Reading to children daily improves achievement and behaviour at school

The Institute of Education's study found a correlation between mothers who believe it is important to teach their toddler the alphabet, to count, and read to them regularly and the child's achievement at the age of five.

The Government-commissioned study looked at the foundation stage profile, a teacher's assessment of a child's achievement after one year at school, and assessed the cognitive abilities of just over 8,000 five-year-olds.

It also used a questionnaire to assess each child's behaviour.

The study focused on which factors are associated with achievement at the age of five, and took into account "parental variables" such as how much time is spent with the child reading, teaching the alphabet and counting, watching television.

It concluded: "Reading to the child every day and having a mother who thinks it is important to stimulate young children are positively associated with all cognitive outcomes and negatively with problem behaviour." It said that reading to a child every day "appears to lower behavioural

Children who were read to daily did better in the naming vocabulary test, which involved the children being shown a picture and asked to identify the object.

They also performed better in the foundation stage profiles and had higher behaviour scores.

Youngsters whose mothers thought it was important to talk to them and teach them the alphabet did better than their peers in a number of other tests, and also had better foundation stage profiles.

Need help with your children

contact John

07438574927

Private schools may shut as parents turn to state sector

The recession is making almost a third of private school parents rethink plans to pay for education, according to a major survey published today.

A poll of just over 2,000 parents reveals that 29 per cent are either scrapping plans to send children to private schools or reducing the amount of money they will spend. Such an exodus would have a devastating effect on the private sector, prompting school closures. The sector educates around 600,000 children from 300,000 families – the number is higher once pre-school nurseries are taken into account.

The poll, carried out by Schroders bank, surveyed parents who spend money on private education for children of all ages. Experts from the independent sector conceded yesterday that some parents were facing financial difficulties, although their numbers had fallen by a marginal 0.2 per cent in an annual census. The true picture for this academic year will not emerge until next April's census.

There is already evidence, though, that parents are being more selective about how many years their children spend in private schools.

"I think it's the parents who are contemplating private education who are holding back on a decision," said Neil Roskilly, chief executive of the Independent Schools Association. "They may be being more selective in terms of the key stages they may put their children in for private education. Some believe the basic skills are all important, introducing their children to private education at nursery level or the early years; others think the most important thing is entrance to university

read more

Helping children with Dyslexia

Proficient reading is an essential tool for learning a large part of the subject matter taught at school. With an ever increasing emphasis on education and literacy, more and more children and adults are needing help in learning to read, spell, express their thoughts on paper and acquire adequate use of grammar.

A dyslexic child who finds the acquisition of these literacy skills difficult can also suffer a lot of anguish and trauma when they may feel mentally abused by their peers within the school environment, because they have a learning difficulty. Much can be done to alleviate this by integrating the child into the class environment (which is predominantly a learning environment) where he/she can feel comfortable and develop confidence and self esteem.

Class teachers may be particularly confused by the student whose consistent underachievement seems due to what may look like carelessness or lack of effort.

These children can be made to feel very different from their peers simply because they may be unable to follow simple instructions, which for others seem easy. It is a class teacher's responsibility to provide an atmosphere conducive to learning for all pupils within their class.

Class teachers need to have an understanding of the problems that the dyslexic child may have within the classroom situation. Hopefully, with this knowledge, a great deal of misunderstanding of a child's behaviour can be prevented. In a positive and encouraging environment, a dyslexic child will experience the feeling of success and self-value.

Of particular importance is an understanding of the problems that poor auditory short term memory can cause, in terms of retaining input from the teacher.

Examples of poor auditory short term memory can be a difficulty in remembering the sounds in spoken words long enough to match these, in sequence, with letters for spelling. Often children with poor auditory short term memory cannot remember even a short list of instructions.

The following items should provide useful guidelines for teachers and parents to follow and support :

Read more: http://www.dyslexia.com/library/classroom.htm#ixzz1YOfPYppL

Helping children with autism

Early intervention is the key to improving the outlook for a child with autism, a neurological disorder that impairs communication and social skills. Here are several strategies you may want to consider.

To complete this How-To you will need:

A medical workup
A gluten-free, casein-free diet
Speech, occupational, and alternative therapies
School enrollment
A nutritionist or dietitian (optional) (optional) (optional)

Step 1: Take your child for a complete medical exam. Some behavioral problems associated with autism, like temper tantrums, can sometimes be reduced if physical problems common in children with autism, such as gastrointestinal issues and allergies, are alleviated.

Step 2: Put your child on a gluten-free, casein-free diet, which means no barley, rye, oats, wheat, or dairy. Many families of children with autism have had good results -- but only if the diet is followed to the letter, no exceptions.

Tip: To make sure your child is getting the proper nutrients despite these restrictions, consult a nutritionist or dietitian.

