Children are often introduced to reading through stories. But they also need to read to obtain information and to become independent learners.

This activity is designed to help children think about what they read and why they read it. They are introduced to different kinds of information texts with different purposes: signs, messages, instructions, non-fiction books and websites. This can help them to predict what a text is about, what it might tell them, and how important it might be. It will also help them to develop skills in knowing where to look for information.

You can help your child by encouraging them to try reading different things. When you are out and about, you can read different signs together: 'In', 'Out', 'Open', 'Closed' on doors of buildings; signs for toilets, the library, the bus stop, shop signs and so on.

If your child has a pet, you could borrow a book from the school or public library and read about how to care for the pet. If there is a sequence of instructions, ask them questions such as 'What do you think we have to do first/next?' so that they can think about the order of things. Or borrow books on a subject that your child is interested in and look at them together.

Best of all, encourage your child to ask questions about any reading activities that you share, and to ask if something does not make sense.