Education

Jj is for Jottings 153.  Speech Sound Problems: /k,g/ We have previously learned about /s/ as a speech sound problem.  Let us now focus on speech sound problems: /k,g/.  As always, if your child makes speech errors, you need to know whether the error is actually appropriate for age.  (In which case, is it actually […]

educatingalpacas.com supports the book “Aa is for Alpacas”.  See Why This Book? Welcome to my blog – Educating Alpacas.  Does this mean that we are educating the alpacas – teaching them to count and so on – or are the alpacas helping to educate people?  Although we do a little bit of educating the alpacas […]

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 […]

Jj is for Jottings 128.  Hard and Soft ‘C’ and ‘G’. The great thing about spelling rules – such as the bossy ‘e’ rule – is that, once you learn a particular rule, you can read (and hopefully spell) many different words.  In other words, rules give you lots of bang for your buck.  When […]

Jj is for Jottings 125.  Nonsense Words. Nonsense words are letter sequences which follow regular phonetic rules and are pronounceable, but which have no meaning.  Examples are ‘bof’, ‘zim’, ‘chog’.  They can also be called nonwords or pseudowords.  There are stages in children’s development where nonsense words may play a part.  These are: babbling, early […]

Jj is for Jottings 83.  Auditory Discrimination of Vowel Sounds. Droofus, the bearded dragon, is not practising auditory discrimination of vowel sounds – she’s looking at April shaking off all the dust in “Aa is for Alpacas”. Auditory discrimination of vowel sounds, especially some short vowels, can be quite difficult for some children.  Very common […]

Jj is for Jottings 118.  Hearing versus Listening. Consider hearing versus listening: hearing and listening both involve the ears, but hearing is just the first step in the listening process.  Let’s compare the two. HEARING. Hearing is one of the senses, i.e. the ability to perceive sounds by receiving vibrations through ears.  It is an […]

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 […]

Jj is for Jottings 131. Learning Vocabulary. Learning vocabulary – the words a person knows and uses – is a lifelong process. Talking to and reading with your child right from the start is a good recipe for a child to develop a rich vocabulary.  I have talked about vocabulary in previous articles, mainly in […]

Jj is for Jottings 94.  Phonological Awareness, Phonemic Awareness and Phonics. Learning phonics with this book helps with phonemic awareness and phonological awareness skills, too. You may have heard the terms “phonological awareness”, “phonemic awareness” and “phonics” and wondered what they mean and whether they are different terms for the same thing.  Let’s sort this […]

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 […]

Jj is for Jottings 115.  Digital Distraction. WHAT IS DIGITAL DISTRACTION? Digital distraction is that constant checking of phones and multi-tasking which we see going on around us all the time (or even engage in ourselves).  There is a theory that our ancient food-foraging survival instinct has evolved into info-foraging.  It is sort of a […]

Jj is for Jottings 161.  What is Phubbing? Question: “What is Phubbing?”  Answer: “Telephone snubbing.”  The word comes from ‘phone’ and ‘snubbing’.  It is the act of ignoring people in favour of a telephone.  Look around you in almost any public place and you will see numerous acts of phubbing occurring.  It always fascinates me […]

Jj is for Jottings 92.  Managing Children’s Screen Time. The easiest way to manage children’s screen time is to avoid screens altogether as much as possible, by providing alternative activities. Rory, the foal, is looking over Amy’s shoulder, trying to read “Aa is for Alpacas” with Amy, Zack and Zara. This article on managing children’s […]