Step 3: Get your child started on speech therapy as soon as possible. If your child is nonverbal, try PECS, which stands for Picture Exchange Communication System. This technique, which uses picture cards, may encourage them to speak.

Step 4: Get your child sensory-integration therapy, which has been proven effective in helping children with autism become less sensitive to light, sound, and touch.

Step 5: Hire an occupational therapist to help them with skills they'll need for an independent life. Depending on the child, this can be anything from physical coordination to anger management.

Step 6: Use applied behavioral analysis, or ABA, the only intervention approved by the Surgeon General's Office. ABA is a one-on-one approach to teaching children how to react appropriately to everyday social situations with the help of rewards. Parents can either hire an ABA-trained therapist or learn the technique themselves.

Step 7: Try other therapies. Most children with autism benefit from a combination of treatments.

Tip: A popular exercise is "floortime," in which the parent or other caregivers get on the floor with the child and mimic how they play, to encourage them to let others join in the fun.

Step 8: Consider verbal behavior intervention, which is designed to develop language skills through motivation and reinforcement.

Step 9: Test the TEACCH approach, which customizes an education program to the child's strengths and weaknesses. Because children with autism tend to be visual learners, the program is structured around visual clues.

Tip: Some autism experts think the TEACCH system tries to incorporate too many interventions, and winds up diluting them.

Step 10: Consider becoming trained in Relationship Development Intervention, or RDI, which suggests everyday things parents can do at home to help their child adapt to changes and be more open to interacting with others.

Step 11: Enroll your child in school when they turn three. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act requires that states provide special education services to children with disabilities, beginning at this age.

Step 12: Stay up-to-date on autism research; new therapies are being tested and developed all the time.

Help your kids learn to speak

CHILDREN are reaching the age of three without saying their first word, according to a new YouGov poll.



Although the average age for babies' first words is ten to 11 months, almost one in six parents reported their children had problems learning to talk and four per cent had not spoken by the age of three.



So what should you do if your little one says precious little?



Clare Geldard, director of I Can, the children's communication charity, says your first job is not to panic: "All children develop at different rates so don't compare your child to others.



By following simple tips, you can bring their speech on in leaps and bounds."



Here are Clare's top tips to get tiny tongues wagging.

1) Talk to your baby as soon as they're born. Parents often feel silly doing this but it's surprising how quickly you'll get some kind of response or noise back if you say something and leave a pause after it.

2) Have fun. Your child will learn better if they're enjoying interacting with you. Learn action nursery rhymes like Humpty Dumpty or Hickory Dickory Dock, clap your hands or practise animal noises together.

3) Learn together as you go about your everyday life. Use everyday tasks like putting the shopping away to teach the names of things.

4) Good communication is all about eye contact – get down to your child's level to talk to them.

5) Repetition is key to good language skills. Try singing a nursery rhyme to your toddler and leaving the last word out for them to finish.

6) Give children time to respond. We live in a fast-paced world so often think everything should be instant. Kids need time when they're learning to process what they've heard and what they want to say back.

7) For children under three use short, uncomplicated sentences. Don't say: "Right, let's go and find your coat, hat, gloves and scarf and then we'll lock up, get in the car and go to the supermarket." Break all that information down into chunks by starting with: "Go and find your coat. Where's your coat?" When they bring it back to you or point it out, move on to the next thing.

8) Children learn the names of things quickly but there are many more words they need under their belts – from adjectives to verbs. The best way to teach these is by being physical. Jump up and down to show jumping, shiver if something is cold etc. Use all senses from touch to smell to help words make sense.

9) Storybooks are fantastic. Build up to complicated stories and don't be afraid to start showing your child pages from about three months onwards. Books with actions you can copy such as We're Going On A Bear Hunt, by Michael Rosen, are a great place to start.

10) Play games and go large on the facial expressions. Games like Peekaboo that rely on funny faces will increase your child's attention to you, and what you say.

11) Don't use the TV as a childminder – watch it with your kids and ask them about what they've seen.

12) Forward-facing pushchairs are not as bad as people think. Just stop and kneel down every so often to chat to your child at eye level.

