Essentials.

With so many inclusions in this Australian teacher designed toolbox, the Essentials is an invaluable asset for every parent with primary school aged kiddos.

It’s not just kiddos with L-Plates!

A low cost resource for parents in the learning to read journey. Tailored to share exactly what experienced teachers want families to know. Named Essentials as this provides all the need to know info suited to the Early Years of school life.

“This is the kind of resource teachers wish they had the time to develop & share with parents”

- Brendan, Australian primary school teacher

Common Reader offers two types of membership options:

• A once-off payment for the Essentials member zone, and

• a free access Freebie member zone.

Essentials Membership

$40.00

One time

This paid member area provides videos, tips, ideas & information to help families at home better navigate the first years of primary school as their kiddo learns to read.

✓ Instant inclusion to the Freebie Member area

✓ Video Library: over 60 minutes of quick ideas & examples

✓ Books Lists: teacher created sets of fun & helpful books

✓ In Real Life: how to ideas, info & super easy reading games

✓ Motivation Ideas: for when reading every day becomes a drain

Any parent or family member needing guidance on how best to help with learning to read at home.
Particularly for those entering school or in the first few years.
ESSENTIAL VIDEO EPISODES | Filled with educationally backed tips & knowledge to support your kiddo with their Home Readers.
BOOK LISTS | Often one Home Reader a day isn’t enough. Get multiple book lists tailored to suit a range of abilities, interests & areas of need. Pass these titles to your local librarian or bookshop for easy access.
LITERACY GAMES | Easy to play, minimal preparation & effective. Aligned with the Australian Curriculum so these games actually support the home reading practice bits needed. Simple to set up, free to access games that can be used again & again. Play these as a complement to regular home reading.
IN REAL LIFE | Valuable ideas for parents to see how it actually works IRL. This section includes video, audio & photographs of how it looks/sounds with real life kiddos.
DOWNLOAD VAULT | Multiple PDF files to print & use at home for enhancing confidence. Resources such as CVC Word Lists, Reading Correlation Chart & Phonics Progression information.
MOTIVATION IDEAS | How can you help your kiddo to want to choose to do their reader each day? Find ways around this common experience & ideas to try which can reinvigorate that spark right here.
VIDEO BANK | Access to more short animations covering all the need to know bits.
Over 42 minutes of entertaining & digestible information sliced up into seven portions you can watch over & again.
Chapter 1 | Home Reader 101. Details of answers to Home Reader questions commonly asked by parents in the First Year of primary school.
Chapter 2 | Reading Assessment 101. Details of what is assessed by your kiddos teacher & how they asses reading.
Chapter 3 | Approaching your Teacher 101. Details of how best to bring up a query or concern with your teacher so you can work together in supporting your kiddo.
Chapters 4a & 4b | Basic Decoding Part A & Part B. Split into two videos, here are details of the initial skills to use alongside your kiddo as they read aloud those Home Readers. Includes phonics, phonemic awareness, blending & chunking.
Chapter 5 | Self Correcting 101. Details of one of the most important skills a reader will need over the course of their life. Includes how to prompt your kiddo into realising when they make an error & how to fix the mistake.
Chapter 6 | Joy & Fun Factors. Details on how to inject a sense of regularity, calm & enjoyment into reading so that practice is not only easy, but also treasured.
Curated by an experienced Australian primary school teacher with extra ideas & links to the Australian Curriculum.
Lists include:
- Early Readers
- Alphabet Books
- Interactive Books
- Decodable Reader Books
- Wordless Wonder Books
Simple to set up, free to access games that can be used again & again. Play these as a complement to regular home reading. Games like sand hangman, highlighter fighter & unifix letter play.
Because just ‘reading’ about it isn’t always enough. We need to see & hear it to believe it! Want to see how that game works? Interested in hearing how to use that strategy?
Resources such as CVC Word Lists, Reading Correlation Chart & Phonics Progression information.
Four key notions explained to increase motivation at home:
- Play
- Self-determination
- Praise &
- The Milk Experiment.
Topics covering quick tips, unpacking of common questions & motivation boosters all in a visual snippet for busy families.

Navigating schoolwork at home can be tricky; but family members are known to be able to make a significant positive impact on their kiddo’s education by being genuinely interested & actively involved.

a very cool step to witness your little one take

Ready to dive in? Simply select from either a once-off or four-part payment option, whichever suits best, then enjoy the flexibility we know Australian families need.