The third UK lockdown has brought families and educators new challenges and new ways to do so many things. In fact, during a recent family video call I discovered a new activity to enjoy with my four-year-old granddaughter Daisy – one that is only possible when we’re not in the same room! Last year Daisy… Continue reading Using magnetic letters for remote phonics fun
Category: Literacy
Literacy development involves encouraging children to link sounds and letters and to begin to read and write. Children must be given access to a wide range of reading materials (books, poems, and other written materials) to ignite their interest.
How silly sounds prepare your child for phonics
A guest post by Grandpa Smith. As we look to support our preschool children in the very early stages of reading and writing, it can be easy to forget that the most enjoyable and natural preparation they can undertake will involve exploring sounds. I was driving back from the beach with Daisy recently when I… Continue reading How silly sounds prepare your child for phonics
As libraries reopen, the Summer Reading Challenge begins
Local libraries across the UK have begun to reopen as lockdown restrictions, triggered by the pandemic, gradually relax. With this in mind, I began to gather up our library books (those I’d borrowed for Daisy, and my own), ready to return them when I had an opportunity. As I collected the books together, I reflected… Continue reading As libraries reopen, the Summer Reading Challenge begins
World Book Day; Sharing a story “The Tiger Who Came To Tea”
Today Daisy is sharing one of her favourite stories, dressed up as Sophie from Judith Kerr's classic The Tiger Who Came To Tea. The Tiger Who Came To Tea was first published in 1968. Judith Kerr said that she made this story up as a bedtime story and she told it again and again to… Continue reading World Book Day; Sharing a story “The Tiger Who Came To Tea”
Returning to the library
A visit to my local library is just as familiar to Daisy as a visit to the library near her home. Our visits to my library now begin with Daisy returning the books she's had on loan from her previous visit to the library. The process of putting the books under the scanner and then… Continue reading Returning to the library
World Book Day 2020; theme to ‘share a million stories’; Thursday 5th March
Did you know that this year it's World Book Day 2020 on March 5th? The theme for World Book Day 2020 is to share a million stories and encourages us to share stories from breakfast to bedtime. The official World Book Day 2020 website has resources for this year's 'sharing stories' theme and ideas for… Continue reading World Book Day 2020; theme to ‘share a million stories’; Thursday 5th March
Matching, Sorting and Language Skills, playing with a set of Usborne snap cards
It was back in January last year that I wrote my blog Using Usborne Snap cards for matching, sorting and language skills and described Daisy's enjoyment using these Usborne cards. We packed the cards away, ready for this Christmas, hoping to play more games and Christmas Snap with Daisy. This Christmas time we put these… Continue reading Matching, Sorting and Language Skills, playing with a set of Usborne snap cards
Grandparents and YouTube; a great combination to help preschoolers learn new words
Research shows that pre-school children have a vocabulary of around 1,000 words by the time they are three and they will continue to learn another 500 - 600 words by the time they are four years old. Recently I had been sitting on the floor with Daisy while she played with her mixed collection of… Continue reading Grandparents and YouTube; a great combination to help preschoolers learn new words
Left, Right, Ready to Write?
For several days recently, a delighted Daisy would keep telling me that it wasn't my birthday yet! When the day finally arrived, almost bursting with excitement, Daisy handed me an envelope. This was of course a special birthday moment for me as Daisy had 'written' on the envelope and 'signed' a birthday card for me.… Continue reading Left, Right, Ready to Write?
Using Story Sacks to bring Story Books to Life
Back in May, I wrote a blog about 50 years of The Very Hungry Caterpillar and described a visit to the local library with Daisy where we selected some books and a Story Sack to borrow from the library. While Daisy is now familiar with borrowing library books, The Very Hungry Caterpillar was her first… Continue reading Using Story Sacks to bring Story Books to Life
Granny Smith's Diary 