Help your child learn to write

. In order for any child to write meaningfully, he or she must first build up their fine motor skills. Art projects, working with play dough, measuring and pouring sand and water, and practicing writing are excellent ways to improve fine motor skills.The skills along the path to writing are: Scribbling with crayons. Have plenty of paper and writing materials on hand for your child. Place paper pads and pencils throughout the house. Encourage all efforts to write. Making circles and other basic shapes. Again, put plenty of paper and writing materials around the house. Point out shapes in the house and try to draw them together (be encouraging). Have stencils available for your child to trace. Discuss your child's attempts with him/her in a positive way. Encourage your child to look at and talk about their work. Gaining more control of small muscles through... Squeezing activities. Let them move water from bowl to bowl with a sponge. Provide play dough. Squeeze a small ball or bean bag. Pinching activities. Move water with an eye dropper. Use tweezers to move beads from one dish to another. Make collages together with materials you buy, collect, or find together. Using scissors (with your supervision). Cut pictures from magazines. Cut play dough. Cut plain paper or lined paper. Cut collage pieces. Lacing and stringing. Lacing cards are available in toy departments. Have them practice lacing and then tying shoes. Use shoe laces to string beads or macaroni. Tracing activities. Draw lines on a page and have them trace the lines. Draw a simple path to help Goldilocks find her way home and have them trace the path (children seem to live activities like this). Find a book with simple mazes for your child to trace. Spray some shaving cream on your bathroom or kitchen counter and let your child play with it like finger paint. (It's fun and you'll have a clean counter, too.) Beginning to make drawings of real people, objects, and events. Encourage all efforts (stick people are beautiful when your child draws them). Ask your child about his/her work. Keep samples and encourage your child to look at and talk about their work. Hang your child's art in their room or on the refrigerator. Beginning to recognize letters. Write your child's name on a card so they can look at it often. Find the letters in their name in other words. Encourage your child pick out letters they know. Talk about the letters in your child's name. Point out and talk about capital and lower case letters. Play letter lotto (a Bingo type game using letters). ONLINE ACTIVITY: Learn to recognize letters through visits to the Alphabet Soup Cafe in Fun with Letters. Read alphabet books. Here's a list of great ones. Beginning to recognize written names and some words. Work with your child on picking out words they recognize in magazines and books. Together, notice similarities and differences in words (bell & dell, wall & walk). Make a word box with a word and a picture of that word when possible. Encourage your child in their efforts. Realizing the permanency of words (r-u-n always spells run). Write down a story your child tells you and reread it every day. ONLINE ACTIVITY: Our Young Writers Workshopprovides over thirty illustrated story starters and helpful instructions. Read familiar books with only one or two lines on a page. Notice word labels on boxes; reread them to reinforce their permanency. Buy a first words dictionary and use it together. Beginning to imitate letters in writing. Provide writing materials. Have word and picture cards on hand. Have letter cards and stencils on hand. Encourage letter writing and hang up their paper. Make shoe strings into letters with your child. Use play dough to make letters. Provide sandpaper for letter tracing (the feel of the letter helps you remember). Provide chalk and a chalkboard. ONLINE ACTIVITY: Learn how to make letters by watchingSpinner the Writing Spider. Attempting to write their name. Do not worry if the letters are out of order or backwards. You write their name and encourage them to copy it. When your child says they can write their name alone - let them. Encourage all efforts. Provide plenty of writing materials. Beginning to write other words. Encourage all writing. Be ready to write words for them to copy when they ask you. Show pride in their efforts. Write stories with your child and put them with your child's other books. ONLINE ACTIVITY: Print letters on an egg and move them about to make words. Improving through practice and positive feedback. Encourage children to write letters to family members, thank you notes, notes to their favorite character in a book. Help them write rhymes. Have them write reminder notes to you about anything they want you to remember.

Helping Your Child at Home with Vocabulary Building

Parents are the first "language models" for children. The language children use is modeled, or based, on what they hear from their parents. Parents need to create an environment that enriches what a child hears. The words he hears, he will use with encouragement.

To start, take a look for a moment at the words you use-and how you use them, Children who repeatedly hear, "I seen it" will imitate that language. And the probability is great that if they speak that way, they will write that way.

Encourage family discussions. Turn off the TV and talk. One of the best places is the dinner table. That's one of the few times an entire family is together. In a sense, it's a "captive" audience. Set up some ground rules, such as "No eat and run," and "Everyone will have something to talk about" during and after supper. It's a kind of "hear and tell" time. What to talk about? Things going on in the neighborhood, what happened at school, events that are coming up, family plans, family decisions, et cetera. But remember the conversation should be pleasant and relaxing. This is NOT the time to bring up sins of omission or commission.

If your child has started formal spelling at school, post the list on the refrigerator door. Use those words with your child as discussions arise. Encourage him to use them in his responses.

If you have a cassette recorder, make a tape of words. Say the word, define it, and then use it in a sentence. (Select words that he will find interesting.) Better yet, have the child do the taping. Encourage regular use of the tape. (If he's studying for a spelling test, he can also spell it on the tape.)

"Word of the Week" is a family game-like activity. Each person selects a word taking turns each week. For example, the first week it might be Mother who writes a word on a card and puts it on the refrigerator door. Everyone must use that word as much as possible that week. The next week it's Dad's turn, and then the children's turn, and so on until it is Mother's turn again. As the words are used, they are posted on a cabinet door to stimulate continued Usage.

