As parents, we all have a secret toolkit that we carry around with us: distractions, ways of speaking, words we say, maybe even a mini Soreen or a box of raisins… We draw on our invisible tools all day and every day to survive each varied moment, from get up time to bedtime, as smoothly as we can. For over 30 years, Social Stories have been written to support children with learning difficulties, but with AI being so easy to access now, Social Stories can be created in a few

4 o’clock, 5 o’clock… dinnertime! Do you remember playing What’s the time, Mr Wolf? in the playground? Do you remember the challenge of learning to tell the time? I don’t recall learning to read the clock but I definitely remember the challenge (and sometimes pain!) with my own children. Will had a keen interest in the time when he was in year one (and I happened to be his school teacher at the time!) but he did NOT want to know anything about the analogue clock. He coul

Three occurrences in the last few weeks have made me think about our children’s experiences with money and led to writing this blog in the hope to explain the importance of exposing children to using coins and notes to understand this vital commodity. £1 in my pocket I went over a toll bridge on a diversion on my way to work this week and handed over my trolley pound to pay, rushing off in my hurry to get there, without waiting for the change. Do you have a trolley pound in y

School's out for summer in the UK. Parents have done the last pile of ironing and thrown away the old shirts, t-shirts and socks after each wear as they counted down to the end of term; the lunchbox snacks have run out; shoes have holes in, and the water bottles with the chewed straws have had their last refills. Some families will be glad to see the end of the homework, take a break from filling out the reading records, and pause asking times tables questions, but others mi

Alien words - love them or hate them? Why do they exist? In 2012, the Phonic Screening Check was introduced to primary schools for pupils in year one (age 5-6), with the aim of checking progress in using phonics as the primary method of learning to read. Once the testing window closed, a threshold score was released and if children had met this score, they never needed to see another alien word again! If they didn't meet the score the first time, the test was taken again in t

With the national Multiplication Tables Check taking place in June for children in year 4 (ages 8-9), we might question the requirement to learn the times tables and if they are needed in the modern world in which we live. Years ago, teachers and parents often said, "You won't always have a calculator in your pocket, will you?" They were wrong. We don't only have one in our pocket, but usually in our hands. We also have a spell checker, an encyclopaedia and a photo album in

If there's one small thing a parent or carer can do to help their baby's literacy in future years, it is to provide access to lots of stories from a very young age. There are huge benefits in sharing books, with the adult reading and the child snuggling up to listen, but there's another gem that brings so many benefits; regular access to audiobooks. Do you remember those cassette tapes that came with a story book and when there was a tinkle sound, you needed to turn the page

When I was at primary school, we spent a long time practising handwriting. When I was a new teacher, if children were writing sentences by the end of reception, they were considered to be gifted and talented! Fast forward to today and the writing expectations placed on our little people are much harder to achieve, especially after large proportions of their lives have been spent in lockdown. Expectations in the reception year The Early Learning Goals, which indicate the exp

If you have a child in primary school, you may have heard them talking about the common exception words, tricky words or exception words, and they may have brought home a list of words to learn throughout the year. It's common for these lists to be handed out at parents' evenings or at the start of the year. What are common exception words and why are they important? In 2013, a new national curriculum was published and by 2016, the English part of it was statutory in primar

School spelling tests: love them or hate them? Do you remember spelling tests at school? I'm not really sure I do but for some families, they're a big deal for a number of reasons. I often hear that parents like a spelling test, spending a long time, at home and in the car, making their children learn a list of words, then comparing scores each week with others. The big question is, after the test, do these children spell well in their day to day writing? Possibly not. It

If you have a child in Year 2 at primary school, you may have lots of questions about Key Stage 1 SATs (Standard Attainment Tests) and...

It's that time of year again when the Christmas ads appear, lights begin to twinkle, and people we meet ask our children what they would like Father Christmas to bring. Writing a letter to Santa can be a joy, but for parents it can also be a tricky task to complete, as our little people navigate their way through learning the alphabetic code, whilst being able to compose their own sentences and include all the things they would like. In our house, we start with a Smyths Toy

As parents and carers, a key responsibility we have is to pave the way for reading, even if we are not keen readers ourselves. Recently, I was asked to suggest books for two families: some for a developing reader, and some to help to increase vocabulary. Vocabulary is a buzz word at the moment, and introducing children to new words is crucial so that they know what they are when they meet them in their own reading and writing. One of the best ways to do this is through sha

There's so much more to communicating than just the words we use. Our eyes, facial expressions, gestures, volume and tone all work...

These are tricky times we live in and things have changed quite considerably for our children at their schools. I've heard so many times recently that children are being asked to sit in their seats for longer at school and this doesn't work for many, especially those (like me) who like to fidget and move regularly. In my day job, I'm a school SENCo (Special Needs Coordinator) and I love thinking up different ways to make slight adaptations that can make a lot of difference

Whether you normally look forward to the long summer holidays or you dread them, this year is different in so many ways. We'll be...

Many schools send home reading books from the start of reception and some start a little before. Some schools start later and some don't...

It's very likely that, for at least the last half term, your child's teacher has been sending you 'home learning tasks' ranging from a...

It's May 2020 and we've been at home for nine weeks or so. We have a dog and a daily walk is a must for us but, with or without a dog,...

"Tommy Thumb, Tommy Thumb, where are you? Here I am, here I am, how do you do?" Peter Pointer, Toby Tall, Ruby Ring and Baby Small, too!...