Sometimes it is not easy to get children to read. Any child who has trouble learning to read will probably find reading challenging, very hard, scary, frustrating, annoying, embarrassing  or boring or all of these. ‘Come and read to me’ or ‘have you  got reading for homework?’… is something many children dread hearing. There are ways around it. Here are some simple tips to help…

1.Get lots of different reading material.  Books, magazines, comics, word cards, sentence cards, annuals, picture books, non-fiction and manuals.

2.Choose an easy book or whatever to read. One they can attempt easily. This builds confidence. Tell them any unnown words to keep fluency or they lose the meaning of the sentence.

3.Choose books that interest them. I taught a boy to read once with motor bike manuals…he read them because he was interested in them…you see it’s obvious when you know.

4.Read anything you see… What does that packet say? What does the poster mean? Who has lost their dog? What time is the train? This way you are not sitting down and making a child read you are engaging them in conversation and showing that reading is just an everyday thing that we all do all the time.

5.Read anywhere in the house. In the bath can make you laugh if the book gets wet. On the squashy sofa, in the dog’s bed, in the garden or the shed. Anywhere out of the ordinary can make all the difference and makes it a bit special…especially somewhere secret or not usually allowed! Reading in the cupboard with the torch is far more interesting than the kitchen table.

6. Read to the child and don’t get them to read. Sit together and point to the words as you go along. Then casually at the end say…here’s a game…find me the word that rhymes with…find me the word that starts with the sound… Ask questions about what they have heard and what they think might happen next. I usually do this if they are tired. If they are, then it all becomes a big battle and taking the pressure off them really works and shows you care and that it really does not matter that they find reading hard.

7. Play a reading game. Snakes and ladders with a few words on some of the squares is a great game. Hunt the words in the garden or the house…these games all involve reading but they are fun and fun helps you learn.

8.Never let them think you are worried. This just worries them more and can make them think they are failing and it all becomes a HUGE drama. They will learn to read eventually and quicker if you are relaxed about it. Never compare them to their friends EVER.  They are special for who they are and we all learn at different rates. Dyslexic children may need a specialist teacher like me or different approaches to help them but they get there in the end. 

Hope these ideas help. Get in touch if I can be of more help…

Sometimes it is not easy to get children to read. Any child who has trouble learning to read will probably find reading challenging, very hard, scary, frustrating, annoying, embarrassing  or boring or all of these. ‘Come and read to me’ or ‘have you  got reading for homework?’… is something many children dread hearing. There are ways around it. Here are some simple tips to help…

1.Get lots of different reading material.  Books, magazines, comics, word cards, sentence cards, annuals, picture books, non-fiction and manuals.

2.Choose an easy book or whatever to read. One they can attempt easily. This builds confidence. Tell them any unnown words to keep fluency or they lose the meaning of the sentence.

3.Choose books that interest them. I taught a boy to read once with motor bike manuals…he read them because he was interested in them…you see it’s obvious when you know.

4.Read anything you see… What does that packet say? What does the poster mean? Who has lost their dog? What time is the train? This way you are not sitting down and making a child read you are engaging them in conversation and showing that reading is just an everyday thing that we all do all the time.

5.Read anywhere in the house. In the bath can make you laugh if the book gets wet. On the squashy sofa, in the dog’s bed, in the garden or the shed. Anywhere out of the ordinary can make all the difference and makes it a bit special…especially somewhere secret or not usually allowed! Reading in the cupboard with the torch is far more interesting than the kitchen table.

6. Read to the child and don’t get them to read. Sit together and point to the words as you go along. Then casually at the end say…here’s a game…find me the word that rhymes with…find me the word that starts with the sound… Ask questions about what they have heard and what they think might happen next. I usually do this if they are tired. If they are, then it all becomes a big battle and taking the pressure off them really works and shows you care and that it really does not matter that they find reading hard.

7. Play a reading game. Snakes and ladders with a few words on some of the squares is a great game. Hunt the words in the garden or the house…these games all involve reading but they are fun and fun helps you learn.

8.Never let them think you are worried. This just worries them more and can make them think they are failing and it all becomes a HUGE drama. They will learn to read eventually and quicker if you are relaxed about it. Never compare them to their friends EVER.  They are special for who they are and we all learn at different rates. Dyslexic children may need a specialist teacher like me or different approaches to help them but they get there in the end. 

