Jj is for Jottings 129.  Adjectives Add Interest. In previous posts we have discussed nouns  and articles.  The next part of speech we will cover is adjectives. Adjectives add interest to language because they describe nouns and pronouns, making our speech or writing more colourful and informative.  They are the difference between “The man walked […]

Jj is for Jottings 61.  Raising a Reader Part 1: The Baby. There are various things parents can do to maximise their child’s chances of becoming a reader (i.e. someone who is proficient at reading, reads for pleasure and has no difficulty in using reading for information-seeking and the school curriculum.)  We can divide this […]

Jj is for Jottings 110.  Personality Type in Addition to Intelligence. Intelligence isn’t the only factor when considering how people operate.  We need to consider personality type in addition to intelligence. In the previous post, we discussed the 8 types of intelligence, which is a broader view of intelligence than is tested by conventional IQ […]

Jj is for Jottings 137.  Auditory Processing Disorders. Following on from auditory skills and developing auditory processing skills, we now turn our attention to auditory processing disorders.  There are so many conflicting ideas in the literature as to exactly what constitutes auditory skills. One could really become bogged down by this and therefore any resulting […]

Jj is for Jottings 124.  Neuroplasticity, Power and Children. This article follows on from the previous article on neuroplasticity and power.  However, I just want to mention a couple more points before moving on to the subject of neuroplasticity, power and children.  These points include people’s differing needs for power, and avoiding the negative effects […]

Jj is for Jottings 149.  Poor Neglected Adverbs. Unlike the dreaded apostrophe, which many people underuse and many people overuse, the poor neglected adverbs are in danger of disappearing altogether.  (Although I still have no idea whether the same people underuse as overuse apostrophes, if they’re different people, or a bit of both.  I suspect […]

Jj is for Jottings 82.  Analysing Consonant Sounds: 5 Activities. In the previous post on analysing sounds, I said I’d give some activities for analysing sounds – in this case consonant sounds at the beginnings and ends of words.  You can use the activities for sounds at the beginning of words, and then repeat for […]

Jj is for Jottings 135.  Morphemes. There was a brief definition of morphemes in the article on learning vocabulary.  Direct vocabulary instruction referred to using morphological knowledge to work out meanings of more complex words.  So it’s probably time to go more thoroughly into morphemes and how important they really are.  Knowledge of morphemes is […]

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 124.  Neuroplasticity, Power and Children. This article follows on from the previous article on neuroplasticity and power.  However, I just want to mention a couple more points before moving on to the subject of neuroplasticity, power and children.  These points include people’s differing needs for power, and avoiding the negative effects […]

Jj is for Jottings 152.  The Effects of Watching Violence. Did you know that the effects of watching violence are different from the effects of simply reading about violence?  Researchers consistently find that, the more often you watch disturbing scenes, the more anxious you become.  This can result in forming long-term traumatic memories.  Your brain […]

Jj is for Jottings 91.  Parents’ Screen Time. This follows on from the effects of screen time on children.  Before we go into the topic of how to limit our children’s screen time, we need to look to parents’ screen time. No parents’ screen time here. This “parent” has his full attention on the “child”, […]

Jj is for Jottings 137.  Auditory Processing Disorders. Following on from auditory skills and developing auditory processing skills, we now turn our attention to auditory processing disorders.  There are so many conflicting ideas in the literature as to exactly what constitutes auditory skills. One could really become bogged down by this and therefore any resulting […]

Jj is for Jottings 148.  Other Effects of Noise. Most of us know about the effects of noise on our hearing, discussed in the previous post.  Spending much time in noisy environments can cause long-term damage to your hearing.  Examples are working in a noisy factory or living near an airport.  Exposure to loud music […]