Brilliant Books & Fabulous Phonics

Today we were so lucky to have Nicole Gurvidi as guest speaker for our Brilliant Books and Phonics Fun Workshop. 
Nicole is the English Primary Curriculum Lead in Tower Hamlets. Nicole is passionate about reading! 
The turnout from our fantastic families was incredible and the room was packed.

Nicole reminded us about the importance of:
Having fun with words.
Reading books, books, more books and when you think that's enough, read another.  Read on the train, read on the bus, read in the cafe, read in the bath, read before bed - simply enjoy sharing books. Follow your child's interest and let them choose the books. 
The more books you share with your child the more vocabulary they will understand. 
Use pictures in newspapers to create stories using your imagination and tell the stories together, adding exciting words to describe what is happening or where the characters are.
Play with sounds: make sound effects to accompany stories you share. Loud sounds, soft sounds, rattles, scratching, tapping. If your child can begin to distinguish between sounds, they will find it easier when they come to using blend and segmenting sounds when they read and write. 
Sing songs together and make musical instruments (see Nicole's pots of pasta and rice and her 50p wooden spoons).
Go on a sound walk - listen out for trains, birds, aircrafts, sirens, drills and talk about the sounds. Be a sound collector!
When your child is ready, make a Sound Scrapbook: start with a sound and together you can cut out pictures from newspapers and magazines of objects that start with that sound and stick them on the page. 
Have fun together.

Remember to borrow books from school to share at home.
Join the Idea Store - click here.
Pick up free newspapers and magazines from the underground station, Tesco or Asda.
Speak to your key person if you need any advice about sharing books at home. 
See the handout below Nicole shared - if you would like a paper copy, please see Becky or Guthsna.