Development – Page 3

To Play is to Learn

July 23, 2020lucyteachchildrenLeave a comment

To Play 2

The summer holidays are here!

So, it is the perfect time to go out and play or, as is often the case, stay indoors and play.

We are always being shown how important play is in the development of young animals’ survival and hunting skills. How many times have you thought how cute or lovely when watching kittens, puppies or polar bears playing.

Humans are also animals which thrive and develop through play; in fact, play is so important the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights state it as a right for every child (Ginsburg, 2013).

We often think of play as a frivolous pastime rather than a practical and meaningful one. However, here at Teach Children we see play as a vital part of a child’s physical, emotional, social and intellectual growth and well-being.

There has been considerable research over the years on play, which supports our point of view, with the consensus being that children need to experience five different types of play (Dr.D Whitebread, 2012). These five types of play are roughly based on the developmental opportunities they provide, especially if it is child driven rather than adult lead:

Physical Play – active exercise (running, jumping, skipping etc..), rough & tumble and fine motor skills activities to develop whole body and hand and eye co-ordination strength and endurance. The outdoor element of such play develops independence, resourcefulness and self-regulation while the fine motor skills activities support the development of concentration and perseverance.

Play with Objects – starts as soon as a child can grasp and hold an object; mouthing, biting, turning, stroking, hitting and dropping. It’s how we all learn through the exploration of our senses (sensory-motor play). This type of play develops our abilities to; physically manipulate items, think, reason and problem solve, to set challenges and goals as well as to monitor our own progress.

Symbolic Play – refers to the development of spoken language, visual symbols such as letters and numbers, music, painting, drawing and other media used for communication of thought and ideas. This type of play allows children to develop the abilities to express and reflect on experiences, ideas and emotions. Sound and language play develops phonological awareness required for literacy, while number play that relates to real life situations supports numeracy skills.

Pretence/socio-dramatic Play – Pretend play provides the opportunity to develop cognitive, social, self-regulatory and academic skills. This kind of play means children have to learn and pick up on unspoken rules of interaction, taking on the role of a character and playing within the expected confines of that role.

Games with Rules – physical games such as chase, hide & seek, sport, board and computer games. Develop social skills and the emotional skills of taking turns, winning and losing as well as other people’s perspectives.

So, to play is to learn!

Bibliography

Kenneth R. Ginsburg, MD, MSEd, 25/07/2013; ‘The Importance of Play in Promoting Healthy Child Development and Maintaining Strong Parent-Child Bonds’: THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF PEDIATRICS: http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/119/1/182.full

Dr.D. Whitebread, April 2012: ‘The Importance of Play’; Commissioned for the Toy Industries of Europe: originally sourced from: http://www.importanceofplay.eu/IMG/pdf/dr_david_whitebread_-_the_importance_of_play.pdf

Developing and Supporting Your Child’s Reading Journey – Week 5

June 25, 2020lucyteachchildrenLeave a comment

Narrative Skills to Support the Understanding of Different Writing Styles

narrative 1

Narrative skills are based on understanding and using expressive language. This is the kind of language we use to describe things and feelings, to tell events in order and to recall and tell stories.

Children develop their narrative skills over time taking prior knowledge, what they already know, and building on this through:

Conceptual thinking; the development of concepts such as shape, colour, the passing of time; as well as developing and using strategies for problem solving and prediction (thinking skills).
Content knowledge; what they already know about the topic/situation; the ability to relate situations to their own experiences, the ability to sequence events in a logical order as well as to sequence processes such as getting dressed or making things.
Understanding that different genres are set out in different ways, story structure such as that used in fairy tales is different from that used for poetry or informational text (explaining things) or instructional text (how to do something) such as a recipe.

Developing Narrative Skills:

Through Play:

Role play different situations; doctor’s, school, office, shops etc.
Dramatic and imaginative play; acting out stories together using props and/or puppets and toys.
Matching and sorting games to develop understanding of concepts such as colour, shape and size.
Puzzles for developing problem solving skills.

Through Drawing/Writing:

Ask your child to draw pictures for a story and you write the words
Ask your child to draw or write (make mind maps) of the things they already know about something.
Ask them to draw different shapes in different sizes and to use specific colours for them.
With older children make and draw charts and graphs for classifying objects.