Hope these ideas help. Get in touch if I can be of more help…

This is exciting. Teaching children to read has gone a step further. I was reading with some children the other day and it struck me that some may benefit from using a Kindle or iPad to read books. Children are very keen on new ideas and obviously very computer minded so this may be the way forward for some children. The fact that they are larger print, clear and you can even turn the pages makes reading more fun and interesting. This may be the way forward for reluctant or struggling readers and dyslexic children too. Now Aunty Marmalade and Mrs Poddle and Eric are available through Amazon. I do hope some children will try this way of reading. Let me know if it is successful.

This is exciting. Teaching children to read has gone a step further. I was reading with some children the other day and it struck me that some may benefit from using a Kindle or iPad to read books. Children are very keen on new ideas and obviously very computer minded so this may be the way forward for some children. The fact that they are larger print, clear and you can even turn the pages makes reading more fun and interesting. This may be the way forward for reluctant or struggling readers and dyslexic children too. Now Aunty Marmalade and Mrs Poddle and Eric are available through Amazon. I do hope some children will try this way of reading. Let me know if it is successful.

Games can be very expensive and children get bored with them very quickly. Here are ten ideas for games that I have used and I have been able to modify some easily to make them seem like it’s a new game.
1. Sticky note words…they’re around the house. The children go all over the house finding the words and reading them. They make a pile and then it’s a race to see how many they can spell.
2. Swimming the times tables. Right…the breast stroke is the 2 times tables, 3s is the crawl, 4s the backstroke…it’s great fun particulary if you’re wearing a snorkel then everyone can hear you’re doing it right!
3. A garden safari…go into the garden and make a list of all the birds, animals and plants you can find. Look them up in books and draw them. Write a sentence caption.
4. Get the potato bag and choose one. Look at it carefully then put it back in the bag. Can you find it? Good for memory skills.
5. A bag of words cut out from magazines and newspapers. These can be used lots of ways…
a lucky dip for reading and spelling and choose 3 to write a story.
6. Get your snakes and ladders game out. Put some of the words on some of the squares. When you land on those squares read and spell the words.
7. Look at a picture. What’s happening? Who is in it? What are their names? Why are they there? What happens next? Write the story.
8.I went to the zoo and I saw…or the market…or the party. Great for memory. Use associations to help memory…I saw a zebra…think of stripes. An elephant….trunks…
9. One person describes a picture and the other person draws the description. This is great for listening and concentrating. Also great for using descriptive words and focusing on what is really there…
10. Button boxes are wonderful for sorting, counting, tables, making faces, animals, stacking…the ideas are endless.

Hope these 10 ideas help you. Anything written can be put in a diary…it’s lovely to look back on.

There are lots more….I’ll do those another time…

Games can be very expensive and children get bored with them very quickly. Here are ten ideas for games that I have used and I have been able to modify some easily to make them seem like it’s a new game.
1. Sticky note words…they’re around the house. The children go all over the house finding the words and reading them. They make a pile and then it’s a race to see how many they can spell.
2. Swimming the times tables. Right…the breast stroke is the 2 times tables, 3s is the crawl, 4s the backstroke…it’s great fun particulary if you’re wearing a snorkel then everyone can hear you’re doing it right!
3. A garden safari…go into the garden and make a list of all the birds, animals and plants you can find. Look them up in books and draw them. Write a sentence caption.
4. Get the potato bag and choose one. Look at it carefully then put it back in the bag. Can you find it? Good for memory skills.
5. A bag of words cut out from magazines and newspapers. These can be used lots of ways…
a lucky dip for reading and spelling and choose 3 to write a story.
6. Get your snakes and ladders game out. Put some of the words on some of the squares. When you land on those squares read and spell the words.
7. Look at a picture. What’s happening? Who is in it? What are their names? Why are they there? What happens next? Write the story.
8.I went to the zoo and I saw…or the market…or the party. Great for memory. Use associations to help memory…I saw a zebra…think of stripes. An elephant….trunks…
9. One person describes a picture and the other person draws the description. This is great for listening and concentrating. Also great for using descriptive words and focusing on what is really there…
10. Button boxes are wonderful for sorting, counting, tables, making faces, animals, stacking…the ideas are endless.

Hope these 10 ideas help you. Anything written can be put in a diary…it’s lovely to look back on.

