Parents' Page

	The big books published on this Web site have been designed to be used within the Literacy hour at school. Reading them at home will be an excellent reinforcement of your child's literacy and computer (ICT) skills.
To use the big books at home...
	Sit with your child at the computer as they explore the big books.
	Encourage your child to talk about what they can see in the pictures and photographs of the story.
	Read the story with your child. Encourage children to read words they know or sound out words that start with letters sounds (phonemes) they know. Use the mouse arrow to point to the words as you read together.
	Ask children to try and predict the answers to Sebastian's questions before they click on the question.
	Encourage your child to use the mouse to click on these icons to navigate through the books. Talk to your child about what happen when they click on the different icons. Click on here to link to the last page of the book. Click on here to link to the next page of the book. Click on here to link to the answer to a question. Click on here to return to the home page
To help your child use your home computer try...
	Sticking a small sticker or Velcro spot on the left mouse button to help them click in the correct place on the mouse.
	Using a plastic dinner place mat instead of a standard size mouse mat. This allows children to have a larger area over which to move the mouse.
	Labelling the parts of your home computer and helping your child to use the correct words to describe different parts: mouse, keyboard, monitor, printer, scanner, speakers, microphone etc.
	Encouraging your child to use the correct vocabulary when using a computer. Use words like: click, double click, arrow, open, close, crash!
The following table gives you more information about the other parts of the Infant Explorer Web site which you might like to explore.
Meet Sebastian This page introduces the character of Sebastian Swan. Sebastian is used to encourage children to communicate through E-mail, either asking questions or sending pictures. Pin-board The pin board pages will display E-mailed letters and pictures sent to Sebastian from different schools. Sebastian can only put E-mails on the pin board if they are sent from a school. However, Sebastian will send a reply to children who E-mail from home. Literacy Links The Literacy Links pages contain plans and resources that have been designed to support work within the Literacy Hour. Teachers' page This page introduces teachers to the big books and resources available on the Infant Explorer site.

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