Singing is good for your mind, body and spirit. It helps to nurture imagination and language skills: the patterns of traditional nursery rhymes follow the rhythm of the spoken language, which stimulates your child's phonological awareness and songs let you practice new vocabulary and introduce the concept of rhyme. You are also exercising your memory by recalling lyrics. Group singing lifts your spirits and develops a sense of community and team work. It’s physically good for

The ability to segment words into sounds and the ability to blend sounds into words (oral blending and segmenting) are vital prerequisite skills for spelling and reading. Young children learning the English language initially perceive words as whole units, as their focus is meaning. They have to be explicitly taught that words are made up of a sequence of speech sounds (phonemes). Development of this understanding requires direct instruction, modelling, and lots of practice o

Apostrophes can be tricky. Sometimes they form possessives. Sometimes they form contractions. Can they ever make something plural? Confusion around apostrophes means mistakes can often be spotted all around us in everyday situations. Have you ever heard of the grocer's apostrophe? Using an unnecessary apostrophe to form the plural of a noun is a very common mistake. Sometimes, it’s called the grocer’s apostrophe because of how frequently it is spotted in grocery store adverti

Did anyone tell you practice makes perfect? That's only if you're practicing it right. Each time you spell a word wrong, you're 'practicing' the wrong spelling. So, if you're not sure how to spell the word, find out, then practice that spelling. Keep an ongoing notebook of words, so you've got your own personal dictionary and you can see your progress. Start small, though! Don't try to learn all the words at once Even if you learn them all in one sitting, practice them a few

Here at Fabulous at Phonics!, I message all my students and their parents/carers 24 hours in advance of their tuition with information about teaching and learning. It comes with a caveat that this may be subject to change depending on how the child responds and takes time to set up photographs and write a basic itinerary. So, why do this? It's important to note here that I encourage discussion around this communication: not only about what we will be doing, but why we will be

Gross motor skills are abilities that allow people to do things that involve using the large muscles in the torso, arms and legs to complete whole-body movements. That includes activities like climbing and jumping. Children rely on these skills to have successful experiences at school, on the playground, and in the community. These skills involve the coordination of the muscles and the neurological system which impact balance and coordination. They also form the basis for fi

As we start the new academic year, parents and carers are likely to be 'bombarded' over the next few weeks with a variety of letters and leaflets. Much of this home/school communication will involve teachers advising families about topics and themes that are going to be explored in their child's new class. You may even be invited into a school or setting for a curriculum meeting to discuss what learning next year may look like for your child. Where possible, it's important to

Fine motor skills are those that involve a refined use of the small muscles which control the hand, fingers and thumb. With the development of these skills, a child is able to complete important tasks such as writing, feeding oneself, buttoning and zippering. These abilities gradually develop through experience and exposure to a variety of toys, materials and even foods. Why is fine motor skill development important? Little hands need to develop dexterity and strength. We can