As the global impact of Coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to change, we are facing a very uncertain time. Schools in many countries have decided to close in order to contain the spread. As of yet, we have no control over how this virus will spread and impact our daily lives in Australia. PLD are pre-empting a […]
Read MoreParent education sessions are a key way for educators to share tips on how parents can prepare their children for school and what they will learn. Typically conducted on an annual basis, parent sessions give the school the chance to equip their community with the tools that will reinforce their school based learning. PLD has developed […]
Read MoreOne of the most common questions we receive at PLD is ‘Should students focus on a new book each day, or should students re-read the same book several times?’ This is a great question and one where we will reference the research base to guide our response. Throughout this blog, we will explore what is […]
Read MoreThe beginning of the school year is an incredibly busy time of the year. Despite the workload ahead of all of you, it is imperative that schools start their year well. With this in mind, we’ve developed the following 2020 Term 1 essential checklist for teachers, school leaders and those new to PLD which should […]
Read MoreWhile all children develop at different times, there is an expected sequence of developmental milestones your child should be reaching. PLD have provided handy downloadable milestone guides for children aged 6 months through to 12 years. Designed by speech pathologists, occupational therapists and educators, the comprehensive guides give an overview of the Oral Language, Literacy […]
Read MoreSight words are a special high frequency category of words that students are instructed to recognise automatically. The term ‘sight word’ can mean several different things: high frequency words; phonetically irregular words; or familiar words that require no effort to recall (orthographic lexicon or sight vocabulary). When educators refer to sight words they are usually […]
Read MoreOral language skills form the foundation of literacy and academic success. A solid foundation of oral language helps children become successful readers, strong communicators, as well as increasing their confidence and overall sense of well-being. The ability to use oral language effectively impacts all areas of a child’s life; from their ability to learn in […]
Read MoreWith our increasing use of technology, is it necessary to teach children handwriting? Research suggests that the benefits of teaching handwriting go beyond simply writing (Dinehart, 2014). There is increasing evidence of a link between the fine motor skills required in handwriting and the development of cognitive skills which lay the foundation for later academic […]
Read MoreWith school closures nationally appearing imminent, PLD suggests that teachers bring forward the Week 10 screening of Early Years to Year 6 students. Presenting the following screens immediately will determine the levels of development in order to inform units of work within Term 2 (or the period of the school closure). We recommend that you […]
Read MoreToday’s post is from a concerned parent looking to supplement her children's at school learning with additional at home learning resources. The post is useful in understanding how the PLD Learning Resources combine to form an evaluation and development system that is equally applicable to the classroom and the home.
Read MoreAUSPELD is a national body comprised of representatives from various state SPELD associations and a recognised Global Partner of the International Dyslexia Association. Each SPELD organisation is extremely busy catering for large numbers of students and families. While the SPELD’s deliver assessments and diagnose dyslexia, they also advocate best practice. The SPELD’s act to encourage […]
Read MoreOral language instruction should be an essential component of writing programs. Prior to and once students are able to write, effective oral language instruction helps to increase the sophistication of written vocabulary, sentence structure and the elaboration of ideas. To encourage the explicit instruction of oral language across classrooms, PLD has made our oral language […]
Read MoreDecodable reading books are specifically designed for early readers. They provide reading material which enables students to apply their alphabet sound skills, their early phonic knowledge, phonemic blending and decoding skills. The decodable reading material gradually increases in length and complexity and also gradually introduces high frequency words. Decodable texts are an integral part of […]
Read MoreStudents often write words correctly in spelling tests but struggle when applying their new knowledge to written work. Why? As a general rule, when transferring spelling into writing, students require the activation of many more skills. Explained simply, single word spelling is quite a simple cognitive task in comparison to extended writing tasks. Dictation tasks […]
Read MorePLD’s decodable reading books have been specifically chosen by Diana Rigg as they align with PLD’s structured synthetic phonics approach (SSP). What does this mean? Let’s look at the first set, Home Reading Books Set 1. The initial readers start with VC and CVC words and no sight words. Gradually and progressively sight words, phonic […]
Read MorePLD have been devastated hearing about our recent bushfire crisis. Many people have lost everything and we were looking for a way to help. We have decided to focus our efforts into two areas. Firstly, has your school been damaged in the recent fires? PLD Literacy would like to help schools get back up and […]
Read MoreIt is quite common for children to arrive into Foundation without a dominant hand. Research suggests that while a majority of children show a preference by 3 years of age, and others by school age, some students actually establish dominance as late as 8 or 9 years old. As teachers are not Occupational Therapists, how […]
Read MoreThe WA Department of Education schools focus for 2020 has just been released, have you had a chance to check it out? If not, you can view or download a copy here as a PDF: https://www.education.wa.edu.au/dl/1zxeed For 2020 Western Australian schools are, among others, focusing on: Support learners to make the best start with access […]
Read MoreLet us be calm when reading the 2019 PISA results and not point the blame solely at teachers. The report reminds us that there is much work to be done at the teacher training level, the curriculum level and also the classroom/school level. Firstly, the recommendations from the Independent Review of the Teaching of Early […]
Read MoreHave you caught up on our previous posts, The Importance of Strong Oral Language and Vocabulary Skills for Later Literacy Success and Improving Oral Language? PLD believes oral language skills form the foundations of literacy and are essential academic success. For children, repeated exposure to a rich language environment at school and in the home, […]
Read MoreDid you catch our previous post, The Importance of Strong Oral Language Skills & Language for Literacy Success? We discussed how to create a high quality oral language program to foster a high quality learning environment and the importance of consolidating oral language skills between the home and school. In this three part series we […]
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