Through Songs/Nursery Rhymes:

Children’s songs and nursery rhymes cover a wide range of concepts:

Everyday sequences such as in the nursery rhyme ‘Here we go Round the Mulberry Bush’ which uses the phrase ‘This is the way we…’ to order the event of getting up in the morning.
Introduce concepts such as size, colours, shapes and numbers such as “One, two, three, four, five once I caught a fish alive…”
Tell stories for example ‘Baa Baa Black Sheep’ or ‘We’re going on a Bear Hunt’ by Michael Rosen & Helen Oxenbury.

Through Talk:

As your child explores objects, describe them and their uses; compare and contrast objects.
Remember to give your child time to work things out, or to solve a problem. It can take a child several minutes sometimes to process what they have heard and to formulate a response.
Talk about concepts such as shape, colour, size, texture.
Explain and use language that explains where things are in relation to each other (spatial awareness) such as above, below, on top of, next to, first, etc.
Help your child to develop an awareness of time, not just the here and now but what happened in the past and might happen in the future.
Put processes into sequence using things like recipes, making things or how plants grow, the passing of time, weeks, months, seasons etc.
Encourage your child to recount their day or to re-tell a story.
Encourage your child to tell you what they know about something as well as sharing what you know.
When sharing information explain how you learned about it; read it in a book or on the internet or heard it on the TV or radio.
Encourage your child to guess and predict what might happen.
Encourage your child to solve problems or resolve conflicts; if you do it for them explain what you did and why.
Embed conversation into everyday routines such as getting dressed, meal times and bed time.

Through Book Sharing:

What books to choose?

Books that tell a cumulative tale
Books with a natural sequence
Books with a repeated phrase or repetition as part of the story
Poetry books
Non-fiction books

Book Sharing Tips

Read books on topics that interest your child.
Ask your child to tell you what they know about the book you are reading.
Encourage your child to join in while sharing a book, saying repeated phrases for example.
Read with expression.
Encourage your child to re-tell the story.
Re-read books so that your child can become familiar with the story, making it easier to re-tell the story.
Relate what is happening in the story to your own child’s experiences or ask then to tell you how it might relate to them.
Use props to tell the story to help your child remember the sequence of the story. They may find using props a great way to re-tell you the story.
Encourage your child to talk about the pictures. Take their lead and try to ask open-ended question (those that cannot be answered by yes or no).
Talk about the books you like and what you like about them.
If your child loses interest, try again another time.
Talk about the pictures in a book or sections of a story and let your child tell you their thoughts about what is happening and might happen next.

Developing and Supporting Your Child’s Reading Journey – Week 4

June 18, 2020lucyteachchildrenLeave a comment

Print Awareness to Develop Understanding of Reading Conventions

Book Conv 1

Print Awareness is knowing that print (words) has meaning, including noticing print around them in the environment (posters & street signs) and understanding how to handle the conventions for reading a book. We can often assume that all young children or pre-readers (as not always young children) will develop print awareness naturally. However, research suggests that 95% of their visual attention is directed towards pictures, which in themselves hold a great deal of meaning and often tell the story very effectively.

Pictures/ illustrations in story books and pure picture books are powerful ways to engage children and adults with books, storytelling and reading. This is not to say that pictures are any easy way to interpret a story line as they can hold a great deal of meaning, from simple obvious interpretation to more sophisticated symbolic representation.

Young children and pre-readers need opportunities to explore print and be helped to understand that the written word (print) has meaning. Once they start to see print they will begin to notice it everywhere not just in books but on posters, food packets, menus and street signs.

Again we can often assume that a child or pre-reader knows how to handle a book, however this is not always the case and can be due to a lack of experience with books or different cultural reading conventions. So it is important to check and teach these reading conventions for reading English:

Front cover opens to the left and we read it from the front to the back.
Print on a page is read left to right.
Usually print is read from the top of the page across and down (this may differ slightly in some children’s books).

Supporting Print Awareness:

Through Play

Use takeaway menus or create your own as part of role playtime, they could have their own café serving up all sorts of interesting dishes for you. A blackboard can be very useful for this, allowing you or your child to write up their own menu for the day.
Travel brochures or leaflets from your local tourist information office are great for role play encouraging new language as well as a different way to explore print as they often have maps and timetables.
Use sticky labels or post it notes to label items or furniture as part of a ‘can you see or find’ game.

