Phonics and Decoding
The goal of phonics instruction is to help children learn the alphabetic principle — the idea that letters represent the sounds of spoken language — and that there is an organized, logical, and predictable relationship between written letters and spoken sounds. Learning that there are predictable relationships between sounds and letters allows children to apply these relationships to both familiar and unfamiliar words, and to begin to read with fluency. Children are taught, for example, that the letter n represents the sound /n/, and that it is the first letter in words such as nose, nice and new. When children understand sound–letter correspondence, they are able to sound out and read (decode) new words. Programs of phonics instruction should be: Systematic: the letter-sound relationship is taught in an organized and logical sequence Explicit: the instruction provides teachers with precise directions for teaching letter-sound relationships
40 Amazingly Educational iPad Apps for Kids
Adults are obsessed with the new iPad, but have you ever thought about sharing your new toy with your kids? Just like online education games provide kids with fun outlets for learning, iPad apps help your kids review basic skills, improve critical thinking and decision-making skills, and even learn to read. Hand over your iPad this summer, and take a look at these 40 amazingly educational and fun iPad apps for kids. Language and Vocabulary Here you’ll find apps for learning the alphabet, using the dictionary, reviewing grammar rules, and more.
Autism awareness
Comment:5 average rating | Comments (3)Last Updated:31 March, 2014Section:Resources A special selection of resources designed to support the teaching of pupils with autism across different age ranges and settings.Includes a number of practical activities and lesson plans that could be used within the classroom. Autism spectrum disorders resource pack
Books for parents & caregivers
The Autism Sourcebook: Everything You Need to Know About Diagnosis, Treatment, Coping, and Healing by Karen Siff Exkorn When Karen Siff Exkorn's son, Jake, was diagnosed with autism, she struggled to pull together comprehensive information about the disorder. Fortunately, she was able to educate herself quickly, and her extensive at-home treatment of her son led to his amazing full recovery.
SUPER WHY! Power to Read Mobile Downloads
Super Why and the Super Readers are here to help your child with the critical skills they need to learn to read (and love to read!) These Super Readers need YOUR help in each literacy game, empowering your child with the power to read. Your child can play along with each of the four main Super Readers from the TV series: Alpha Pig, Princess Presto, Wonder Red, and, of course, Super Why, while practicing the alphabet, rhyming, spelling, writing and reading. Super Duper! Letters - Help Alpha Pig practice the alphabet by identifying the missing letters along the path.
Paper Port App – Dragon Dictation App on Steroids!
Are you impressed with the Dragon Dictation App? Well, you will love Nuances new PaperPort app that has Dragon Dictation tools in it! PaperPort App - This is Nuances new free digital note taking for your iPad (only iPad) that captures hand written notes, typed text, images, web content and audio. PaperPort Notes even allows you to take advantage of the Dragon Dictates voice recognition software to produce your ideas and notes simply by speaking. Wi-Fi connectivity is needed for the voice recognition and transferring documents to function. Paper Port provides many options to transfer your note to make it retrieveable in other applications such as Google Docs, Dropbox, email or their own document management app called PaperPort Anywhere (also free).
User Needs - Auditing - Online Accessibility Self Evaluation Service
Accessibility evaluation The Online Accessibility Self Evaluation Service (OASES) allows you to benchmark your organisation's accessibility practices to widely accepted 'reasonable adjustment' recommendations as well as the practice within other institutions. The service is quick, free and anonymous. Introduction
For teachers / educators
1001 Great Ideas for Teaching and Raising Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders by Veronica Zysk and Ellen Notbohm Parents and professionals can now bypass countless hours spent seeking answers to the mystifying day-to-day challenges of autism. In a snappy, can-do format, this insightful book offers page after page of try-it-now solutions that have worked for thousands of children grappling with social, sensory, behavioral, and self-care issues, plus many more.
Mobile Apps
VocabularySpellingCity offers apps for use on Apple and Android devices. Apps for Apple devices may be downloaded to your iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch from the App Store. Apps for Android devices are available from the Google Play Store. Access to the full features of the app is limited to VocabularySpellingCity Premium Members. Premium Members can log in through the apps for easy access to their lists!
5 Fun Free iPad Math Game Apps
These free apps offer fun ways for elementary/primary grade students to practice their math fundamentals. We checked out a bunch of free math games for the iPad that can help younger students reinforce their math basics, focusing only on those rated 4 stars or better. There are quite a few of these. As of this morning, there were 92 apps that come up by searching the App Store for “math games” that are free and have ratings of 4 or higher. We ranked them by popularity and then tried a bunch of the popular ones, looking for apps that provide good functionality for free (as opposed to the many ‘free’ apps that are really just teases to buy a full version). Here are five that we liked (some of these do have fuller versions or companion apps that you have to pay for, but the free versions here offer useful gaming without requiring registration or fees).
Mental Health: Oppositional Defiant Disorder
Why do I need to register or sign in for WebMD to save? We will provide you with a dropdown of all your saved articles when you are registered and signed in. It's not unusual for children -- especially those in their "terrible twos" and early teens -- to defy authority every now and then. They may express their defiance by arguing, disobeying, or talking back to their parents, teachers, or other adults. When this behavior lasts longer than six months and is excessive compared to what is usual for the child's age, it may mean that the child has a type of behavior disorder called oppositional defiant disorder (ODD).
