Jj is for Jottings 151.  Daily Reading Time. Daily reading time for children is much more important than just reading books leading to a longer life.  It makes sense that children who read more have better vocabulary, reading skills, fluency, reading comprehension and overall literacy. It can also strengthen family relationships and helps children to […]

Jj is for Jottings 151.  Daily Reading Time. Daily reading time for children is much more important than just reading books leading to a longer life.  It makes sense that children who read more have better vocabulary, reading skills, fluency, reading comprehension and overall literacy. It can also strengthen family relationships and helps children to […]

6 days after we said goodbye to April, Shikha had to have surgery on his paw to remove a foreign body (which didn’t turn out to be there after all!) He kept walking around shaking his leg, trying to get rid of the yellow bandage with smiley faces on it. It lasted all of 24 […]

Sam’s had enough and Marshmallow is starting to make her move. Jj is for Jottings 13. Frequent Errors Made by Early to Mid Primary Children (and, when I come to think about it, secondary students as well because one flows on to the other – of course). In list form: 1. Using capital letters mixed […]

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 […]

Jj is for Jottings 84.  Vowel Discrimination Activities. Vowel Discrimination Activity 3. Identifying /i/ and /e/. As promised in the previous article, here are some vowel discrimination activities to help your child to hear the difference between vowel sounds, in particular the tricky pairs of a/u and i/e.  At the same time these activities reinforce […]

You can see a distinct kink in her neck here. Jj is for Jottings 44.  Happy Birthday, April. Some time this month, April turned 20 years old.  That is quite an achievement, since we were told that the average lifespan of an alpaca is 15 years.  She is a lovely, gentle soul and was always […]

From the colour I thought it was Geisha on the shearing table (she’s medium fawn), but when I saw her face on the next frame it turned out to be Nina – white! I should add that the alpacas are not suffering whilst on the shearing table – not keen, but not suffering, and the […]

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 […]

Sam’s had enough and Marshmallow is starting to make her move. Jj is for Jottings 13. Frequent Errors Made by Early to Mid Primary Children (and, when I come to think about it, secondary students as well because one flows on to the other – of course). In list form: 1. Using capital letters mixed […]

Jj is for Jottings 52.  Reading to Children – Some Statistics. Even the alpacas are worried about current trends. Here are some disquieting (but not unexpected) statistics and comments quoted by the guest, who is very experienced in education, at the launch of “Aa is for Alpacas”: Research by Angela Emher in 2013 of 1263 […]

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 141.  Tongue Tie Side Effects. Following on from the previous article on tongue tie, we now turn to discussion of side effects of tongue.  Even professionals dealing with tongue tie often overlook or are unaware of many of these side effects. Continue reading

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 […]