There are lots more….I’ll do those another time…

There are simple things we can do to help a dyslexic child. They do involve some work by the teacher and the parents but they are worth the effort.
The first thing is getting teachers to understand that the child needs extra understanding and help to access the curriculum. They need to know where their difficulties lie and be sensitive to them.
1.If a child has dyslexia then they should sit in the front of the class.
2.They should be given the lesson notes with key words and phrases before the lesson so they can read them so they are aware of the content of the lesson.
3.If there are questions to answer or copying from the board then these should be printed off for them and be on the table next to them.
3.They should have a 100 square, ABC, times table square and a number line all on their desk so they can refer to them all the time. This reinforces the information they need to know immediately and can help them to remember for example their times tables…especially good for visual learners. Many have short-term memory problems and struggle with writing so this cuts down the looking up and down for them.
4.The work should be differentiated for them so they can access it. If there are 10 questions they may only have to answer 5 in the given time. It should be worded in such a way that they can read it independently.
5. All their errors should not be corrected and expectations of their achievements should be relevant for them not the whole class.
6. They should be praised often for their achievements remembering that what they have produced is probably their best. They may not be able, at this stage, to produce work of the standard and volume of their peers.

These ideas work and help dyslexic children cope with every day in the classroom. They are not difficult to implement and make all the difference.

There are simple things we can do to help a dyslexic child. They do involve some work by the teacher and the parents but they are worth the effort.
The first thing is getting teachers to understand that the child needs extra understanding and help to access the curriculum. They need to know where their difficulties lie and be sensitive to them.
1.If a child has dyslexia then they should sit in the front of the class.
2.They should be given the lesson notes with key words and phrases before the lesson so they can read them so they are aware of the content of the lesson.
3.If there are questions to answer or copying from the board then these should be printed off for them and be on the table next to them.
3.They should have a 100 square, ABC, times table square and a number line all on their desk so they can refer to them all the time. This reinforces the information they need to know immediately and can help them to remember for example their times tables…especially good for visual learners. Many have short-term memory problems and struggle with writing so this cuts down the looking up and down for them.
4.The work should be differentiated for them so they can access it. If there are 10 questions they may only have to answer 5 in the given time. It should be worded in such a way that they can read it independently.
5. All their errors should not be corrected and expectations of their achievements should be relevant for them not the whole class.
6. They should be praised often for their achievements remembering that what they have produced is probably their best. They may not be able, at this stage, to produce work of the standard and volume of their peers.

These ideas work and help dyslexic children cope with every day in the classroom. They are not difficult to implement and make all the difference.

I teach children who have dyslexia. I am often surprised when I see parents panic almost as if their child has a terrible incurable disease. They don’t want people to know their child has it. I often wonder why. They also try to deny it by pushing their children to read unattainable books that are far too difficult for them. Why? Dyslexia is a nuisance but it can be ‘made better’ as I put it. Usually it a class teacher that spots a problem in a child’s learning but you, as a parent, might see problems too. You may encounter a reluctance to read or maybe a confusion of which way round letters go. The quicker a possible problem is detected the better it is. I have taught children when they are five and they can quickly, with the correct Individual Education Plan (IEP) in place start to overcome their difficulties. I can test children which gives me indicators as to where their difficulties lie. Then the IEP will target these findings. If the difficulties appear to be more severe then I would forward a child to an educational psychologist to have a full assessment done which is more specific. These reports give invaluable information of the areas of difficulties and give the teacher specific detail of what help is needed. In some cases, extra time, readers and scribes are also awarded so that these children get as much help as possible.
I have seen amazing development in children overcoming their barriers to learning. Children start to read which is neccessary to all learning. Many dyslexic children are wonderful expressing themselves but they find it so hard to write what they want to say down. These barriers can also be overcome. It takes some children more time of course, others less, but it does not matter how long it takes as long as the child is progressing. Some of the most creative and special children and young people I have taught have had or have dyslexia. It need not be a problem. There is plenty of help out there.

I teach children who have dyslexia. I am often surprised when I see parents panic almost as if their child has a terrible incurable disease. They don’t want people to know their child has it. I often wonder why. They also try to deny it by pushing their children to read unattainable books that are far too difficult for them. Why? Dyslexia is a nuisance but it can be ‘made better’ as I put it. Usually it a class teacher that spots a problem in a child’s learning but you, as a parent, might see problems too. You may encounter a reluctance to read or maybe a confusion of which way round letters go. The quicker a possible problem is detected the better it is. I have taught children when they are five and they can quickly, with the correct Individual Education Plan (IEP) in place start to overcome their difficulties. I can test children which gives me indicators as to where their difficulties lie. Then the IEP will target these findings. If the difficulties appear to be more severe then I would forward a child to an educational psychologist to have a full assessment done which is more specific. These reports give invaluable information of the areas of difficulties and give the teacher specific detail of what help is needed. In some cases, extra time, readers and scribes are also awarded so that these children get as much help as possible.
I have seen amazing development in children overcoming their barriers to learning. Children start to read which is neccessary to all learning. Many dyslexic children are wonderful expressing themselves but they find it so hard to write what they want to say down. These barriers can also be overcome. It takes some children more time of course, others less, but it does not matter how long it takes as long as the child is progressing. Some of the most creative and special children and young people I have taught have had or have dyslexia. It need not be a problem. There is plenty of help out there.

