Dyslexia Support Service: Termly up-date December 18, 2009

 
All practitioners in each sector, in each department and in all settings have a responsibility to develop, reinforce and extend the skills which are set out in the literacy experiences and outcomes (Curriculum for Excellence).
Teaching:My remit covers all schools in the region. Therefore I do not – cannot – use my time to teach [...]

Neuroscience in Education: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly December 11, 2009

 
Professor Sergio Della Sala  will be speaking about  Neuroscience in Education: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly at the Playfair Library Hall, Old College, Edinburgh EH8 9YL on Tuesday 23rd February 2010 at 6.00pm.
This is part of The Edinburgh Lectures 2009/10 Making Scotland.
Anyone who combines Venice, scepticism and learning gets my vote. I heard Sergio [...]

Reading and Writing Chinese and Dyslexia December 11, 2009

In a comment on a recent post about auditory processing Alan Coady remarks on the differences inherent in learning Chinese. I have just read a bit around the subjexct but cannot claim to grasp all the implications. Here goes:
There are very real differences in how dyslexia manifests itself in different languages, says Maryanne Wolf whose important [...]

Indicators of dyslexia across different languages December 10, 2009

Once more I have been dipping into Maryanne Wolf’s magnificent book, Proust and the Squid, for enlightenment on the differences inherent in identifying dyslexia in speakers of different languages.
The specific phonological skills used in reading depend on the reader’s expertise, the word to be read, and the writing system, involved. A highly regular, highly frequent [...]

Dyslexia and modern foreign languages December 9, 2009

In a previous post I wrote about the difficulties inherent in learning a foreign language for some people with dyslexia.
It seems that children who learning more regular alphabets, such as Greek and Spanish, gain fluency and efficiency faster than children who have to tackle less regular languages such as English. No surprises there.
This does not [...]

A loose sally of the mind; an irregular undigested piece; not a regularly and orderly composition December 7, 2009

In an interesting review of a book by David Shields, Zadie Smith discusses definitions of the term ‘essay’ and why novelists write them. It set me thinking about the whole blogging process, and the resonances between blogging and essay writing.
Smith calls Shield’s book of essays ‘an engaging form of bricolage without obvious authorial structure … [...]

Clicker 5 December 7, 2009

I have long promoted the use of Clicker 5 to support independence in reading and especially writing. But I have reluctantly decided to abandon advising its use. Crick Software claims that,
Clicker is the proven reading and writing tool that helps pupils of all abilities to achieve success in reading and writing. Clicker is used on [...]

Children’s Book Tree December 4, 2009

Following the success of last year’s initiative customers at Blackwell’s book shop on South Bridge can once again support Edinburgh’s most vulnerable children through an exciting initiative, The Children’s Book Tree.
Blackwell’s are working with City of Edinburgh Council, Edinburgh Women’s Aid and Edinburgh Young Carers to help make Christmas a little better for disadvantaged local [...]

Spelling in the Stone Age December 3, 2009

Aye, it takes me back.
Enjoy.

What Causes Dyslexia December 3, 2009

A couple of years ago I attended the Dyslexia Scotland annual conference at which Dr Alex Richardson spoke about the causes of difficulties such as dyslexia, dyspraxia, ADHD and specific language impairment. Her research focuses on the genetic background to dyslexia and how nutrition and the immune system contribute to auditory and visual attention difficulties.
 She [...]