Closing the Gap, Post
- On Jan, 20, 2023
- Tutoring Primary
Closing the Gap Aboriginal children in remote parts of Australia are well below the national standards in education. Despite the objectives of “closing the gap” between First Peoples and the greater part of the Australian population over many years, we are failing. Can I say it in a kind way? Can we face the facts […]
- On Dec, 18, 2022
- Tutoring Primary
Missed the Literacy Bus NAPLAN results for 2022 confirm the trend: for ten years literacy results indicate students have failed to progress between Grade 4 and Year 7. Australian schools are good at teaching early literacy. By Year 4, students can decode the text on the page; answer questions relating to the chronology of stories; […]
Continue Reading...Enquiry Learning Lacks Research, Post
- On Dec, 10, 2022
- Tutoring Primary
Enquiry Learning Lacks Research Emeritus Professor John Sweller of UNSW questions the continuing extension of enquiry-based learning in the face of recent research findings about how humans learn. In https://www.cis.org.au/publication/why-inquiry-based-approaches-harm-students-learning/ Primary knowledge is what we humans learn through personal investigation. Secondary knowledge is what is passed down to us from earlier generations and through aeons […]
Continue Reading...- On Nov, 15, 2022
- Tutoring Primary
Declutter the Classroom Classroom Clutter Can Confuse The classroom clutter overhead, on every wall and every space harks back to earlier decades when Whole Language Theory dominated the teaching of literacy. Associated with Whole Language in the primary classroom was the idea of immersion in language and I think this remains one of the persistent remnants of that […]
Continue Reading...“Dyslexic Child – The Alphabet” Post
- On Nov, 15, 2022
- Tutoring Primary
Dyslexic Child – The Alphabet Explain to the child that Our alphabet has twenty six letters. And there are other alphabets that have more letters. As we only have twenty-six letters, fifty two if we include capital letters, we use them in combinations to create other sounds such as ‘th’ and ‘oa’. The letter […]
Continue Reading...“Teaching Hand-Printing” Post
- On Jul, 17, 2022
- Tutoring Primary
Work on the small letters first, then the capital letters. Starting with the lower case, work on letters with only straight lines…
“Elite Principals in Schools” Post
- On Jul, 17, 2022
- Tutoring Primary
The positive effect of parents’ socio-economic standing (SES) is less than it used to be and the negative effect of staff turnover in larger primary schools is now greater.
Continue Reading...“Enquiry Learning Needs Review” Post
- On Jul, 17, 2022
- Tutoring Primary
Students need information to manipulate in their minds. It needs to be presented in an orderly, structured and comprehensible way, appropriate to their level of language and intellectual maturity.
Continue Reading...“Bees Knees Reading Method” Post
- On Jul, 17, 2022
- Tutoring Primary
The student can sound out h – i – m . And as for words like my, teach them as a sight word in Prep and Grade 1. By Grade 2 the student will learn try, cry, fly and others by applying the rule learned in Prep and Grade 1. Children will learn the rule instinctively.
Continue Reading...“Improve Hand-Writing” Blog
- On May, 08, 2022
- Tutoring Primary
The 3-Point Principle is: Model the letter. Work on a couple of problem letters per week. Say: All downstrokes are straight, all upstrokes slant to the right.
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