Through Drawing/Writing

Making lists of things to do or a shopping list. Their version of the list may be just squiggles and dots (so don’t rely on this for your shopping trip) but it is the beginning. I would keep the list and get them to tick off things done or items purchased as part of the experience so that it has a genuine purpose (children really like this).
For slightly older children making simple invitations and thank you cards can be fun. Try not to make the messages too long or to write too many as they will get bored and see it as a chore not as fun.
Making and drawing their own story book.

Through Songs/Nursery Rhymes

Showing the printed words to songs and rhymes.

Through Talk

Point out signs, logos and labels when out and about as well as at home.
A lot of print awareness skills are developed through the sharing of books and appropriate on-line material.

Through Book Sharing

What books to choose?

Books that have writing as part of the story;
Books that have writing as part of the picture;
Story books; all types;
Factual (non-fiction) books; all types;
Comics;
Children’s magazines and newspapers.

Book Sharing Tips

Remember babies will chew and bash the pages of the book as you read. This is normal and part of their learning experience so go with it.
Encourage and let your child turn the pages.
Point to the words of the title as you say them
Explain what the author and illustrator do as you say their names.
Point to words or repeated phrases as you say them or as your child says them. This will also help your child to develop the skill of reading from left to right and from the top of the page down (English).
Point to words of interest and explain how words have spaces between them and why.
To help your child understand how to handle a book use the word ‘front’ and ‘back’ of the book. If you are handed a book upside down or with the ‘back’ cover facing you explain that you have to turn it around or over so that you can read it.
Explain that page numbers help you to find things in the book as well as to help make sure you do not miss any part of the story.
Explain that content pages in story books show the chapters and in factual (non-fiction) they show different subject areas, as well as giving the page numbers on which to find them.
Explain how the index page in non-fiction books work.
Explain what a glossary is in a book.

Developing and Supporting Your Child’s Reading Journey – Week 3

June 11, 2020June 10, 2020lucyteachchildrenLeave a comment

Vocabulary Development for Comprehension

Word Opp Activities 1

Vocabulary is knowing the meaning of words including names of things, feelings, concepts and ideas. The larger a child’s vocabulary (understanding what words mean not just being able to say them) the easier it is for them to understand what they are reading.

The more you talk and share words and their meaning with your child the greater their vocabulary will become.

Vocabulary building:

Through Play:

Introducing and playing sorting games helps your child to build a mental filing cabinet system of categories, this helps them to remember and learn the meaning of words. Start by introducing simple categories of everyday items like food or clothes as their vocabulary increases categories such as colour, size and texture become more appropriate.
As babies handle objects and toys describe how they feel, what they look like or the sound they make
When you are playing with your child add in new words (explain their meaning), descriptions or expand on words they use in play. For example, if you are playing cars with your child you may comment on the size difference or colours between the cars.
Remember children learn new words best when they are learned in context, that is, in a natural setting.
If they are trying to say a word let them finish and then say it back to them clearly and correctly. Do not make them repeat it back to you, they may choose to do so but make it their choice.

Through Drawing/Writing

When drawing or painting with your child, or they are sharing their pictures with you, talk about the shapes, colours types of lines (straight line or curves line), what you like best about the picture, and the objects you can see.

Through Songs and Nursery Rhymes

Listening of nursery rhymes and children’s song is a good way of helping your child make the distinction between the music and words (language used) in them. It is a good idea to practise this skill when there are no other noise distractions.
Try playing some action songs and rhymes to help your child learn the actions for the rhyme, then let them have a go on their own. Watch them to see if they can do some of the actions at the right time in the song, to see if they are listening for the right cue words. If they are struggling, explain they have to wait for certain words and show them what to do and when to do it.
Nursery and silly rhymes are great ways to introduce your child to rhyming sounds and increase sound play in words.
Singing often slows down our pronunciation of words, helping your child to pick out unusual or rhyming sound patterns. As with reading aloud it can introduce a wider vocabulary for your child.
Finger rhymes and action songs encourage your child to interact with words, the sounds within them and the rhythms they create. Finger rhymes such as ‘Round and Round the Garden’, ‘Pat-a-cake’ and ‘Incy Wincey Spider’. ‘Row, Row Your Boat’ is a lovely whole-body movement song that encourages a rhythmic whole-body motion, which babies and toddler enjoy (as well as the adults).