Just recently I have been reading about pushy parents. This worries me. Why are they pushy? Is it for themselves? Do they want their child to succeed and be better than everyone else? Is it because the school is not providing the right learning environment for their child so they feel they have to teach them at home or get them tutored? These are all questions that matter.
Firstly the child comes first. Are they ready to read? If not then don’t even try. It is better to wait for reading readiness and it always comes. If you push it too quickly, they often rebel and then the process can take longer. When they see you reading and have access to books, the world of reading becomes exciting or challenging…but not if you still want to play Batman or greengrocers shops with your new game. Once all the playing is out of the way then we can start. A child who wants to learn is a child that will learn.
When children start to read does it matter if they are on a lower level book than the rest of the class? No…it is not our role to make our child the same as everyone else. Children learn at different rates and if yours sets off quickly the rest will catch up soon enough and if they don’t then there is help there for them. Most children end up reading anyway…does it matter how quickly or slowly? No. Why are you so bothered what level others are at? If you are then why? Your competetiveness will be noted by your child and it puts them under enormous pressure. And they feel it at five or six believe me.
I think it is best to put your child first. Think about their needs. Spending time just talking and listening to their ideas, problems, worries and opinions makes them feel like that you are interested in them. That they are part of the team. Lets face it they are because they are part of you…the only difference is they have not had so many birthdays as you.
The best advice I can give is to back off and let them learn at their own rate. Help them if they want it and ask for it. Take time. Put down the duster or the potato peeler…turn off the radio and listen to them. Believe me the times when they are little and need you are so short make the most of the, but listen to them. They may make you realise the reason why they do or don’t do things then you can work out solutions together. This works so I hope you try it.

Just recently I have been reading about pushy parents. This worries me. Why are they pushy? Is it for themselves? Do they want their child to succeed and be better than everyone else? Is it because the school is not providing the right learning environment for their child so they feel they have to teach them at home or get them tutored? These are all questions that matter.
Firstly the child comes first. Are they ready to read? If not then don’t even try. It is better to wait for reading readiness and it always comes. If you push it too quickly, they often rebel and then the process can take longer. When they see you reading and have access to books, the world of reading becomes exciting or challenging…but not if you still want to play Batman or greengrocers shops with your new game. Once all the playing is out of the way then we can start. A child who wants to learn is a child that will learn.
When children start to read does it matter if they are on a lower level book than the rest of the class? No…it is not our role to make our child the same as everyone else. Children learn at different rates and if yours sets off quickly the rest will catch up soon enough and if they don’t then there is help there for them. Most children end up reading anyway…does it matter how quickly or slowly? No. Why are you so bothered what level others are at? If you are then why? Your competetiveness will be noted by your child and it puts them under enormous pressure. And they feel it at five or six believe me.
I think it is best to put your child first. Think about their needs. Spending time just talking and listening to their ideas, problems, worries and opinions makes them feel like that you are interested in them. That they are part of the team. Lets face it they are because they are part of you…the only difference is they have not had so many birthdays as you.
The best advice I can give is to back off and let them learn at their own rate. Help them if they want it and ask for it. Take time. Put down the duster or the potato peeler…turn off the radio and listen to them. Believe me the times when they are little and need you are so short make the most of the, but listen to them. They may make you realise the reason why they do or don’t do things then you can work out solutions together. This works so I hope you try it.

This week there have been articles in the press about children not having access to books, children having no books at home and having no help at home to learn to read. I have been so disheartened about this news…but I knew it already. One of the first things as a parent we must do is read to our children. I started when my daughters were first born. I read to them and they saw me read. That way they learned that books were a very important part of every day life. Reading is a fundemental skill and we can do very little without being able to read. In London today 1 in 3 children do not own a book and yet 85% own games consoles. 1 in 6 adults is functionally illiterate. To be illiterate must be one of the most challenging things to be. How can you read a label, find out what’s on TV, find the time of your train? This is something that must be talked about now…well it is 2011 and with all the wonderful aids to learning that are out there how can this still be happening?
Reading with a child is a very special time. Going to a book shop to choose a book is so exciting. Sharing a magazine even just looking at the pictures and reading the captions really helps. Browsing through a picture book and talking about what they see and guessing what might happen next are all ideas to help children learning to read. This time when children need our help to learn to read lasts such a short time because once they start to read independently they no longer need out help. We then can look back and see that we really have made a difference and given our children a skill that will grow and develop and stay with them through their lives. It only takes ten minutes a day. What else would we do with that ten minutes? Put our feet up…well you can read with your child with your feet up they won’t mind!