"Ten Questions" is a game that promotes several teaming skills, chief of which is reasoning with words. One family member thinks of something, which the other players must guess with no more than ten questions. The first question always is "Is it animal, vegetable, or mineral?" This covers virtually every possible thing the child could think of. Then, question by question, the field is narrowed to likely possibilities. After the first questions, the following questions must be asked so that they can be answered by "yes" or "no."

For some youngsters, "Ten Questions" might be too demanding, so make it "Twenty Questions. " One of the values of the extension is that additional reasoning and logic can be expressed. Stretch the game as much as possible. You can show, for example, the process of moving from broad-based questions to more discrete ones. In this way, your child will team to ask questions such as, "Is it located in the Northern Hemisphere?" "Is it in the Western Hemisphere?" "Is it in the United States?" "Is it land based?" and so on. This becomes an exercise not only in vocabulary development but also in geography.

Encourage the use of a "log" or "diary. " And Pen Pal Clubs are easy to find and join.

Enter a subscription to a child's magazine. There are many of these, and they cover practically every interest area of children: cars, sports, computers, the out-of-doors, et cetera. (Information from the articles makes an ideal subject for family discussions.)

If distant family members have cassette players, send "letters" on tape. Each family member has his or her "say," and then the tape is mailed to the distant relative to listen to on his tape recorder. That person then adds some comments and either returns it or passes it on to another family member.

Play games with homonyms - words that sound alike but are spelled differently and mean something different, as in "sun" and "son." For example, on the versatile refrigerator door, post train rain- or "reign-rain" or" pray-prey" or "flower -flour." Ask family members to add to the list. You'll be surprised at how many homonyms they will uncover

Another way of encouraging vocabulary development is the penny game," which can be played even if your child is having difficulty with reading. You might use a comic book, the comic strips or sports pages in your local newspaper, or a magazine article- To play the game, the child must know that some words start with a consonant followed by a vowel-for example, "say, look, go, pay," et etc. that other words begin with two consonants (called a blend) such as "grow, plate, tray, brush," etc. (Note: Some words do start with two or three consonants but are not true blends because one letter is silent, as in "white". gnat, pneumonia," etc.) Tell the child you'll give him a penny for every word he underlines that starts with a blend.

A follow-up to the "penny game" is to list words in "teams," such as fog/frog, bake/brake, pay/play, say/stay," et cetera.

A guessing game can be fun. "I'm thinking of a word that starts with "br" that is something you use to paint a house." (Brush) "I'm thinking of a word that starts with "tr" that is something we do to the bushes when they get too large." (Trim)

A traditional game that most children enjoy is "My father owns " Example: "My father owns a grocery store, and in it he sells something that begins with the letter B. " If the child does not know the alphabet, letter sounds can be used.

Revolving blend- is another family game in which someone gives a common blend-for example, "tr"--and, in sequence around the table or room, everyone must think of a word that begins with that blend-"train, truck, truffle, try, tray, trumpet, truce." et cetera. When the list is exhausted, the last person begins another blend, such as "st"--"stay, start, stick, stuck, star," etc.

Word origins or facts about words can be fascinating family fare. For example, the word "salary" had its origin in "salarium," which is Latin for salt. Roman soldiers received their pay in salt. Ask your librarian to help you find books that will provide other interesting examples of the origin of common words.

Suffixes are clues to word meanings. For example, "er" or "or" at the end of a word suggests "one who." Example: conductor-one who conducts; trainer-one who trains, etc. Each week a new suffix can be selected to create words.

The "Take a Walk" game is an activity that brings family members together in an enjoyable, relaxing way. It takes at least two people. A walk is taken around the neighborhood or perhaps around a local shopping area. On one trip the thrust may be, "Let's name everything we see that begins with the letter B." On another walk, it might be naming everything that begins with the letter G. Or everything that is the color purple. You might add an element of fun by saying, "We'll get one point for every word we name. Let's see how many points we can get." (Involves arithmetic as well as vocabulary.)

A rhyming game is always fun, particularly for young children because they can say any "word," nonsense or sense. Start with things the child knows, such as parts of his body, and say, "I'm thinking of something on your face that rhymes with (sounds like) rose." From this point, once your child gets the idea, you can play it just by saying words, such as "what's a word that rhymes with car?" (jar, bar, star, far, et cetera) "How about a word that rhymes with junk?" (bunk, skunk, trunk-but even runk lunk zunk as nonsense words). Nor only does this quick little game build vocabulary, but it also teaches the child some fine-tuning for the sounds of words.

Children listen, then use words, then read them, and, finally, write them. What they team at home about words supports success in school. A great deal of the learning that takes place at home is effective because it isn't a repeat of school. Once it becomes too formal and too "school-like," it will lose its appeal.

Parents who talk to their children, and who encourage interaction win lay a healthy platform for academic success. And children will quickly realize that words need not be drudgery but can be exciting and interesting.

Need help with your child

contact john

07438574927