What should I write in my child's home school reading diary?

What is a home school reading diary?

We provide a home school reading diary in which parents/carers are invited to write about how their child reads each book which is sent home. This comes home in a child’s book bag.

Sometimes, we will write in this diary too, as well as stamp when the children read with adults in school.

What should parents/carers write in a home school reading diary?

It can be difficult for parents/carers to know exactly what to write in these and sometimes the only thing that springs to mind is ‘Read this book well.’ (or something similar). Unfortunately this doesn’t tell us exactly what it is your child did well when reading or what they found more challenging. It is useful for staff to know these things in order to plan suitable next steps/select texts which best meet the needs of your child.

It is useful if you can comment on these specific aspects of reading:

• Your child’s engagement with the text.
• You child’s reading of the words in the text.
• Your child’s fluency and expression.
• Your child’s understanding of what they have read. 

What can parents/carers write in the home school diary if they don’t have much time?

If parents/carers have little time to write in the diary, useful feedback can still be given in very few words. Rather than resorting to ‘read the book well’, the same number of words could be used in the following ways:

• Paused at full stops.
• Recognised [INSERT WORD] first time.
• Asked what [INSERT WORD] meant.
• Sounded [INSERT WORD(S)] correctly themselves.
• Faster pace this time.

What do I write if my child is re-reading a text for the second/third time?

Focus your comments on their fluency/expression. Research shows that the fluency your child builds up by re-reading a text several times, carries over into the reading of their next text.

How can parents/carers best structure home reading sessions to ensure they cover all the aspects of reading they might need to comment on?

• Let children hold the text and take control of page turning (forwards and backwards as required) and pointing to words (if they are in the early stages of reading and need to do this). This will enable the parent/carer to see whether the child is able to point accurately and knows what to do with the book to aid comprehension.
• Choose the best time for children to practise their reading. This probably won’t be as soon as they get home from school! Avoid times when they are tired. Some parents find first thing in the morning works best for their child, whilst for other children this would not be a good time!

Ideas of what to write in your child's diary