Supporting families with shared reading activity in the home

This bundle contains resources for early years practitioners to support families in carrying out shared reading activities at home.

The materials were produced by researchers from the Universities of Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield, and Leeds as part of a continuing professional development seminar hosted by the University of Sheffield.

The seminar formed part of an ESRC-funded project, How to promote children’s language development using family-based shared book reading with young children, which ran from 2015 to 2018.

Why some parents won’t read with their children; Barriers and motivations to shared reading activity and interventions

• Enjoying reading with your child – Guide for Parents / Caregivers (PDF opens in new tab)
• Understanding shared reading in homes – Guide for Practitioners (PDF opens in new tab)
• How can we encourage parents to take part in programmes to boost their children’s development? – Evidence Briefing (PDF opens in new tab)

Using shared book reading to enhance child language: Findings from home-based reading interventions with infants and four-year-olds

• All about contingent talk – EYFS Best Practice Nursery World article
• Does book reading help school readiness? – Leaflet given to parents as part of the inferencing intervention (PDF opens in new tab)

The benefits of dialogic book reading in early years settings

• How to do interactive reading – Guide for Practitioners and Parents/ Caregivers (PDF opens in new tab)
• How to prompt – Guide for Practitioners and Parents/ Caregivers (PDF opens in new tab)
• Five Minutes Peace – Guide for using dialogic reading with the book (PDF opens in new tab)
• The benefits of dialogic book reading in early years settings – Presentation Slides (PDF opens in new tab)
• How does shared book reading help boost child language development? – Evidence Briefing (PDF opens in new tab)

Additional resources provided by project partner, The Reader Organisation

• Hints and tips for shared reading – Guide for Practitioners (PDF opens in new tab)
• Shared reading for pleasure as a family – Guide for Parents/ Caregivers (PDF opens in new tab)
• Recommended reads for 0-5 year olds – Guide for Practitioners and Parents/ Caregivers (PDF opens in new tab)
• A role model for others: A young reader’s story – Case Study (PDF opens in new tab)
• A way back to life: Shared reading group member – Case Study (PDF opens in new tab)
• Shared reading: Community impact (PDF opens in new tab)
• Shared reading: Engage, explore, inspire (PDF opens in new tab)