Reading with your child: 10 minutes a day
A short captioned lesson on a calm routine that makes a real difference, for parents and carers. Free, with a full transcript and teaching notes.
Read the whole lesson
10 minutes a day Welcome. If you have ten minutes a day, you can make a big difference to your child's reading. Here is how to make those ten minutes count.
A calm time and place Pick a calm time and a cosy spot. Bedtime works for many families, but after school or before dinner can work well too. Turn off the screens.
Let them choose Let your child choose the book some days. Choose it yourself on others. Fiction, comics, facts about animals, anything they enjoy is good reading.
Take turns Take turns. You read a page, then they read a page. Or read a sentence each. If a word is tricky, help them sound it out, or simply tell them the word.
Wait, then help Do not rush to correct every mistake. Wait a moment, give them time to try, and if they get stuck, say the word and move on so the story keeps flowing.
Read to them too Reading to your child matters too. Hearing a fluent voice shows them how stories sound, and it builds new words they will meet later in their own reading.
Chat about it Talk about the book. What do you think will happen next? Which part did you like best? A few good questions make the reading richer.
Little and often Keep it short, warm and regular. Ten minutes every day beats an hour once a week. You are giving your child a wonderful gift.
For grown-ups Teaching notes
- Ten minutes a day of shared reading builds fluency, vocabulary and a love of books. Little and often beats a long weekend session.
- Choose a quiet time without screens, and keep it relaxed. Let the child pick sometimes.
- Let children hear fluent reading too: reading to them is as valuable as hearing them read.
- If a child finds reading hard, switch to taking turns by the page or reading together in time.
Tip: pause the video after each picture, ask the child to say the answer, then press play.