Reading articles

Never again will you be caught out by a last-minute outfit request from your primary school child with these craft basics. Stock up today!

Is your child stuck in a reading rut? Lucy Dimbylow takes a look at how to encourage them to test the water with different styles and genres of fiction and non-fiction.

Every parent looks forward to their child graduating from reading scheme books, but how and when do they make the leap? We explain what a 'free reader' is and when your child is likely to graduate from reading schemes.

Make this the summer when your child journeys to ancient Rome, becomes a secret agent, takes to the high seas, finds out about England's past, solves a mystery and discovers the delights of Mr Benn... all without leaving the sofa! From kids' classics to brand-new adventures, we've got 14 brilliant books for your children to lose themselves in over the 2015 summer holiday.

From interactive games and apps to simplified reading books and learning-to-read devices, we love the early reader tools available to parents and children. Whether you want to motivate a reluctant reader or offer a huge selection of titles to a voracious bookworm, we've picked some of the best options to start your child on the road to a life-long love of reading.

A parents' overview of Year 2 spelling patterns, with examples of the words children are taught at the end of KS1 and Year 2 spelling worksheets to help them practise.

How is spelling introduced to Reception-age children? We explain how phonemes and then graphemes are taught in the classroom, and what words children are expected to be able to write by the end of their first year of primary school.

From Hogarth and Ronald Searle to Manga to favourite characters like Dennis the Menace, there’s something for all comic lovers at the Cartoon Museum in London. We visited to find out what's on offer for primary-school children and parents.

Finding the thought of phonics daunting and wondering how you can support your child in learning to read when you're not really sure how they're being taught in the first place? Reception teacher Niki Jackson shares her phonics tips and advice for parents, highlighting some of the common phonics problems children experience and effective strategies to overcome them.

What do you do when your child is ready for more than school books, but not yet up to full novels? We explain how ‘early readers’ can fill the void. By Lucy Dimbylow.

Looking for a fun- AND fact-packed publication for your child? The selection we've picked offer puzzles, original artwork, fiction, science projects to complete, history, hands-on making and more – and there isn't a plastic cover-mount in sight. Want to encourage your primary-school child to read regularly? Keep them supplied with new issues!

Our pick of powerful, informative and evocative novels, anthologies and non-fiction books will help primary-school children understand the facts about the Great War, as well as the everyday lives of the people who lived through it in the trenches and on the Home Front.

With poetry on the new national curriculum for children as young as five, poet Adisa the Verbaliser explains how to make poetry magical for your child.

Bring learning to life with a visit to one of our parent-recommended museums. We love Children's Story Centre Discover, a haven for bookworms, story-tellers and adventurers in Stratford, north east London.

As your child learns to read you might hear them talk about the 'exception words' they are learning. We explain what exception words are, what role they play in phonics learning and how you can support your child's developing reading and spelling skills at home.

From adjectives to writing frames, TheSchoolRun's primary-school literacy glossary offers a complete guide to all the concepts children are taught in EYFS, KS1 and KS2 English. Brush up on your own literacy skills, clear up homework confusion and understand exactly what your child is learning at school by reading our basic definitions (with links to more detailed explanations, teachers' tips and examples).

A significant percentage of children are thought to be affected by DLD, but it often goes unrecognised. We look at how to spot the signs and help your child.

Find out how your child will learn to encode – hear a sound and write it down – and what you can do at home to support learning.

As they learn to read, children are taught individual sounds and then how to link them together to form words. By the end of Reception your child will be able to blend sounds together; find out how your child will be taught blending in school and how you can support learning at home.