This week there have been articles in the press about children not having access to books, children having no books at home and having no help at home to learn to read. I have been so disheartened about this news…but I knew it already. One of the first things as a parent we must do is read to our children. I started when my daughters were first born. I read to them and they saw me read. That way they learned that books were a very important part of every day life. Reading is a fundemental skill and we can do very little without being able to read. In London today 1 in 3 children do not own a book and yet 85% own games consoles. 1 in 6 adults is functionally illiterate. To be illiterate must be one of the most challenging things to be. How can you read a label, find out what’s on TV, find the time of your train? This is something that must be talked about now…well it is 2011 and with all the wonderful aids to learning that are out there how can this still be happening?
Reading with a child is a very special time. Going to a book shop to choose a book is so exciting. Sharing a magazine even just looking at the pictures and reading the captions really helps. Browsing through a picture book and talking about what they see and guessing what might happen next are all ideas to help children learning to read. This time when children need our help to learn to read lasts such a short time because once they start to read independently they no longer need out help. We then can look back and see that we really have made a difference and given our children a skill that will grow and develop and stay with them through their lives. It only takes ten minutes a day. What else would we do with that ten minutes? Put our feet up…well you can read with your child with your feet up they won’t mind!

Spellings are important and remembering them is hard. I know what it is like…those long lists of words you have to learn for the test on Monday.

This might help you remember the ‘ing’ words.
Take ‘hop’ and ‘hope’. They are very similar. One has an ‘e’ at the end and it changes the meaning and the sound of the word completely. Because there is an ‘e’ on the end you say the name of the vowel before not the sound it makes.
So when you want to spell ‘hopping’ because it does not have an ‘e’ on the end you just add another ‘p’ and then add ‘ing’.
For the word ‘hope’ you take the ‘e’ off and add ‘ing’ and it becomes ‘hoping’. Easy. So all words that end in an ‘e’ just take the ‘e’ off and to stop the word falling over add the ‘ing’. If there’s no ‘e’ then do a double of the last letter (it’s called the double consonant) and add ‘ing’.

Also there, their and they’re and hard to remember so try this.

There is a ‘the’ with a rosy end.
Their is a ‘the’ with an irritable rat.
They’re is a ‘the’ with a yucky raspberry ending.

If you can think of better ideas for these let me know.

Hope these little tips help you.

Spellings are important and remembering them is hard. I know what it is like…those long lists of words you have to learn for the test on Monday.

This might help you remember the ‘ing’ words.
Take ‘hop’ and ‘hope’. They are very similar. One has an ‘e’ at the end and it changes the meaning and the sound of the word completely. Because there is an ‘e’ on the end you say the name of the vowel before not the sound it makes.
So when you want to spell ‘hopping’ because it does not have an ‘e’ on the end you just add another ‘p’ and then add ‘ing’.
For the word ‘hope’ you take the ‘e’ off and add ‘ing’ and it becomes ‘hoping’. Easy. So all words that end in an ‘e’ just take the ‘e’ off and to stop the word falling over add the ‘ing’. If there’s no ‘e’ then do a double of the last letter (it’s called the double consonant) and add ‘ing’.

Also there, their and they’re and hard to remember so try this.

There is a ‘the’ with a rosy end.
Their is a ‘the’ with an irritable rat.
They’re is a ‘the’ with a yucky raspberry ending.

If you can think of better ideas for these let me know.

Hope these little tips help you.

There is nothing worse than revision. I would rather have blisters on my heels or a headache. Revision hangs around and sticks there and does not go away even if you close your eyes and count to 100. The thing is we all have to do it and the quicker it’s done the better.
These notes are really for those of you from Year 7 but you can do them any time after then but not the night before your exams…it’s too late. Revision starts well before…at least it does for sensible people who want to do well. If you follow these ideas they will help you with your GCSEs. Now I can hear you say, ‘but we don’t do them until Year 11′. I know that. But if you start now, then by the time you get to Year 11 all the hard work will be done.
The idea is to make notes manageable. A whole page of A4 covered in blue or black words is so scary I would rather be spooked by ghosts. So what you do is make them smaller. You end up with a small card with the key words and phrases on the topic and these note cards you learn and they will trigger off your memory.
OK…so you have just done a topic on say Henry V111 for example. You have ended up with pages of notes and handouts and pictures. You have a test on Monday.

