Reading Tip and Book List: How to choose the best books for toddlers | My Little Bookcase I’m regularly asked to compile a list of top books for toddlers. With so many incredible books available, the task is almost impossible for me. Instead, I thought I’d provide you with a list of tips for helping you to choose the best books to read with your toddler (and I couldn’t resist recommending a few of my favourite books at the end of the post) Don’t forget to add your toddler book suggestions to this list. 1) Toddlers like to exercise their newly found independence Look for books that allow children to interact with the bookBoard books are still great for toddlers too because they can turn the pages independently, and without frustration 2) Toddlers become more active, so their attention span can be short 3) Toddlers like to sing along to rhymes and songs Look for books that have rhyming or repetitive text (e.g. sentences that are repeated on each page)Look for books that feature nursery rhymes and well known songs 4) Toddlers are developing their language at a rapid rate. Not Me!
Otter Country by Miriam Darlington – review Otters are easy to love but difficult to know. Most of the love is mediated by those with more time, patience and skill than us; it is through books and film that the otter has squirmed its way into our hearts. Miriam Darlington's initial seduction, like that of my own, came from Gavin Maxwell's Ring of Bright Water and Henry Williamson's Tarka the Otter. Darlington's childhood crush was deep and affecting, but removed. But the risk is that the love remains distant, sentimental and unobtainable. Darlington has the advantage of being a poet who is wise to the overwhelming onslaught of too many metaphors. Her initial stumbling grows into skill. All this requires there to be otters, and the otter's lot has not been a happy one. Darlington helps at a post-mortem examination of a road casualty ("You might want to take off your jumper," she is told. During her search, you can feel Darlington change. There is a turning point. There are many encounters with otters in this beguiling book.
Writing ideas NATE - National Association for the Teaching of English Constructive Ways to Help Kids Read, Write and Recognise Their Names | My Little Bookcase It’s hard to believe, but Cammy starts school next year. It feels like only yesterday that she first appeared on My Little Bookcase as a baby- not yet walking. But the time has come and we are starting to prepare. I recently received a voucher to purchase labels through Skool Labels, and I began thinking… Cammy can spell her name. She can read her name too. Constructive Ways to Practise Reading, Writing and Recognising Your Name Like many pre-schoolers, Cammy has been able to read and write her name for quite some time now, but I’m keen to give her many meaningful opportunities to practise reading, writing and recognising her name independently. This is a short list of opportunities I’ll be setting up for Cammy as part of our preparations for starting school. Skool Labels The idea to create these opportunities came about when I logged onto Skool Labels to place an order, and I realised how simple the site was to navigate and use. By helping you create and order labels, kids will:
20 Common Grammar Mistakes That (Almost) Everyone Makes I’ve edited a monthly magazine for more than six years, and it’s a job that’s come with more frustration than reward. If there’s one thing I am grateful for — and it sure isn’t the pay — it’s that my work has allowed endless time to hone my craft to Louis Skolnick levels of grammar geekery. As someone who slings red ink for a living, let me tell you: grammar is an ultra-micro component in the larger picture; it lies somewhere in the final steps of the editing trail; and as such it’s an overrated quasi-irrelevancy in the creative process, perpetuated into importance primarily by bitter nerds who accumulate tweed jackets and crippling inferiority complexes. But experience has also taught me that readers, for better or worse, will approach your work with a jaundiced eye and an itch to judge. While your grammar shouldn’t be a reflection of your creative powers or writing abilities, let’s face it — it usually is. Who and Whom This one opens a big can of worms. Which and That Lay and Lie Moot Nor
Literacy Resources Homepage - UKLA : The UK Literacy Association