• To promote reading for pleasure.
• To encourage daily reading practice with a focus on fluent reading (smooth, expressive reading that sounds like talking).
• To provide an opportunity for your child to share his/her reading success. 
• To promote a home-school connection through reading.

Tips to help your child feel positive about reading and develop reading as a life-long habit:

• Listen to your child read and celebrate his/her success - parents sometimes express concern that the home-reading books are too easy; remember the purpose of home reading is to practice reading fluency.  We cannot read fluently if the text is too hard.
• Read to your child - modeling smooth expressive reading.  Ham it up and have fun!
• Model reading in a variety of purposes at home, i.e. Reading for pleasure, reading for information, reading the newspaper, reading directions etc.

Indicators that the home reading book is "just right":

• The level of difficulty of the book is within your child's independent reading level (95-100% word accuracy - i.e. less than 5 unknown/tricky words per 100 words).
• Your child displays an interest in the book.
• Your child's reading sounds phrased and expressive - "like talking".
• Your child understands the story and can talk about the story events.
• Five Finger Rule

Indicators that the home reading book is too difficult:

• The reading is word by word, slow and choppy.
• Your child is frequently stopping to figure out unknown words (less than 95% accuracy - i.e. more than 5 unknown/tricky words per 100 words).
• Your child requires consistent support to problem solve unknown words.
• Your child requires support about the story events.

"We know that students will get better at reading and learn more through their reading when they are provided with reading materials that they can negotiate nearly effortlessly.  That means books that students can read with approximately 98 per cent accuracy in word identification and that include mostly familiar concepts and vocabulary" (Betts, 1954, sited by Ivey G. 2000).

Fifteen to twenty minutes of daily reading practice, reading text within his/her independent reading level, will improve your child's reading fluency and progress. As fluency increases, your child will gain confidence in his/her reading ability and his/her enjoyment will increase as well.