1. Read through all your notes. Close your book. Get the dog or a teddy and sit them in front of you. Now tell them all you know about Henry and his life. Bet you know more than you thought you did! You will impress the dog or teddy to be sure!!
2. Get your notes and your text book and do a mind map on all the facts. Use colour and pictures whatever helps you remember.
3.Now using the mind map, write bullet points. Keep them short. Only use trigger words that will help you remember.
For example…a. Henry V111 1509-1547. Married 6 times. 1533 excommunicated by Pope. 1534 Act of Supremacy 1536 Act of Union. 1536-1539 monasteries closed…etc.
b. Jane Seymour. 3rd wife. Mum to Edward V1. Died 1537.
So all you are left with are small cards with key words and phrases on them and pictures. Some people write each point in a different colour. That might help you too. You can store these cards in a box with subject dividers.
Keep all these note cards for all the subjects as you can add to them as you go up the school as you will revisit some topics. If you never use them again no matter because you have practised doing them and the more you do them the quicker you get. Then when you are doing your revision for your exams they are there ready and waiting for you.
I hope this helps. Let me know. If you have any ideas tell me and we can share your ideas too. Good luck.

There is nothing worse than revision. I would rather have blisters on my heels or a headache. Revision hangs around and sticks there and does not go away even if you close your eyes and count to 100. The thing is we all have to do it and the quicker it’s done the better.
These notes are really for those of you from Year 7 but you can do them any time after then but not the night before your exams…it’s too late. Revision starts well before…at least it does for sensible people who want to do well. If you follow these ideas they will help you with your GCSEs. Now I can hear you say, ‘but we don’t do them until Year 11’. I know that. But if you start now, then by the time you get to Year 11 all the hard work will be done.
The idea is to make notes manageable. A whole page of A4 covered in blue or black words is so scary I would rather be spooked by ghosts. So what you do is make them smaller. You end up with a small card with the key words and phrases on the topic and these note cards you learn and they will trigger off your memory.
OK…so you have just done a topic on say Henry V111 for example. You have ended up with pages of notes and handouts and pictures. You have a test on Monday.

1. Read through all your notes. Close your book. Get the dog or a teddy and sit them in front of you. Now tell them all you know about Henry and his life. Bet you know more than you thought you did! You will impress the dog or teddy to be sure!!
2. Get your notes and your text book and do a mind map on all the facts. Use colour and pictures whatever helps you remember.
3.Now using the mind map, write bullet points. Keep them short. Only use trigger words that will help you remember.
For example…a. Henry V111 1509-1547. Married 6 times. 1533 excommunicated by Pope. 1534 Act of Supremacy 1536 Act of Union. 1536-1539 monasteries closed…etc.
b. Jane Seymour. 3rd wife. Mum to Edward V1. Died 1537.
So all you are left with are small cards with key words and phrases on them and pictures. Some people write each point in a different colour. That might help you too. You can store these cards in a box with subject dividers.
Keep all these note cards for all the subjects as you can add to them as you go up the school as you will revisit some topics. If you never use them again no matter because you have practised doing them and the more you do them the quicker you get. Then when you are doing your revision for your exams they are there ready and waiting for you.
I hope this helps. Let me know. If you have any ideas tell me and we can share your ideas too. Good luck.

Hi everyone. I have just started a channel on YouTube to give you more information about me and my books. This is my first video which hopefully will give you a brief insight into my background as a teacher and how I came to be writing children’s books. Watch out for more videos coming soon!

Hi everyone. I have just started a channel on YouTube to give you more information about me and my books. This is my first video which hopefully will give you a brief insight into my background as a teacher and how I came to be writing children’s books. Watch out for more videos coming soon!

When we hear the word ‘comprehension’ we usually groan. They are boring and they takes ages and there is loads to write. Here are some tips I use when I teach how to do them.  It makes them easier and they look colourful and more interesting.

Start by looking at the title and any help they give you at the beginning. Sometimes they give you help and if you don’t read it you won’t know will you…so don’t miss out.

Scan the piece from beginning to end.  This will point you to words that interest you. It should only take a few seconds. It will give you some clues about it.

Then read it through once slowly. Try to understand what it is saying and when you finished ask yourself, ‘what is it about?’

Read all the questions through carefully.  Can you answer any of them straight away? Then read it all again. You will find the second read will tell you much more than the first read.

