Tag Archives: reading

Reflective Reading and World Book Day 2014

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In recent posts we’ve been considering mindfulness and the value of this practice for children. Slow down. Think about what you’re doing. Stop thinking. Stay in the moment. Appreciate. Learn. We’ve also been looking at the wealth and breadth of … Continue reading

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A Gift of Reading for Christmas

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What might be the greatest gift you could give a child this Christmas? The latest electronic gadget? A trip to a pantomime? The top selling “Furby”? Or a really brilliant book? How do we – parents and teachers – enable … Continue reading

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Finally we have them: the OECD’s first ‘Adult PISA’ results

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To a non-educationalist this headline might not appear the most exciting news of the day, so let’s try this instead: England’s young people are near bottom of global league table for basic skills http://www.theguardian.com/education/2013/oct/08/england-young-people-league-table-basic-skills-oecd?CMP=twt_gu Or if you prefer the BBC … Continue reading

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A Celebration of Reading

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What are you going to read today? Do we really need a dedicated day to celebrate reading? Why don’t we have a World Maths Day or a World Writing Day? Where’s World Music Day? Where’s World Cooking Day or World … Continue reading

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Life After Christmas

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Is there life after Christmas? Well there certainly was after the Mayan so-called doomsday,and there will be after this holiday season too. Though it may not start properly for many of us until normal levels of alcohol and blood sugar … Continue reading

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Phonics, Collaboration and Professional Practice.

I shall assume that your silence gives consent.  – Plato. Yesterday’s post highlighted the teaching of phonics and the three teaching unions that are protesting about the new phonics tests. Leaders of three teachers’ unions have written to MPs urging … Continue reading

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The Great Phonics Debate and Methodical Madness.

On and on rage the arguments about “synthetic phonics” and their use in learning to read. Consider this delightful sentence I came across in Pedant’s Corner in the Guardian recently: “These are tools that everyone should have in her/his armamentarium … Continue reading

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Education, Schooling, and the Rights of Children.

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“It’s a miracle that curiosity survives formal education.” – Albert Einstein “Einstein clashed with his school authorities and resented his school’s regimen and teaching method. He later wrote that the spirit of learning and creative thought were lost in strict … Continue reading

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Intelligent Parenting Classes

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Parents in Education. David Cameron has recently commented on the need for Parenting Classes. You don’t send people out on the roads to drive a car without driving lessons, he said, so why do the same with the important job … Continue reading

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Digital Literacy and a Revolution in the Classroom – Part Two

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Eric Schmidt, the executive chairman of Google, is surely a man who ought to know about the digital world. This Sunday he wrote the following article for the Observer, by way of responding to the Observer’s campaign to bring ‘coding’ … Continue reading

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