Last week, I posted a list of 15 classic book titles that I suggested children should add to their reading lists. As these books are classics, they are available at a really reasonable price if bought as a paperback version online. A number of these books can also be downloaded for free via the Amazon Kindle, which is a great way to get them onto your child’s electronic reading device. The free digital books that I have found so far are:
• Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
• A Christmas Carol
• The Time Machine
• The Railway Children
• Around the World in 80 days
• Treasure Island
• Robinson Crusoe
• Frankenstein
• Alice Through the Looking Glass
• Dracula
• The Jungle Book
• Swiss Family Robinson
Peter Pan & The Legend of Sleepy Hollow are not free on Amazon Kindle, but require payment of below £1.
A child’s writing and comprehension skills will be honed and developed not only by reading extensively but also by varying the depth and breadth of what they read. When a person is exposed to any skilled artisan, some of the skills are registered and taken on board. In the same way with developing English skills, the more a child is exposed to ‘correct’ English, the more they will absorb and imbibe these skills as part of their own ‘natural’ understanding of writing, spelling and grammar. This is all part of the learning process that will lead to your child being competent in the English language.
Reading widely does improve a child’s comprehension skills but it is unlikely your child would have read the passage they are actually faced with in an 11+ examination. Therefore it is crucial that your child knows how to deal with passages of text they have never seen before. AE Publications has launched the first in a series of Comprehension workbooks. This workbook focuses on how your child should approach any passage of text to ensure they understand and can answer questions on it. This workbook is an excellent ‘how-to’ supplement to ensure your child is able to perform effectively in comprehension tests.