Then read the the first question again and use a highlighter to colour the number. Then use the same colour to highlight the key words or the phrase for that answer. It is important to highlight the LEAST words you can so you don’t get confused. Keep going with different coloured highlighters until you have the whole piece finished and all the answers and the numbers  highlighted.  Now the piece will look ordered and colourful and all the hard work is done. Now all you have to do is write the answers down by following the colours.

Write your answer for number one. You must use the question to help you write the answer and never begin with the word ‘because’.

For example…Why did the cat go up the tree?

You would answer…’The cat went up the tree because the dog was chasing it.’…That shows your teacher that you have understood what you have read.

Then do number 2. Look at the colour of the number and find the same colour in the piece. Easy, peasy. The highlighting is helping you to find the answers . You just have to follow the colours.

I hope this helps.

Let me know.

Here are some thoughts about helping your child at school.  As a teacher and a Mum I see things from both sides.

School is a very demanding place. Every day  teachers ask you to do lots of work and some of it is VERY HARD and new and some of it is so tricky that it muddles you all up and makes you feel terrible because can’t always do it. It is also a very long day and you have to get up very early and get to school. Sometimes you  have not had enough sleep and to make matters worse you were having a lovely dream about salt and vinegar crisps and chocolate muffins. Then there is all that singing, and P.E. and making friends and coping when friends don’t ask you to play. Then there is writing stories about trips to the moon and you have not even been there. Maths lessons and you have to add and take away numbers in your head and sometimes counting forwards and backwards can make you feel a bit dizzy. And science when you have to be able to talk about why pushes and pulls are different and to you it is just obvious but it’s hard to explain why.  Then there’s art when you have to try to paint like the man who lived ages ago and he got so fed up of painting he cut his ear off just to do something different. Phew!… and then there’s homework.  You get home and all you feel like doing is putting your feet up and there’s 10 spellings to learn. It’s just not fair. Oh yes and there’s reading too and I have to walk the dog…

Children have so many challenges in the school day that when  they are picked up the worse question they have to face is, ‘What did you do today?’ Most will say ‘nothing’…well do we as grown ups like talking about our working day? Well we might if there is something to say that’s interesting but if there’s nothing then probably no. So don’t ask them they will tell you if there is something to say. Of course if you say, ‘Was everything OK at school today?’ And they say ‘yes’ you just carry on with what you are doing but if you ask that and they say, ‘No, I was attacked but a group of boys and they all had sticks’ …they instantly get your attention. So we have to be subtle and be there if they need us. I always find they hover about looking forlorn and that’s the sign they need to talk.

I never ask about homework. They should manage it by themselves and if they don’t do it the teacher will deal with it the next day. (If it becomes a big problem the school will let you know).  It can just lead to arguments and confrontations. They soon realise that you are leaving them to get on with whatever it is. If they ask for help that’s fine then find the time.

If they are too tired to read then read to them. Reading to children is very rewarding. Let them sit next to you and so they can follow the words or if they are too tired then just pop them into bed and read. These times are special and they don’t last long because very soon they become independent and want to read by themselves. They are not dependent on us for very long. Make the most of it!

As a teacher I am often asked for advice. I am a mum too and so over the years I have learned a great deal about children and young people. I always say that children are just smaller versions of us and to be honest I have learned a lot from children with their common sense and honesty.

Therefore my first words of wisdom (as I call them and my pupils will laugh when they see that) is listen to what your child is saying. They have opinions and we should listen.
Why should they like eggs? Do you? Why is broccoli so important when it makes your tummy turn upside down? There are other things you can eat which are just as good.

I once heard a psycologist say that if your three year old will only eat Smartie sandwiches so what. I thought about that for a moment or two and decided… they’ll soon get fed up of them because who ever heard of a grown up eating them anyway. If that is all they will eat for the moment then that is fine…at least they are eating something and bread and butter is very nutritious and chocolate is too…my daughter ate them for a day or so and we made fun of brushing our teeth afterwards (because of the sugar) to the song Round and Round the Mulberry Bush and when we sang …this is the way we brush our teeth…we brushed our teeth and the words got muddled up with the toothpaste and we ended up in a bit of a mess but no matter it was brilliant fun and made us laugh…the novelty of Smartie sandwiches soon wore off because they really were not that tasty after all and I did not say, ‘no you can’t have them’ which took a bit of the naughtiness out of them too. It turns out half the fun of Smartie sandwiches is you make grown ups cross and you get their attention…which is what little children need and really like. Sometimes to get our attention they have to use other tactics because grown ups are always so busy. It got me thinking and realising the importance of taking time to listen and share ideas and thoughts with young children. It is often really surprising when you hear their words of wisdom and you may learn something new too.

