Literacy is one of the most important skills humans can learn. According to the National Literacy Trust, 'Lacking vital literacy skills holds a person back at every stage of their life.' Without the ability to read and write, children will struggle at school and in the work place. As parents, they will struggle to facilitate their own children's learning. The National Literacy Trust has carried out a lot of research into literacy and a person's ability to read and write has been shown to affect life outcomes and even life expectancy! The National Literacy Trust found that life expectancy can be shortened by 26 years for those living in areas with poorest literacy skills. So, having good literacy skills is highly important for learning throughout life and improving life chances.
Many parents and teachers already know this and are keen to help their children acquire good literacy skills. Most will also have heard of phonics because this is the most commonly used approach here in the UK. However, many parents will wonder how to begin the literacy journey and how they should know when their child is ready for it. Furthermore, there may be teachers out there who are using phonics, or other approaches, without understanding why.
How exactly does the brain learn to read? When should you start teaching your child to read? Which approach is the best? These are the kinds of questions that led me to research and create this course. My aim is to help parents and teachers everywhere who have an interest in literacy and a responsibility for teaching children to read. It is my aim to empower parents and teachers with the knowledge and confidence they need to give their children the best start in their journey towards successful literacy skills because this will positively impact them for the rest of their lives!
The course opens for registration on Wednesday 15th and begins on Monday 20th November.
The course costs £49 for LIFETIME ACCESS!
50% goes to a charity that is supporting the Palestinians.
The course will run for 4 weeks. You will be able to access the course materials at any time to complete them in your own pace.
There will be live Q and As each week with a specialist speech and language Therapist to answer any questions you may have.
Course content
The course will cover the following topics:
Week 1 - The science of reading
This week covers the foundations of literacy and answers questions such as; What is going on in the brain when children learn to read? Why is English spelling so difficult? Why is reading aloud so important? How can you motivate your child to read? How should bilingual families approach literacy?Week 2 - What comes before phonics
We will take a look at what skills children need to have acquired before they can learn to read and write. This week covers speech and language, metalinguistic knowledge and awareness, physical development, print awareness, symbolising and representing, and phonological awareness. This week will help you to determine your child's readiness for developing literacy skills.
Week 3 - Different approaches to literacy
This week takes an in depth look at the main approaches to literacy. You will find out about phonics, the whole word approach, the linguistics approach, structured word inquiry and the Montessori approach to literacy. You will learn about the pros and cons of each approach so that you can make an informed decision about the best approach for your child.Week 4 - Getting started!
This week I will be giving you tips and advice to help you begin your child's journey towards literacy and how to keep the motivation going as children get older. We will also take a look at what to do if you suspect your child has a difficulty, such as dyslexia, which impacts your child's ability to acquire literacy skills.
By the end of this course you will know about the science of reading, how children learn to read and write, the importance of reading aloud, how to motivated children to read, the pros and cons of different reading approaches, how to get started and much more!
Who is the course for?
This course is for anyone who is responsible for helping children to learn to read and write, both parents and teachers. It is for those who would like to understand the science behind reading and the mental processes that children need to develop in order to learn to read. It is for people who would like to work out if their children are ready to begin to learn to read and to understand the milestones children need to have reached before they are ready to begin on their journey towards literacy. It is for those who would like to discover the pros and cons of different reading approaches to work out which is best for their children and how to keep children motivated to become literate.
The course opens for registration on Wednesday 15th and begins on Monday 20th November.
The course costs £49 for LIFETIME ACCESS!
50% goes to a charity that is supporting the Palestinians.
The course will run for 4 weeks. You will be able to access the course materials at any time to complete them in your own pace.
There will be live Q and As each week with a specialist speech and language Therapist to answer any questions you may have.
Who am I?
My name is Ronni and I am a Speech and Language Therapist living in the south west of England. I am also a homeschool mum to four children aged 10, 7, 4 and 2. Since qualifying as a speech and language therapist, I have undertaken post-graduate research at the University of Reading on the topic of bilingual children with autism. This enabled me to gain a specialism in bilingualism and autism.
