Welcome to part 3 of this 4-part newsletter on literacy! Let’s dive into some great resources (nearly all free!) to boost your child’s reading and writing skills:
Decodable (phonics-based readers):
First Phonics Picture Book (free!) – For pre-schoolers, school beginners and older readers having difficulty hearing sounds in words and learning basic spelling patterns.
SPEcific Learning Difficulties (SPELD) South Australia decodable books (free!) – For children, young adults and people learning English as a second language. Start with the books containing only the sounds that a child has learned – your young reader will practise ‘sounding out’ letters and blending the sounds together to read short books independently!
Spelfabet decodable books (free!) – A loooong list of decodable readers (including books and ebooks) for you to try.
Little Learners Love Literacy decodable books – These affordable Australian resources (available as paperbacks and app) are colourful and fun and enable your child to read successfully and independently. See them in action here.
What’s wrong with predictable texts? – Australian speech pathologist Alison Clarke shows how predictable texts (used by many schools) teach children to guess words by looking at the pictures.
Speech pathologists are trained to help children develop strong literacy skills. Dr Lisa Furlong has a special interest in literacy and uses evidence-based Australian programs and resources including as SMART Spelling, Spelfabet, Write to Read and Spalding. Lisa is a member of Learning Difficulties Australia and the Language Disorder Special Interest Group in Victoria. She liaises with like-minded educators and related professionals who are passionate about making a difference to students with learning difficulties.
If you have any concerns about your child’s reading and spelling, call us on 9899 5494! Seek help early, don’t wait and see! Well-meaning family and friends may tell you not to worry but you are the expert on your child.
