Literacy and Dyslexia Specialist Teacher & SpLD Assessor, School SENCo and ADHD Specialist
I you have a child who struggles with fluency it can really impact on their ability to read for understanding. Fluency and word recognition allows the child to focus on what they are reading, rather than on deciphering one word at a time. Repeated readings is a great intervention strategy to allow a child to... Continue Reading →
These have been a game changer for my 1-1 and small group literacy intervention sessions. Boom Cards essentially are interactive, self checking task cards that can be assigned to 1 student or a whole class to complete. Have you discovered Boom Cards yet? It get better! Students success is also collected on the activity so... Continue Reading →
The best way to teach spelling to children Structure Word Inquiry (SWI) is a scientific investigation of words: their origin, history, word parts and structure come together to tell the story of what words mean, how words are connected and how they are spelt. The foundational research was conducted by Bowers & Kirby In 2010.... Continue Reading →
Children with Dyslexia and children without both benefit from a structured, sequential approach to literacy. Why? Because 30% – 50% of children find learning to read difficult and need explicit teaching and reinforcing of both reading, spelling skills and grammar skills. Phonology, sound symbol association, syllable instruction, morphology, syntax, semantics are all components of a... Continue Reading →
Since the 2009 Rose report schools across the UK have had a huge focus on explicit, systematic phonics teaching for reading. Where my concern really kicks in is that time and time again phonics is discussed alongside writing and writing development in students in Key Stage One. Now yes, phonics is a great way to... Continue Reading →
Exams week is thankfully coming to an end in our house. This week is fraught with stress and anxiety which negatively affects everyone under this roof. We have worked really hard on getting the basics right for helping our Dyscalculia Child with revision. We have developed some top tips which will help all children facing... Continue Reading →
We are living in very turbulent times. COVID means that our lifestyle is unstable and ever changing. Children are back at home with online learning which, with a neuro-typical child is challenging enough but with a child with additional learning needs life can become very fraught, stressful and confrontational. I am going to give you... Continue Reading →
Our vestibular system is located in our inner ear. It responds to movement and gravity and contributes to the development of our balance, posture control and muscle tone. Vestibular sense is crucial for a Child’s development and enables them to work rest an play. If it is working well the Vestibular system allows children to... Continue Reading →
Adapted Learning 