Through Talk

Speak in ‘parentese’ until a child is about 9 months old as they will listen to you longer and hear more words
Talk about feeling and situations throughout the day.
When your child points at something tell them the name of the object, for example if they point at an apple, say “Apple”.
Explain words or give synonyms
Avoid replacing unfamiliar words with familiar ones (explain the meaning). Remember to try to use the new word in context regularly as repetition of the word will help your child to remember it and reinforce the meaning of the word.
Repeat and expand on what your child says, so if they say “Dog!” you may say “A big dog!” This also helps them to develop an understanding of sentence structure.

Through Book Sharing

What books to choose?

Books with words not used in everyday conversation.
Non-fiction books (informational, instructional, true stories) -as they use different words to fiction (story) books.
Any book really. The language of books in much richer and varied than that of everyday conversation.

Book Sharing Tips

Sharing and talking about the books you are reading helps to build word knowledge, as you point to the pictures, picking out different objects.
Reading out aloud helps to introduce your child to words that they may not experience in their everyday talk. This helps to expose them to new vocabulary and the sounds to be found in those words.
Reading aloud poems and story books with strong rhyme elements, like those found in Dr.Seuss books, helps introduce the new words and rhyming sounds in words.
Try exaggerating the rhyming words to help highlight the sound patterns, making it easier for your child to tune into them.
Explain unfamiliar words; don’t replace them with familiar ones.
When a word has more than one meaning. Talk about the different meanings.
Add descriptive words or more information than in the book.
Encourage your child to talk about the pictures. Add information and ideas to what they have said.
Use words to describe how characters in the book might have felt at a point in the story.
Use words to describe ideas in the story even if they are not used in the book.
Remember children learn new words and their meaning through repetition, so you will need to be patient as you re-read the same story over and over again or answer the same questions over and over again.

Developing and Supporting Your Child’s Reading Journey – Week 1

May 28, 2020lucyteachchildrenLeave a comment

How to Develop a Child’s Interest in Books and Reading

books & kids 1

Research suggests that children who enjoy books are more likely to want to learn to read and will keep trying even when they find it hard. Therefore, it is important to keep their interaction around books a positive one.

Through Play

Books come in all shapes and sizes and are made from various materials.

Have a few bath books. even if most of the time your baby or toddler just chews on them, they will be handling a book and possibly turning the pages. Giving you the opportunity to talk about the pictures with them.
Try to have a range of cloth, hard books and suitable picture books around the house and in your child’s play area so they can pick them up at any time. This way they can explore them for themselves, (even if it is to give them a quick chew on) not as an adult sharing activity.

Through Drawing & Writing

Drawing and making your own simple story book can be a great way of getting your child interested in books and reading. Children love to hear stories about them. Simple homemade books about them can be a great way of introducing children to books and reading. This can be a very effective approach to encourage reluctant readers.

Draw simple pictures with, or for, your child and talk through what you are drawing, for example; a picture of a house with matchstick people. The pictures could be telling the events of the day for example going to the park or walking the dog.
If drawing is not your thing (like me) use fuzzy felt instead to make a picture to share the story of their day.

Through Songs and Nursery Rhymes

Children’s songs and nursery rhymes cover a wide range of concepts such as going through every day sequences in the nursery rhyme ‘Here we go Round the Mulberry Bush’ which uses the phrase ‘This is the way we…’ to order the event of getting up in the morning. Some introduce concept such as size, numbers, colours and shapes. While others tell stories for example ‘Baa Baa Black Sheep’ or ‘We’re going on a Bear Hunt’ by Michael Rosen & Helen Oxenbury.

Sharing books that enable you and your child to sing along (retell) their favourite songs and nursery rhymes means that the child knows what to expect and that they are going to have fun and enjoy the experience. Over time you will then be able to introduce books with new songs and nursery rhymes, building on your child’s positive experience of other book sharing sessions with you. Remember you may have to revert back to the old favourite time and time again, but stick with it.

Through Book Sharing

What books should you choose?

Pick children’s books you enjoy
Pick books your child enjoys
Give your child time to choose and look at books (your local library is a great place for this).
Follow your child’s interests
Use ‘true’ books and stories (not those specifically written for developing phonics knowledge or rigidly structured reading scheme books for teaching and learning to read, these will come from school and serve a different purpose).

