Reading and writing at home

Flicking the switch from in class teaching to our home learning program has really made the Autahi team look at what is possible when we suddenly have so many extra teachers. We warmly welcome you to our team and are here to support you in your new role.

I wanted to really dive into some of the how and why we teach the way that we do. We understand that some things in our program are familiar and some aren't quite the way you might remember doing them back in the day.

• Writing works best when children have a purpose for writing and are encouraged to write about things and experiences they are familiar with. We will continue to give prompts for ideas in writing but if you have things at home that your child is excited or familiar with then use those. Writing a birthday card or an observation of flowers in the garden can produce amazing writing. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Read every day! Reading benefits from daily practice and making sure you read every day will help to use the skills so that they become embedded. We encourage you to listen to your child read and give them the opportunity to fix any mistakes they make. Try saying "that didn't quite sound right" or "does that make sense" to prompt them to look again.
  Reading to your child is awesome as well. When we read to our learners it is a great chance to model fluency, good reading  behaviors and our love of reading.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Keep it short and sweet. 20 minutes is a great amount of time to spend on something. If you feel like your child is in the flow then let them keep at it for a little bit longer. Take some breaks between learning activities. Play a game together or go for a walk. 

I could go on forever but these should be a good place to start. Our home learning plans are a buffet where you can pick and choose as much as you can handle. Everyone is in a different situation so we want these to be accessible without causing too much stress. 

So I'll leave you with this : Have fun!