Mornington Peninsula Literacy
“No skill is more crucial to the future of a child than literacy.”
Los Angeles Times (2017)
Confident Literacy at Home
In 2017, one-on-one and small group tutoring is available for students in their own homes. Some of the topics covered by Mornington Peninsula Literacy include:
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Reading comprehension: learning the skills you need to "play a movie" in your head and gain a deeper and lasting understanding of any text.
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Understanding literacy: what it is, why it’s challenging and how anyone can be successful
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Writing to Reading: developing correct written form that leads to print recognition (Prep-year 2)
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How to sound out letters for spelling and reading: not what you imagined. (alphabetic vs phonemic principle)
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Phonemic Awareness: you may have been taught some phonograms, but let’s be explicit about what skills you really need to improve your literacy
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Understanding vowels and vowel sounds and their importance in forming words
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Segmenting and blending: the 2 vital skills every reader and speller must have
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The spelling rules you can’t live without and how to remember them
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Syllabification: how understanding this skill can impact your spelling and reading
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Fluency and comprehension: how to find both in a sea of words
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Punctuate! Mean what you say and say what you mean
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The importance of feedback: have you got it? How and when to ask for help.
Confident Literacy at School
When students cannot read and/or spell well, the blow to their confidence is deep and long-lasting. Many children never grow out of the shame they feel at being a poor speller or a poor reader, and end up making career choices based on their perceived low capacity.
No teacher wants to see this happen. There is no doubt that teachers are in a bind - many have not been provided the explicit training to teach literacy to a wide range of learners. This is a result of years of incompetent education policy.
In December, 2005, Brendan Nelson, the then Federal Minister for Education, released a report from the National Inquiry into Literacy. The panel on the Inquiry looked at current research into literacy as well as teacher training in Australia. From this research, the following components were identified for successful reading instruction:
1. Phonemic Awareness
2. Explicit Systematic Phonics
3. Fluency
4. Vocabulary Development
5. Text Comprehension
6. Teacher Training
Although this was identified in 2005, no teacher training programs have been put in place to meet these goals. Clearly, teachers can't teach what they do not know. Teachers need systematic, research-proven literacy training to develop the skills necessary for their students to be in full command of their language and to establish a foundation for the rest of their students' lives.
Mornington Peninsula Literacy offers these skills to empower teachers to explicitly teach the skills students need to be successful readers and writers. This is Confident Literacy.
In 2018, Mornington Peninsula Literacy will hold teacher in-service opportunities to establish Confident Literacy at your school.