School-Age
22 articles in this category
After the Year 1 Phonics Check: What to Do Next at Home
After the phonics check: start with the teacher, a few minutes a day on decoding, what not to do, keeping sound games going and when an assessment helps.
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Reading Your Child's Year 1 Phonics Check Results: What They Mean
What the Phonics Check measures and what it doesn't, why half the words are made up, what 28 out of 40 means and when a low score needs a closer look.
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Building Communication Skills Before School Starts: Strategies for Parents
Conversation games, directions in daily routines, retelling stories and turn-taking on play dates: everyday ways to build talking skills before Prep.
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Is My Child Ready for Prep? A Communication and Language Checklist
What listening, talking, storytelling and social skills look like in the year before Prep in Queensland, plus a word on hearing and when to assess early.
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What Is Phonological Awareness? Pre-Reading Skills
Phonological awareness moves from words to syllables to rhyme to single sounds. The order, the rough ages, and what to listen for at home.
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Teaching Concepts About Print: Parent Strategies
Pointing to words as you read, talking about letters and the gaps between them: how print referencing during shared reading builds print awareness.
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The Simple View of Reading in Australian Schools
Where the Simple View of Reading shows up in the Australian Curriculum, the shift to structured literacy, and questions worth asking your child's school.
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The Simple View of Reading: How Children Learn
Reading comprehension = decoding x language comprehension. The four reader profiles from the Simple View of Reading and what each one needs.
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My 6-Year-Old Is Hard to Understand: Speech Delays
'Cat' as 'tat', 'rabbit' as 'wabbit': which patterns should be gone by six, why these are the hopeful kind, and when to book an assessment.
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Why Linguistic Phonics Works: Structured Literacy
What linguistic phonics is, how it differs from other phonics programs, and why it is the approach we use for reading and spelling.
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Supporting a Child with DLD at School: Strategies
What helps a child with DLD: chunked instructions, visuals and pre-taught vocabulary at school, talk and reading at home, and a team that works together.
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Developmental Language Disorder (DLD): A Guide
DLD affects about two children in an average classroom. What it looks like in instructions, discussion, reading and friendships, and why it is so often missed.
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How Speech Sound Errors Affect Reading and Learning
A child who still says 'tat' for 'cat' may also struggle to spell it. Why speech sound errors show up in phonics, spelling and reading fluency.
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How to Teach Tier Two Vocabulary: Key Strategies
Choose the word, give a child-friendly definition, use it in rich contexts, come back to it often. A practical method for teaching Tier Two words.
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What Are Tier Two Words? Vocabulary Explained
Tier Two words like 'fortunate' and 'compare' carry most school reading. Beck's three-tier framework and why these words need explicit teaching.
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Classroom Speech Therapy Strategies for Teachers
Visual supports, pre-taught vocabulary, shorter instructions and story scaffolds: classroom moves teachers can start using this week.
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Teachers and Speech Pathologists: Why It Matters
Why the hour a week in therapy only sticks when the teacher is on board, and how parents can help the two professionals share goals.
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Supporting a Child Who Stutters: Home and School
What to do when your child stutters: listening without finishing sentences, how classrooms can adapt oral tasks, and what therapy involves at this age.
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Stuttering in Primary School: What Parents Need
Stuttering in Years 3 to 5 looks different from preschool: how it shows up in reading aloud, discussions and friendships, and what we know about causes.
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Supporting High-Level Language in Teenagers
What to do when a teenager's language can't keep up with high school: ideas for home, classroom adjustments, and what teen therapy involves.
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High-Level Language Difficulties in Teenagers
Your teenager reads fine but misses the point of the text. Inferencing, figurative language and persuasive writing explained, and the signs to look for.
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Using a Communication Book Every Day: Key Tips
Making a PODD book part of daily life: how to model on it instead of quizzing, which routines to start with, and how to get siblings and peers using it.
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