Guest Posted July 30, 2006 Posted July 30, 2006 Came across this fantastic book and was wondering if anyone used it as the basis of their Literacy work up to y1. I think it is wonderful -its theories are deeply rooted in child development and suggests we concentrate on the skills that come before more formal reading and writing is introduced. This is all music to my ears! Would love to hear from anyone out there who is using it Thanks!
Sue R Posted July 30, 2006 Posted July 30, 2006 Oh yes! Use it, use it and use it again!! Would not be without it! (Assuming you mean the Sue Palmer, Ros Bayley one?) Sue (get the feeling I think it's good?)
Guest Posted July 31, 2006 Posted July 31, 2006 Thanks for replying sue yes i can see that anyone would love it..its principles are so sound. I've now got to persuade our reception teachers and head this is the way forward. Its so obvious to me but some people just don't get it!
Marion Posted July 31, 2006 Posted July 31, 2006 (edited) I love Foundations of Literacy and we use it in the Foundation Stage hoping to persuade Y1 to take it on board next term (the head seems keen) Ive just had an email to say my order of Ros Bayleys new Phonics book has been dispatched (Synopsis Everyone agrees that an understanding of phonics is essential to cracking the code for reading. There is less agreement, however, about how, when and where phonics should be taught. "L is for Sheep: Getting Ready for Phonics" is an important contribution to the phonics debate. Section 1 discusses early language development. Section 2 focuses on the current phonics debate in light of "The Independent Review of the Teaching of Early Reading" (The Rose Report). Section 3 provides activities to support multi-sensory learning environments for the teaching of phonological development in the Foundation Stage and early Key Stage 1. ) and am eager to see how this can also be adopted in the unit. Edited July 31, 2006 by Marion
Inge Posted July 31, 2006 Posted July 31, 2006 we were given a copy by our early years dept recently while on a days course for phonics as a part of whole language development. enables us to explain to parents why we do not 'teach' writing and phonics before school and why whole development is more important at this age. A good book highly recommend for all in FS. Inge
mundia Posted July 31, 2006 Posted July 31, 2006 Thanks for that tip off Marion, I shall look out for that book now. I am under a lot of pressure to formally teach phonics in our nursery despite my protestation, and i am using the FoL as much as possible to fight my corner..so another book might hel me along. Wheelson like the others I would defiantely recommend F oL, we are trying to use more of its principles and we began last year with an audit and from there developed an action plan, small steps was the order of the day for us. Not managed to gte it being used in year one, sadly the Literacy c oordinator who isnt a fan has too much power there!
Guest Posted July 31, 2006 Posted July 31, 2006 what worries me is why i hadn't heard of it. I do loads of reading. I'm sure there is a conspiracy theory with literacy coordinators to keep this sort of stuff well away from early years people! They are too concerned with results and are not yet willing to make the leap of faith!(which isn't a leap of faith for us!) The good thing is that of course as good early years practitioners we have been doing all the things in FOL its just good to see it written down and have something concrete to show others. My head is supportive but this kind of thing scares him especially as we have had appauling sat results.....some would say what more evidence do we need? But i think that is just too scary at the moment! Oh dear it is all so obvious to me.
Marion Posted July 31, 2006 Posted July 31, 2006 (edited) There was an article in the TES not so long ago by Sue Palmer and Ros Bayley which our head photocopied and gave out to all staff he also placed the original in a prominant place in the staffroom at which point we confessed we had been using the priciples in the book since starting our unit http://www.tes.co.uk/search/story/?story_id=2240898 Edited July 31, 2006 by Marion
Guest Posted July 31, 2006 Posted July 31, 2006 Thankyou for posting that I had read it but had forgotten about it will put it in the staffroom and perhaps e-mail one to my head for summer holiday reading! Do people plan in specifically for the 7 strands of fol? I know a lot will and do occur spontaneously. I love the idea of 5 a day for reading. Has anyone tried this? I read everyday but must admit running a high/scope day sometimes trying to fit everything in is hard!
Marion Posted July 31, 2006 Posted July 31, 2006 We have been trying the 5 a day with the help of parent helpers and have found it has worked well over the summer term as we have set up story areas outdoors in addition to the book corner and storytime. Most of the children have accessed the stories and quite happily listened to as many stories as the adult would read.
mundia Posted July 31, 2006 Posted July 31, 2006 we wondered when we started how we woud fit in the 5 a day becasue we have so many other deamnds on the time, but once you get used to the idea or it being about reading the stories and not about stopping to ask questions etc its quite easy to fit it in, especially if you choose shortish ones in the beginning. WE do plan in for all areas but I have to say in order to embed this into ur practice we focussed most on the time to talk and learning to listen as this matched well with school focus on speaking and listening. Our acton plan and training sessions covered mostly these, with the intention that we would develop the other areas more in the coming years.
Marion Posted August 1, 2006 Posted August 1, 2006 Speaking and listening was also a whole school focus for us so FoL was ideal. We were using alot of Ros Bayley materials already and FoL gave us a focus. Helping young children to listen and Helping young children with steady beat are two books which might be useful fo you. The book Flying with literacy which is aimed at parents also offers ideas for activities and has some nice rhymes my class have loved especially the alphabet song. Have you completed the audit? I think it shows just how much we are already doing without realising it.
SmileyPR Posted August 1, 2006 Posted August 1, 2006 I went to Sue Palmer's web site and there seems to be an updated version of the book (2nd ed). Do you know to what year it corresponds? There is one of 2004, but I don't know if it is the 1st or 2nd edition. Thanks in advance!
Guest Posted August 1, 2006 Posted August 1, 2006 the foundations of literacy 2005 is the latest edition i think! Its got an extra bit about phonics and the difference between phonics for writing and phonics for reading. I'm meeting with my head today and will take my copy! Wish me luck
Guest Posted August 1, 2006 Posted August 1, 2006 Well done! Did your head take much persuading? To what extent are you going to implement the FOL?
Guest Posted September 25, 2006 Posted September 25, 2006 Can someone please explain a bit more about the 5 stories a day approach? Is it from Foundations of Literacy? Do we have to read 5 stories each day to children? Anita
Marion Posted September 25, 2006 Posted September 25, 2006 The idea is to read books as stories and not as 'texts' for fun and enjoyment not as a chore! Quoting from the books "Five a day sessions should be at regular times and should not take too long - perhaps 10-15 mins at the start of the day, after break or before hometime." Often we ask a parent helper to read to the children in small groups. 5 a Day helps develop autitory memory, prediction skills and being familiar with story/sentence structure helps children to use grammatical clues in their own reading.
Guest Posted September 25, 2006 Posted September 25, 2006 (edited) Thank you for the explanation, Marion. Is the quote from Foundations of Literacy? Anita Edited September 25, 2006 by Guest
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