetic letters.