In Y5, it is tempting to leave your child to get on with reading on their own. But you still have a role to play, as hearing a story read to them is still important - here are a few reasons why:

• Your child can have access to books that may as yet be too challenging to read alone. These challenging texts will help to develop their comprehension skills.
• Left to their own devices, your child might tend to pick lots of similar texts to read (for example, books from a favourite author or magazine). Reading aloud to your child gives you the opportunity to introduce them to books that they might not choose to pick up themselves, exposing them to a wider range of stories and types of text.
• Listening to an adult read gives a model for fluent reading - to hear how a skilled reader uses expression, bringing the words on the page to life.
• Reading together gives your child time to discuss ideas and share opinions about what you’re reading. This is great, as it helps children to think deeply about a text and practise explaining their opinions

• Listen to your child read

  Even though your child is likely to be an independent reader, this is still important. It means you can help them with unfamiliar words and talk together to make sure that they understand the book. You could read their school reading book with them or ask them to share with you something that they are reading for themselves.

• Use pictures to talk about stories

  Pictures are still a great way for your child to practise their comprehension skills, even as they get older. Graphic novels, picture books for older readers, non-fiction books (including ones about fictional beings such as dragons or monsters) and some illustrated stories all have images that can be discussed.