Phonics, Spelling & Meaningful Texts

Learning to Spell Phonics refers to the relationships between sounds and the patterns of letters used. However, phonics alone is usually not enough for students to decode words. They need a meaningful context to determine how the phonics works. For example, consider the word ‘lead’. We can see the differences in the following sentence: ‘The…

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Inclusive Education & Supporting the Needs of Students with Learning Difficulties

by Brisbane Tutor Justin Clark specialising in Learning Difficulties Inclusive Education Inclusive education is where students of all abilities, stripes, patterns and sizes are accepted and supported within schools.  The goal is to build a democratic and caring schooling community, along with the wider school environment as well.  Inclusion is an ongoing process of negotiation…

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Learning in the Classroom

by Brisbane Tutor Justin Clark Learning Or Classroom Management? Learning in the classroom should be about constructing meanings within social contexts, relationships and languages. However, traditional or behavioural approaches to learning focus on addressing student behaviour and classroom management. Students learn the ‘right’ knowledge through memorisation and practice. This type of learning requires the teachers’…

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The Reading Development Process

by Brisbane Tutor Justin Clark Stages of the Reading Development Process Readers go through three stages of the reading development process – as they develop word recognition abilities. In the first stage they develop a beginning knowledge of the nature of written language and its relationship to speech. They learn how print functions, the letters…

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Developing Phonological Awareness

by Brisbane Tutor Justin Clark What is Phonological Awareness? Phonological awareness is the awareness of sounds in spoken words.  It is also the awareness that words can be broken into onsets and rimes.  These sounds are revealed by abilities such as rhyming, matching initial consonants and counting the number of sounds in spoken words.  These…

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How to Improve Comprehension with Narrative Texts

by Brisbane Tutor Justin Clark Comprehension and Children With Learning Difficulties Comprehension is the process of extracting and constructing meaning from what we read. It involves the ability to decode and identify words as well as the ability to connect prior knowledge with text in order to build new meanings. Decoding is an important part…

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How to Improve Reading Fluency

by Brisbane Tutor Justin Clark who specialising in helping kids with learning difficulties Learning Difficulties and Reading Fluency Students with reading difficulties have an inability to read fluently as compared to their more skilled peers. They are unable to read passages smoothly with appropriate expression. They can also experience problems when it comes to comprehending…

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Story books and the Fluency of Students with Learning Difficulties

by Brisbane Tutor Justin Clark The Importance of Books For Children With Learning Difficulties Books have an important role to play in the acquisition of fluent reading.  Fluency is the ability to read connected text rapidly, smoothly and automatically with little conscious effort devoted to the mechanics of reading such as decoding.  However, fluency can…

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Multisensory Learning

by Brisbane Tutor Justin Clark What is Multisensory Learning? We often hear about Multisensory Learning, but what exactly is it? When learning, we use our senses to process information.  Our brain is capable of processing information using multiple senses such as visual, auditory and tactile senses along with motion, known as kinesthetic learning.  The combination…

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Anxiety and Learning Difficulties

by Brisbane Tutor Justin Clark Many Children with Learning Difficulties Suffer from Anxiety Teachers may not recognise that the child is suffering from anxiety and learning difficulties and may assume that the child who doesn’t give a correct answer or respond to a question or direction is incapable of understanding the task. In many cases,…

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Students With Reading Disabilities

by Brisbane Tutor Justin Clark How to Help Students With Reading Disabilities How to Help Students in Kindergarten with Reading Disabilities Many Kindergarten children enter school with poor phonological awareness and this is particularly true for students with learning and reading disabilities.  Along with letter-sound knowledge, they may lack general information and word meanings.  They may also…

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The Rise of Homeschooling

Numbers of Kids Homeschooled in Australia There are ten thousand students that are registered for homeschooling nationally. However, it’s estimated that there are around another ten thousand students that aren’t registered that are doing homeschooling. If registration was made easier for parents, then this number would not be as high, along with having more data…

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