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Did 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 improving and consolidating oral language skills between the home and school. In this three part […]

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With our increasing use of technology, is it necessary to teach handwriting in primary schools? 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 […]

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AUSPELD 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 […]

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How to support the language development of children with English as a Second Language, also known as ESL and bilingual students? Learning to communicate using language is a remarkable achievement of early childhood. The progression of language development is very similar across children and even across languages. All children regardless of the language spoken begin […]

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Synthetic Phonics is the gold standard, evidence-based approach to teaching literacy, which suggests the fastest pathway into literacy is knowledge of alphabet sounds and phonic sounds. Students require alphabet knowledge in order to embark on the process of learning to read and spell. However, rather than letter naming ability, letter sound knowledge is the more […]

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Oral 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’s oral language program has made […]

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PLD is working to preserve Indigenous languages through the creation of region specific resources. For over 10 years, PLD  has worked with a range of Indigenous communities for over ten years, including developing a range of online courses to support the literacy requirements of Indigenous communities. You can read more about PLD’s work within remote […]

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PLD’s Founder Diana Rigg reviews the use of technology by children and specifically how much technology time is appropriate for children. Following a thought-provoking article released in the West Australian Newspaper, communicating Telstra’s recent research on smartphone use in 3-17-year-olds, Diana Rigg discusses the challenges and opportunities presented by the proliferation and widespread adoption of technology […]

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With the changes in the National Curriculum, Foundation students (that is, Kindergarten NSW/ACT, Preparatory QLD/VIC/TAS, Pre-Primary WA, Reception SA and Transition NT), are required to acquire early reading and spelling and writing skills. This is new territory for educators working in the ‘Foundation’ years of literacy instruction. We have many teachers ask questions about early […]

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Speech Pathology Week is here and director of PLD Literacy & Learning, Diana Rigg highlights the role of speech pathologists in schools in order to facilitate increased literacy outcomes. PLD has regularly stressed the way forward for literacy education in primary school is for speech pathology to have a larger involvement within schools. Researchers have […]