I believe that parents can take their child's speech and language needs into their own hands, given the right training. Therefore, my aim is to empower parents with the knowledge to be able to help their child themselves.Communication is the basis of everything and a child's early language skills will affect them for the rest of their life. By boosting their communication skills, you will boost their ability to learn and enhance their life chances. I believe every child deserves the chance to thrive and my courses will enable you to give your child the best start in life.
Why I created this course
I first became aware of the trouble with phonics when my eldest child learnt to read through this method at school. Despite us homeschooling for the first year, she entered school a year late at the age of 5 and a half. I had not taught her to read and because of this she was behind the rest of her year group when she began school. Her teacher decided she would sit in with the year below for the first 15 minutes every morning for their phonics lessons. Within a couple of months she was reading at the same level as her peers, which just goes to show that starting school a year later does not disadvantage the child, however, I noticed some annoying features of her early reading skills. Firstly, she would sound out every single letter before blending it together. This is a strategy she kept up for some time, a lot longer than my second child who did not learn to read using phonics. Secondly, she would say many words incorrectly because she would always say them phonemically and, as we know, English is not a phonemic language. Therefore, 'was' was always pronounced with a short 'a' sound (as in 'cat'), 'here' was pronounced with an 'e' at the end, and you can imagine how words such as 'thought' and 'enough' were pronounced.
It was this experience with my daughter, as well as my knowledge as a linguist, that led me to question the phonics system and I became determined to find a better way for my younger children to learn to read. A way that teaches children the correct pronunciation and spelling right from the start because, in my opinion, it is better to learn properly once than to try to correct ingrained errors. I have thoroughly researched this subject and, as a linguist, I have my own thoughts on this subject too. I will share my findings and realisations with you now.
"The course was life changing! Wish I came across your page earlier and had taken the course when my son was born." - Umm Luqman
"If you're a worrier like me and are't sure what's "normal" speech for your toddler, I'd highly recommend this course. Not only did I learn what is average development in terms of language and talking, but I feel much more secure in how I'm teaching my daughter and the skills I need to be able to help her learn new words and language. Excellent course and very helpful worksheets to guide you through." - Tia
It was this experience with my daughter, as well as my knowledge as a linguist, that led me to question the phonics system and I became determined to find a better way for my younger children to learn to read. A way that teaches children the correct pronunciation and spelling right from the start because, in my opinion, it is better to learn properly once than to try to correct ingrained errors. I have thoroughly researched this subject and, as a linguist, I have my own thoughts on this subject too. I will share my findings and realisations with you now.
Feedback for Multicultural Motherhood courses
"What an outstanding course this is! Thank you so much for putting it together, your wealth of knowledge is superb. I will recommend this course in the future. Fabulous!" - Emma"The course was life changing! Wish I came across your page earlier and had taken the course when my son was born." - Umm Luqman
"I feel even my parenting method has changed Alhamdulillah my son has really progressed a lot. It's really hard to balance between uni, being a mum and wife but the course has really helped me in teaching and understanding my son's needs. P.S. I made my husband read the workbooks also, he really enjoyed them!" - Shafiqa
"I wish that I had a class like this available before my kids were born or still young." - Adrienne
"I was jumping in joy when I got these modules because I have got a guideline to understand in which stage of life we are and how to carry over with the process to make her a better talker." - Salma
"If you're a worrier like me and are't sure what's "normal" speech for your toddler, I'd highly recommend this course. Not only did I learn what is average development in terms of language and talking, but I feel much more secure in how I'm teaching my daughter and the skills I need to be able to help her learn new words and language. Excellent course and very helpful worksheets to guide you through." - Tia
"I really enjoyed this course! It was very easy to follow and I looked forward to the live Q and A each week even if I didn't have any questions. The course provided me with more language learning tips and confidence in myself when "teaching" my kids." - Adrienne
The course opens for registration on Wednesday 15th and begins on Monday 20th November.
The course costs £49 for LIFETIME ACCESS!
50% goes to a charity that is supporting the Palestinians.
The course will run for 4 weeks. You will be able to access the course materials at any time to complete them in your own pace.
There will be live Q and As each week with a specialist speech and language Therapist to answer any questions you may have.
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