What do we mean by “sound it out” and what does it entail? When a child gets stuck on a word we often remind them to “sound it out”. As fluent readers, we assume this is very straightforward. We recognise these words automatically and skip all the stages that beginner readers need to go through […]
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WHY WE SHOULD FOSTER THE LOVE OF READING NON-FICTION BOOKS All too often, our classroom libraries offer a wonderful selection of fiction but only a limited amount of non-fiction. Why should we ensure that children have access to a wonderful range of non-fiction books? 1. NON-FICTION BOOKS ARE FUN Firstly, because so many […]
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During mental health week, we think it is important to highlight the link between mental health and illiteracy. Illiteracy causes poor life outcomes, poverty leading to crime, depression and poor health. The Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychological Therapies of the University of East Anglia have just reported on the global problem of poor mental […]
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Ann Sullivan of Phonics for Pupils with Special Educational Needs, is an experienced SEND teacher, who has created her own phonics programme specifically for SEND children. This is what she has to say about our latest set of Books: Moon Dogs Extras for Catch-Up Readers. If there is one question I am asked more than […]
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Here at Phonic Books we have been publishing decodable books for beginner and catch-up readers for seventeen years. During those years we attended many conferences and education shows. When discussing whether our books were suited to students with Special Educational Needs, we always deferred to the teachers working in SEND settings. While we were confident […]
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When I trained to be a teacher in one of the best universities in London, I learned a great deal about the wonderful world of books, how to select quality picture books and spot racially biased books, and even how to make books by stitching them together by hand. We made book covers using potato […]
Read MoreHere is an interesting post from Spelfabet that explain how looking for lots of reading cues distracts from decoding. http://www.spelfabet.com.au/2015/06/attention-during-learning/
Read MoreHere is an important article by Dorothy Bishop about what determines language development. http://digest.bps.org.uk/2015/07/why-words-get-stuck-on-tip-of-your.html?utm_source=BPS_Lyris_email&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=[rd]+=?UTF-8?B?VGhlIExhdGVzdCBQc3ljaG9sb2d5IFJlc2VhcmNoIA==?=+=?UTF-8?B?4oCTIERpZ2VzdGVk?=&m=1
Read MoreHere is a really useful post from Spelfabet about resources that help children discriminate and pronounce sounds that are similar. Thank you Spelfabet! http://www.spelfabet.com.au/2015/04/helping-children-hear-sound-differences/
Read MoreDid you know that Language Impairment is more common than Dyslexia or Autism? I didn’t. One child in every classroom will have Language Impairment. These short and informative video clips from the RALLI (Raising Awareness of Language Learning Impairment) campaign are really helpful for teachers, Sencos, TA’s, parents and children. They shed light on this disability. A must for […]
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