Reading in the early years is so important. It goes without saying that developing a love of reading in children from an early age will prove so useful in their later life. In fact, enjoying books and reading stories from a very early age are crucial in the development of a child. Not only does reading help with their ability to understand words, but it encourages them to develop their imagination skills – to see things and imagine things all by themselves – and to develop their speech. Reading also improves concentration and introduces children to new concepts and the world around them. 

Reading out loud to children through stories, rhymes and songs, has a significant impact on learning and is one of the best ways to build understanding and the skills needed for reading. Having access to a progressive reading programme is paramount in developing and evaluating language over time.

The Nest uses Core Books that are linked to the themes the children learn about through the year. These books support the learning for the children, and they become very familiar with them. Embedding a rich language is essential for our bilingual nursery and we use high-quality texts in English and Mandarin to provide this rich language.

The Oxford Reading Tree Series 

For our younger children in the Nest, we also use traditional stories, not only through pictures and text but through puppetry. Bringing stories to life through storytelling and a multisensory approach help to embed story language. When you can talk a story, you can write a story!

The Nest Library

As a part of the Wellington College Bilingual Nursery curriculum, all our Nest children are encouraged to borrow books each week from the Nest library. The Nest library is the home of reading for pleasure and study as well as the centre of quality information. The librarian works collaboratively with the teachers to support the curriculum with both fiction and non-fiction titles and to develop reading skills and information literacy skills across the Nest.