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New for children:
RTE have a live News Broadcast especially for children which can be accessed through the following link: http://www.rte.ie/trte/news2day/ . It broadcasts general stories from around the country and world; some information on politics (especially around the time of elections ) and also some sporting news. It is therefore suited for middle /senior classes.
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Useful websites for all ages :
The internet is a valuable resource when it comes to education. Many websites have been developed for educational purpose to include a wide range of information on various topics; powerpoints, videos and fun games and activities which all children enjoy. These types of websites appeal to all learners – visual , auditory and so on. There are so many websites available; it is very hard to narrow the list down. However here are some websites which you may find useful:
English (junior classes)
- http://www.starfall.com/ – aimed at younger children to help them read
- http://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/PictureMatch.html – matching words to pictures
- http://www.kenttrustweb.org.uk/kentict/content/games/flags.html – spelling
- http://www.ictgames.com/machine.html – matching words to pictures
- http://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/Phase2Menu.htm – phonics games
- http://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/ – various games for different stages of the phonics programme
- http://www.mrsperkins.com/dolch.htm – dolch words
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks1/literacy/phonics/play/ phonics games/blending
- http://www.meddybemps.com/7.024.html – Literacy for infants
- http://www.learninggamesforkids.com/featured-games/preschool_games_rhyme.html – teaches children about rhyming words
English ( middle -older classes)
- http://www.arcademics.com/games/frog/frog.html -antonym and synonym game
- http://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/ – various games for different stages of the phonics programme
Maths (junior classes)
- http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/mathgames/earlymath – Excellent website for maths game – Find and count, Counting numbers 1-10 & 1-20 ( children burst the numbered balloons in the correct order), Bugabaloo addittion, Shape shoots- click on the correct shape.
- http://www.mathsisfun.com/games/counting-bugs.html – counting games
- http://www.ican-dev.org.uk/games/WTD.html – classifying activities
- http://www.ictgames.com/save_the_whale_v4.html – number bonds 10
- http://www.meddybemps.com/Leaves/SortByShape.html – sorting
- http://www.hbschool.com/activity/numberline1_5_04/ – number line game for infants
Maths ( various ages)
- Maths is fun (http://www.mathsisfun.com/) contains various games for children ranging from infants to the senior classes. You can select the strand area ( time / measures / shapes /fractions etc) and then select the level suited for your child. This is a fantastic educational resource, children love these games!
- http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/mathgames/earlymath – This is one of my favourite websites for maths games, again you can select games for different age groups. The games cover a wide number of objectives from counting, fractions, shapes and so on.
- http://www.berghuis.co.nz/abiator/maths/sa/o.html – short word problems.
- http://resources.oswego.org/games/Mathmagician/mathsdiv.html – maths division games
- http://resources.oswego.org/games/ – various maths games
- http://www.learn4good.com/games/mathforkids.htm – various maths games for various ages
General websites:
- http://www.ictgames.com/ – contains literacy and numeracy games for various ages.
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks1/ -this website provides information, videos, games and activities under Numeracy , Literacy and Science.
- http://www.communication4all.co.uk/ – an excellent resource. Again this website contains a wide range of resources for Numeracy, Literacy and Science. I particularly find this website good for literacy ( phonics, word identification , reading , comprehension skills and so on) , Science – ( Living things, life cycles and plants). The resources are extremely child friendly and are available as powerpoints or printable documents.
- http://www.scoilnet.ie/ – covers every area of the curriculum with links for students and parents.
- http://resources.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/ – fantastic website. Woodlands junior covers multiple aspects of the curriculum with links to each area. It is an extremely informative website that contains links to other websites also containing further information or games/activites.
- http://www.askaboutireland.ie/learning-zone/ – covers a number of areas from the curriculum, in particular history, geography and science and is categorized into class groups.
- http://www.theproblemsite.com/ – various interactive games for English / Maths.
We will continue to add websites which we come across that are particularly useful. This list however is never ending!!
Help your child learn at home
The Department of Education & Skills have developed a website called helpmykidlearn.ie ( accessible through http://www.helpmykidlearn.ie )as part of the National Strategy to help improve Literacy and Numeracy among young children. The website provides fun activities that parents can do with their children in order to improve their literacy and numeracy. It also includes general information and tips and is certainly worth a visit. Every little bit helps when it comes to children’s education
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Jolly Phonics at home
Practice Jolly Phonics at home with your child using these Jolly Songs and the actions that go with them. Your child should be able to show you the actions for the sounds. Keep checking your sound book for the sounds that have been learned in class and any new sounds that have been covered, and then sing the songs at home while you practice the songs.
The Jollyphonics songs are available on you tube – here is a link for one of the videos from British Early Years Centre. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCjJYB07aSU