I recently had a Zoom meeting with a Year 6 teacher who discussed how a number of his pupils were struggling with reading and he said he was using the Year 1 phonics check to assess them. This may seem […]
Read MoreReading Difficulties
Why do older, struggling readers need age-appropriate books?
Older, struggling readers often have gaps in the their phonics knowledge and skills. They find alternative spellings particularly confusing. Many suffer from low self esteem so offering them decodable materials that are age-appropriate is vital. Vital because if the reading […]
Read MoreParent shines a light on the science of reading
It is so sad to hear when a young child says he wants to kill himself because he can’t read as described in the interview at the end of this piece. It is uplifting to hear how a parent turned […]
Read MorePhonics vs morphology? Why we need both!
Phonics VS morphology? Why we need both! Some time ago, I attended a course on morphology. I was using an excellent phonics programme (Sounds-Write) and felt I needed to develop my understanding of morphology and its role in teaching kids […]
Read MoreGirls can be dyslexic too
In the past, most of the students referred to the Learning Center where I work were boys. It was thought that dyslexia was a disability that mostly boys had. Girls were very good at disguising their reading disability with neat […]
Read MoreWhy ‘structured’ reading instruction is not enough
Why we need to teach ‘structured and cumulative’ reading instruction In the bad old days before I learned how to teach kids to read, I taught kids to read in a structured way. That is, what I thought was structure: […]
Read MoreHow to make comprehension fun
How to make comprehension fun Most teachers will agree that the purpose of reading is comprehension. But many children, especially kids who struggle with reading and spelling, hate comprehension activities. It’s not because they hate comprehending or answering questions. […]
Read MoreShould we teach spelling in the digital age?
Many children struggle with spelling. It is important to teach them how to spell in the digital age when ‘Spell Check’ is there to help? The answer is yes. Why? Firstly, because at present Spell Check makes errors as do […]
Read MorePhonic Books is Going Red for the month of October!
What is all this ‘going red’ about? Go Red is a community of passionate individuals and organisations that campaign to promote literacy and a greater understanding of dyslexia. Being able to read and write is something most of us take […]
Read MoreHow to practice reading ‘tap’ and ‘tape’
Many students struggle with split vowel spellings a-e, e-e, i-e, o-e, u-e. These are also known as ‘split digraphs’, ‘magic e’ and ‘vowel + e’. These students need extra explicit instruction and practice reading words with these split spellings. It […]
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