Teachers and nursery nurses

We hope that this CDRom will introduce new ideas, while reinforcing your existing good practice.

Material for Parents' meetings
The videos (Why books? and Videos) provide accessible guidance for parents and carers, emphasising the best circumstances and environment for reading with children. These might form part of a presentation to parents about a school's reading policy, or a general workshop or talk on the contribution parents can make to a child's developing literacy skills.

The parent and child interaction during their bedtime story (Reading Together) helps to demonstrate the range of communication resulting from that time spent together. Although it is the father who is reading the story, the child plays a very important role in the storytelling. Conversation between the two is every bit as important as the story itself. Parents who lack confidence in sharing books with their children will gain from listening to the parent in this section.

Listen to the Bright Ideas with parents and carers and invite their own suggestions for positive ways in which to develop literacy skills within the family.

Display
Print off a selection of Bright Ideas to display in your school or nursery. Rotate the selection of suggestions to encourage parents to check the display regularly. Encourage new bright ideas and add them to the display.

The Great Books recommendations can be printed off and displayed alongside copies of the books which might be loaned to parents. Contact your local Education Resource Service or Public Library to borrow copies, or buy a collection for lending to parents and carers. The funding might be obtained through the PTA and the lending service managed by parent helpers.

Information
Give each child a Bright Idea, printed from the selection on the CD Rom, to take home with his or her reading book. Invite parents and carers to contribute their own Bright Ideas to create a parents' resource.

Give each child a Great Book recommendation to take to their local library. Encourage children to bring in their own favourite book and create a list for distribution amongst parents.

Encourage parents to borrow the CD Rom and explore its contents in their own time, or make it available at school for parents to use.

Staff will find a wide range of valuable information available from the various organisations listed in the Useful Links.

For children
Children enjoy exploring the CD Rom, but the real attraction is the Gungemaster Game! Being dunked in green gunge is a huge attraction, and the spelling quiz that goes along with it can be used individually or in groups.

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