Once you have learned the sounds that letters make you can start to put letters together to make a new sound. This is brilliant fun and a really good thing to be able to do. So we all know the sounds that a,b,c,d and all the letters of the ABC make. Then start to put two letters together like ‘st’…say them quickly as if they are stuck together with glue…see…you have made a new sound. I call them gluey sounds. There are loads of them…cr, dr, cl, sm, pl, pr, th….and so on. They are not really stuck together… but the glue might help you remember. Then once you can do them all try to put three letters together. Like…str, spr, scr, spl…you need a bit more glue for three! Then go through them all and learn them too. Now whenever you see two and three letter strings like these with all their gluey bits you can read lots more sounds and these sounds help you find out what words are saying to you. Then if you keep reading every day words become familiar then after a while when you see them you won’t have to sound them out you will just recognise them. Easy, peasy. This is great because it means you are on the road to reading.
When I am reading with someone and they come to a word they do not know we look to see if there are any ‘words within words’. This is really helpful. Take the word ‘and’ it is a gluey word… it comes up in lots of words… hand, sand, land, bandage…there are lots of them too. So you look for any words you might already know.

Think of the word ‘plant’…that has ‘ant’ in it.

Then there is ‘carpet’ that’s got ‘car’ and ‘pet’…do you see the idea?

With long words I just break them up into smaller pieces…bit like a big bar of chocolate when you break it into squares…so the word…exhibit = ex-hib-it or adventure =
ad-vent-ure…it just makes them a bit easier if you only have to do bits and then you just have to glue them back together at the end.
Hope this helps…you can use this for spelling too. Just sound out each single sound or two and three gluey sounds together when you want to spell a word, break them up and stick them back together. Then write them down as you say the sounds. Simple. Of course there are always the words that are so naughty you can’t break them up or glue them. We will have a look at some more of those soon.

Ok here we go. As promised some ideas for planning and writing a story…

A while ago I had to write a piece for a creative writing course I was doing. The tutor asked me to go back to my childhood and become a boy. I had to write just 1,000 words. So I wrote down 10 ideas…

First I got a big piece of paper and a pencil.
1. I chose a name for myself.
2. Decided what I looked like.
3. I chose a place to live.
4. Decided I was going to be naughty.
5. Made up my mind to bunk off school.
6. Decided what I was going to do instead of school.
7. Decided how I was going to bunk off school.
8. Decided I was going to meet someone important who kept me talking.
9. Then made up a load of lies.
10.Ended the story with a twist.

This was the plan I came up with. This is the hardest part and takes the time. But once it’s done the rest is easy because you just have to write it.

I made sure I gave my reader plenty of clues as to what I looked like and what sort of person I was and why I thought it was a good thing not to go to school. I gave reasons why so my readers got some sympathy with me and they could join in my adventure…readers like that because they feel they are getting to know you. I also let the reader know about my home life and my parents…readers like that too…you are letting them in to your world.

Then I introduced an interfering relative that would not stop talking, made me tell loads of lies so I felt terrible and started to think the whole idea was a bad one! This gave me the chance to bring in description of the new character… what she looked like, and her mannerisms, her relationship with me (she was an old aunty who lived across the road and seen me from her bedroom window going fishing because I had my fishing rod attached to my bike).

Then it turned out in the end she had known all along that I was NOT going to school. She was not going to stop me; she just made me think about what I was doing. It was funny of course because I wanted my reader to laugh! I used lots of descriptive words and because I had to write the whole scene on one side of paper every word counted so I did not go, ‘la,di,la di, la di la.’ I made every word count and if I did not need it I left it out.

The reader of your story needs lots of detailed description. If your story is really visual it will be like watching a film…

For example…You could just write

The cat walked down the road following a mouse.

But if you write…

The fierce black cat padded silently across the dusty path. His unblinking orange speckled eyes focused intently on his target. Slowly, carefully, he edged forward getting nearer and nearer. The cowering mouse stood tranfixed and unable to move as he waited for the attack.

Can you see the cat? And the mouse? Can you feel the tension and the emotion of the scene? Do you want to know what happens next? If you do then that is good because you are engaging with me in this scene which is what you should do.

Have a go at this. Just think of a scene…
A striker and a goalie…
A horse and a rider…

Anything that interests you…

Just write 4 sentences like I did but make them visual and alive.