Jj is for Jottings 162. The Connection Between Literacy and Music. There is a strong connection between literacy and music. Here, music includes learning a musical instrument and/or singing. It actually goes further: children who learn and practise music also have improved performance in executive function, arts and mathematics. (The core areas of executive function […]
Motor Skills and Screen Time in Preschoolers
Gross motor skills
Jj is for Jottings 166. Motor Skills and Screen Time in Preschoolers, Part 2. As promised in the previous article on motor skills and screen time, in this article we will cover suggestions for both gross and fine motor activities, providing both fun and skill development for your preschoolers. And these suggestions are easy to […]
Speech Sound Problems
Jj is for Jottings 139. Speech Sound Problems:/s/. Probably one of the first sounds that springs to mind when one thinks of speech sound problems would be /s/ and, more specifically, a lisp. (Remember that the slashes / / mean that we pronounce the sound; ‘s‘ or s means to say the letter name. I […]
How Smartphones Affect the Brain
Jj is for Jottings 154. How Smartphones Affect the Brain. In this article we will cover some of the latest research on how smartphones affect the brain. We have previously discussed the effects of screen time on children. Amongst other aspects, this included language delay in children exposed to screens at an early age. We […]
Rhythm
A perfect day in the front paddock. Note the crimson rosellas in the tree. Jj is for Jottings 2. More Repetition. In “the olden days” much time in school was spent rote-learning all sorts of facts and figures – a room full of children standing up chanting the facts over and over. “That’s no way […]
Critical thinking
Jj is for Jottings 159. Creativity in Children, Part 1. Walk into any preschool/kindergarten and you see that they provide many opportunities for creativity in children. Why is that? Because arts and crafts are one of the most important ways to help children develop and grow between ages 3-8. Here is a chart of communication […]
Memory
Jj is for Jottings 154. How Smartphones Affect the Brain. In this article we will cover some of the latest research on how smartphones affect the brain. We have previously discussed the effects of screen time on children. Amongst other aspects, this included language delay in children exposed to screens at an early age. We […]
Children
Jj is for Jottings 166. Motor Skills and Screen Time in Preschoolers, Part 2. As promised in the previous article on motor skills and screen time, in this article we will cover suggestions for both gross and fine motor activities, providing both fun and skill development for your preschoolers. And these suggestions are easy to […]
Effect of Vowel Shapes on Consonant Sounds
Jj is for Jottings 102. Effect of Vowel Shapes on Consonant Sounds. Following on from the previous article on Vowel Shapes, we will talk about the effect of vowel shapes on consonant sounds. This is especially important in sound production for speech therapy and also useful when learning sound-letter links. If you haven’t already done […]
Letters
Jj is for Jottings 114. Digraphs vs. Diphthongs. Digraphs vs. diphthongs – what exactly are they and how do they differ? They both begin with the same two letters, but then they diverge (get the pun?) THE ROOTS OF DIGRAPHS AND DIPHTHONGS. It is always helpful to understand the roots of words, because then we […]
Nerve connections
Jj is for Jottings 138. Brain Gym. WHAT IS BRAIN GYM? Brain gym is a series of movements which claim to enhance whole-brain learning. An alternative term is “educational kinesiology”. The word “education” comes from the Latin educare, which means “to draw out”. “Kinesiology” is from the Greek root kinesis, which means “motion” and is […]
More Benefits of Handwriting
Jj is for Jottings 164. More Benefits of Handwriting. The title refers to more benefits of handwriting because some time ago I wrote an article on how handwriting boosts brain power. This time, we are looking at different aspects of the positive effects of handwriting on our lives. And some of these may never have […]
Syllables
Jj is for Jottings 98. Reading Difficult Words. Reading difficult words is not an issue with this book! When your child starts to read aloud to you, they will often have problems with reading difficult words. These words may be just long, or tricky in other ways, such as having several consonants together. (See consonant […]
Junk food
Jj is for Jottings 38. More Comments from Experienced Teachers. This is a follow-on from Jottings 35. I said that it would be continued next time – and that was on 6th December! Somehow Christmas and other issues intervened, but here is the second half now. Both primary and secondary teachers comment on the fact […]