The Sounds-Write Blog
Meet the Sounds-Write team – Kerry!
Kerry’s experience of her own child having learning difficulties meant she set out on a mission to help him learn to read and spell, this eventually led her to join us here at Sounds-Write, and we are so glad to have her with us! Find out more about Kerry here.
Scarborough’s Reading Rope
Hey there, phonics enthusiasts! Today, we’re diving into the fascinating world of Scarborough’s Reading Rope. Don’t worry; it’s not a magic trick or an actual rope. Instead, it’s a metaphorical tool that helps us understand the intricacies of how we become fluent readers.
Meet the Sounds-Write team – Laura, Content Manager
Say hello to Laura! Laura is our fantastic Content Manager here at Sounds-Write. From developing the Sounds-Write Practitioners’ Portal and the Sounds-Write Podcast, Laura works tirelessly to help make Sounds-Write the exceptional programme it is today.
Speech-to-print with Nora Chahbazi and John Walker
Nora is the founder of EBLI, and John is the founder of our very own phonics approach, Sounds-Write. John and Nora discussed their strikingly similar backgrounds in the worlds of phonics, the similarities and differences between their approaches and, of course, speech to print.
Moving Away from Decodable Readers
For students who are just beginning to learn to read, it is imperative that they practise reading with books that are consistent with their developing knowledge of the code and how the code works. These are often known as ‘phonically controlled texts’ or ‘decodable readers’.
Advice for New Sounds-Write Schools
In January 2023, Laura Walker, Sounds-Write Content Manager, spoke with Caroline Hardisty, one of Sounds-Write’s in-house trainers, for an episode of The Sounds-Write Podcast. Caroline gave advice for new Sounds-Write Practitioners, who are just beginning their Sounds-Write journeys.
Learning to read is vital: here’s why
1 in 6 people in the world are completely illiterate, and 3 billion struggle with basic literacy. The effects of illiteracy extend far beyond what you might imagine. It has major economic, social, and health implications at both an individual and a societal level.
What are phonemes and graphemes?
When we talk about phonics, two core concepts we discuss are phonemes and graphemes. It’s easy to switch off if you don’t understand these two cornerstones of literacy, or to get overloaded with the new terms when you’re hearing them for the first time.