17 Apr
Ideas, Products

5 Sensory Tuff Play Tray Ideas for Early Years!

From birth, children use their five senses to explore and learn about the world around them. Sensory discovery through play is an important part of childhood development. Mum of two Louise Lambert from @lifewithlouise_ is a special needs teacher who love early years education. In this guest post, Louise has created 5 sensory play Tuff Tray ideas for toddlers and preschoolers you can create at home or in an EYFS setting. They’re prefect for keeping little hands busy and helping your child learn through sensory play.

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09 Jun
Products

Why do the Clocks Change?

Why do the clocks change? In Ireland, we set the clocks ahead an hour in spring, and back an hour in autumn. Ireland is one of several countries in the Northern Hemisphere to change the clocks according to the seasons.

Why do the clocks change?

The clocks change twice a year in Ireland. Clocks go forward an hour at 1am on the last Sunday in March, and back an hour at 2am on the last Sunday in October.

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10 Nov
Products

How It Works – Word Wasp

  • WASP – Word Articulation Spelling & Pronunciation!
    – Basically means the best way to learn literacy; involves listening, hearing, speaking, watching and above all: thinking! Research is clear on this, learning to read and spell should be done in tandem.
  • Tying spelling to speech is an absolute necessity
  • The texts are one to one manuals designed for school
    and/or home use or a mixture of both.
  • Hornet covers from the age of 5 but is also used with older students who have severe problems.
  • Word Wasp covers from age of 7 to 75!
  • Who can coach? – anyone with a moderate ability to read the English language, no training needed!:
    – Parents / Grandparents / private tutors – ANYONE!
  • Each exercise is accompanied by, easy to
    follow, colour coded instructions. 

 

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11 Jun
Products

E.a.R.L. the Coding Robot by Playroom Classroom

Despite having completed some CPD in the area, I’ve had minimal hands-on experience with Coding Robots. It’s one of those things that was on my to-do list for a long time! I had bought some books and resources, which were lying idle, waiting to be used.   I had even bought Botley, the Coding Robot, which my own kids at home had some fun with, but never made it into the classroom.

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01 Jun
Products

What are Multilink® cubes and how can they be used in the classroom?

For over 50 years, Multilink® cubes have been a stalwart of the classroom and are likely to be found in most teaching establishments around the world. A long-established piece of the mathematics classroom furniture, they have huge manipulative potential due to their simple and effective design.

But what is the history of Multilink®, how has it grown to become such a key mathematics manipulative and how can it be used in the classroom. Read on to find out more.

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25 Feb
News, Products

‘Learn to Read with Decodable Books’ By Playful Classroom

 

What is a decodable reader?

A decodable reader is a book that only contains words that can be ‘sounded out’ and the letters use their most common sounds.  Usually, they are part of a set, where more sounds are added gradually.  Children can use their letter-sound knowledge and read a book independently from an early stage (sometimes after only learning the first 6 sounds).

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01 Feb
Products

What is Flexitable & Why Do I Need It?

The look of the squares, particularly the multiplication squares, might be familiar to some parents. But it’s not the layout of these that makes Flexitable so unique – it’s the soft, flexible scored plastic material that they are made from. Each table is made from white, flexible plastic that is scored between the gridlines, allowing children to fold and manipulate the table to more easily locate the information they are looking for. This is fantastic for kids who might suffer from information overload, or who struggle to follow lines and grids. Dyslexic children often report that text appears to jump around on the page when they look at large amounts of information, so being able to fold the table and just focus on the key information is massively helpful.

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27 Jan
Products

What are Decodable Readers?

As most of us know, learning to read isn’t always that simple. Many (if not most) children will benefit from using a systematic phonics-based approach when learning to read. As children learn using a phonics based approach, decodable books become a key component of this learning process.

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