Stanilas Dehaene, a leading neuroscientist, has researched how the brain learns. He has summarised his findings with the ‘Four pillars of learning’. The first pillar is attention. Without attention we can’t learn. We need to focus on what is being learned in order to absorb it. BUT – before attention – comes motivation. We need […]
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Beginner readers need a great deal of practice. Where possible, sending home decodable books is an important opportunity for reading practice. It is difficult for the teacher or teaching assistant to hear every child read every day or even every week. So, an adult reading at home with the child has a very significant role […]
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Do you have children who spell the word ‘jumped’ – like this: ‘jumpt’ and ‘wanted’ like this: ‘wantid’? This is because they are listening to the sound/s at the end of the word. This is because we tell them to listen to the sounds when they spell. But sometimes it is very helpful to bring […]
Read MoreSpecial Needs Information Press has just published a review of the Moon Dogs series in the June newsletter. Here is a summary for busy teachers: “The Moon Dog series consists of two sets of eight books, all with modern storylines involving a group of teenage friends. There are excellent illustrations to bring the stories to […]
Read MoreThe new national curriculum now requires teachers to use decodable texts with children learning to read. Children are now offered ‘controlled’ texts which include words they can decode independently, using the phonic knowledge they have been taught. These decodable texts enable the pupil to focus on a specific spelling or group of spellings at each level. He/she […]
Read MoreI had one of those lovely experiences on Thursday, while teaching at the Bloomfield Learning Centre. One of my pupils aged 11 (Year 6) had arrived at the centre as a non-reader. He attended a school where reading had not been taught through phonics or in a systematic way. Unusually for an 11 year old […]
Read MoreHere are frequenty asked questions aswered about the brand new Alba Series: Who is it for? The Alba series is aimed at older catch-up pupils who have gaps in their phonic knowledge. It is suitable for pupils in KS2 and KS3. With a strong female protagonist, it will be suitable for both boys and girls. Girls will […]
Read MoreAlba series is a phonic reading series for older, catch-up pupils. Fantastic age-appropriate stories and illustrations will engage both boys and girls. What makes this series unique is the strong female protagonist. Alba is smart and capable. She has a huge task. Having been shrunk to the size of a coffee cup, she has a […]
Read MoreWe are delighted to announce that the Magic Belt Series has been shortlisted for the Independent Publishers Guild (IPG) 2013 awards in two categories: Educational Publisher of the Year award and the Diversity award. This series has also been shortlisted for the British Educational Suppliers Association (BESA) awards for Special Educational Needs 2013. Yeh!
Read MoreSpecial Education Information Press has just reviewed the Magic Belt series in its November issue. It concludes: “This is another well-produced series of books which will help stimulate struggling readers to want to read.”
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