Book Sharing Tips

Remember that a child’s age personality, mood and stage of development will affect how they interact with the book.
Keep the interaction around the book positive and fun, if you are not enjoying it your child will pick up on this.
Keep your child involved, remember you do not have to read the book word for word, it is the positive sharing experience that is important.
If your child does not seem interested in reading or sharing books, start slowly by sharing /reading one or two pages at a time. Keep the interaction positive and over time their interest will grow.
If your child is showing no interest then try again another time.
When reading a book with your child that you really like then tell them that you like the book or story. Your child may not agree with you and insist on their favourite book which after reading for the 500^th time you may be bored with but keep with it, there will be another favourite book!
Try to share books throughout the day not just at nap and bed times. I found having a couple of books in my bag really useful as I could then share a book with one of my girl’s while the other was swimming or with them both while waiting for the bus or sharing tea and cake in a café.
Read with your child every day. There are some days where this just seems impossible to manage. Remember one minute is better than no minutes and it does not have to be a book you are reading, there are lots of environment reading matter you could use such as painting/pictures, posters, advertisement, road signs and maps.

The Impact of Poor Visual Memory Skills on #Reading

May 1, 2020lucyteachchildrenLeave a comment

Visual Memory 2

Good visual memory skills enable us to recall information that has been previously visually presented.

Visual memory difficulties can hinder a child’s ability to read fluently and with ease due to the fact that they cannot always remember what the word looks like, even though it may be a very common sight word which has been taught to them many times before.

Typical problems due to poor visual memory skills:

Difficulty in recognising some letters and numbers, especially those they may not use very often, for example some of the capital letters.
Have problems learning sight words, or remembering what a word is, from one page to another.
Reading is slow and stilted, making comprehension difficult.

For more information on how to identify visual memory difficulties see our Other Physical Skills Assessment from our Teach Handwriting website: http://bit.ly/2P5jS44

For games and activities to help support and develop visual memory skills use this links: http://bit.ly/2M350S1

Spring/Easter Drawing Activity Ideas – Supporting Language & Pre-handwriting Pattern Development

April 7, 2020lucyteachchildrenLeave a comment

In these unusual times it can be easy to forget that it is the Easter holiday break.

We have put together some quick step by step Easter drawing ideas for you to try, using basic shapes such as circles, rectangles and triangles. It is amazing how, by using these simple shapes, you and your child can create fantastic Spring/Easter: cards, pictures mobiles or bunting: http://bit.ly/2kyeo3w

People have enjoyed seeing children’s’ rainbow pictures up in windows so adding some Spring/Easter pictures or mobiles can only add to the enjoyment.

Drawing pictures is a great way to help your child develop their pre-handwriting strokes and shape forming skills. As well as supporting shape, colour, pattern and language development.

Why do we ask children to #read out aloud?

March 26, 2020lucyteachchildrenLeave a comment

Word Play – Syllable Awareness & Counting

March 12, 2020lucyteachchildrenLeave a comment

syllables 1

At about the age of 4 years old children start to develop an understanding that words can be split into sound parts (syllables) and that these parts give the word its rhythm. A syllable is the largest phonological unit (one or a group of sounds) of a word and is like the rhythmic beat of the word.

They should be able to orally blend syllables together to form words and segment words into syllables.

A fun activity to help develop syllable understanding:

How Many Syllables?

Children love to clap out the number of syllables in a word. It is important to say the word at a normal speed rather than really slowly as this can distort the word and make it difficult to hear the syllables. To start with a child just needs to be able to recognize them by clapping, stamping or jumping for each syllable of a word; they don’t need to be able to count them. It is thought that only about 50% of children can count out the syllables by the age of 4, so you can do the counting for them.

Spoken syllables are organised around the vowel sounds, making counting them easy; as the jaw drops when the vowel sound is spoken in the syllable. Try placing your hand under your jaw with your mouth closed before you say a word. Start with ‘cat’ you will notice the jaw drops once, this is because it is a one syllable (monosyllabic) word.

Most children will find it easier to identify syllables in compound words to start with. A compound word is formed by two words (root words) put together such as: sunset, hotdog, snowman and postman. They find it easier because the jaw tends to drop quite distinctly as we say the vowel sound in each of the root words and because we tend to say these words slowly.