Learning to Read with Collins Big Cats

Freddy is about to complete his second year of primary school, before moving into Class 2 in September. His time in Reception and Year 1 has seen him make huge amounts of progress, and he has just about scraped through his phonics screening (although he is still below the level that the government expects from our children when it comes to actual reading and writing). His journey towards learning to read and write has not been easy, but with a lot of extra input from both his school and from me at home, he has started to overcome many of the obstacles in his way. He is making good progress now, gaining in confidence and doing so much better. I hate the fact that he has had to be tested and labelled at age 5, but I know that my son is so much more than just a test result or an attainment level.

Helping him with his reading is important to me, not because of the Phonics Screening tests or because of the prospect of SATS tests in his future, but because reading opens up a whole world of wonder and discovery to children. Nurturing a love of books is a wonderful gift to help develop in children. Just because Freddy struggles, does not mean he shouldn't have access to the joy of reading. So I use as many resources as I can to keep him happily learning in a fun and relaxed manner. This strategy is helping him to learn in a natural way without causing him to resent or fear words and books.

Collins have a great range of resources for parents to use at home with their children. The Collins Big Cats Reading Lions reading books offer a series of stories and non-fiction books that children will enjoy. Freddy received a set of their reading books to try out.

The slip case contains six paperback books, three fiction and three non-fiction, each with lovely illustrations and engaging text, suitable for the child's reading level. Level 1 features simple, short sentences made up of words using specific phonemes and without tricky words. They are recommended for ages 4-5 years. Looking at them, I think Freddy could have handled Level 2, but I didn't want to put him off reading with anything too challenging at this stage.

Here is Freddy trying out his new books and giving his thoughts on the Collins Big Cats First Reading At Home books.

                       

The box of six paperback books has an RRP of £24.00.

Find out more about the Collins educational resources available to support your child's learning at home at: www.collins.co.uk.