...Simple Steps to Successful Parenting
BEST PARENTING ADVICE
FREE KID'S LEARNING GAMES
DISCOVER
​​Did you know for example that around 50% of every piece of writing you will ever read uses some of the same 100 words. These are called high frequency words.
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(Some of these high frequency words are marked here in bold to illustrate what I am talking about. )
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I have devised some fun reading games so you can find out and practise these high frequency words with your child. There are also assessment sheets included which you can screen shot, copy and print off. Or you can contact me and I can send you a pdf with the information on it.
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For example in the piece written above 60/102 words are high frequency words.
During my lengthy career in education I've had the opportunity to observe and refine, what quality teaching and learning look like.
I've found learning is most effective when you link positive emotion to it.
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Learning opportunities can be child directed, free and totally play based. But they can also be highly structured experiences, encompassing drill exercises involving the opportunity for frequent repetition. Or they can be anywhere in between.
​The free learning games I've developed are based on fast-paced engaged play and they are quick to complete.
Fun Phonics can take just two minutes a day to revise. And the results are astounding.
Not only are these games highly effective learning tools due to the numerous opportunities for repetition play provides, they help build positive family relationships because they're fun.
Fun Reading Games
My favourite game is Shark Park because it can be used to practice more words than those listed, although my own kids loved Iranaconda best
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It's been my experience while some children learn a new concept relatively quickly, others can take much longer to retain it.
Even a child who learns well rarely learns by being exposed to a new concept just once, even if it's pitched within their level of proximal development. It usually takes them two or three goes to grasp it.
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But for many children of good average ability they're looking at being exposed to new information between five to fifteen times before they can retain it independently. And for children who have difficulty learning you can be looking at forty or fifty repetitions, maybe more, before they can independently recall new information or skills.
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It makes sense to provide opportunities for repetition.
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But how do you help your child be exposed to the same concept over and over without them becoming bored or resentful?
The answer is through structured play, ideally the type that engages positive emotion. What we attach emotion to... we have a greater chance of remembering. Play, at any age, gives us the opportunity to practise and refine new skills and knowledge without even realizing we're doing it. And it's fun. The added bonus is it helps build cooperation and relationships with those we're playing with.
Fun Phonics Games
This is a fantastic fast-moving game for kids to learn all of their phonics.
If you play it properly, and make it fun, you'll be amazed at the results.
Fun Maths Games
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So how do we as parents set up structured play opportunities when we're so busy?
These ideas not only give you advice on how to work out what your child can do but how you can build upon their skill levels by incorporating learning opportunities into some of the things you're already doing.
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​Can you imagine just how much easier reading would be for your child if instead of having to sound out each and every word they encounter, they know these high frequency words as sight words.
Practically speaking, that would mean they already know around half of what's on the page. Not only does it increase their fluency, it increases their word attack skills because they can better predict what might come next.
For example. I am going to the shop. 5 out of the 6 words they encounter they already know.
Even if they've never seen the word 'shop' before, they can take a good guess at what it might say, especially if they've got some sounding ability as well... I am going to the sh-o-p.
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​As you would be aware there are some excellent computer based programmes that teach reading.
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However I wanted my children to learn through fun active play experiences (using cooperative games) rather than on a computer.
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I've been increasingly concerned about the amount of time young children are spending in front of screens. Many, many children are currently exceeding guidelines recommended by the Australian Department of Health.
"For children two to five years of age, sitting and watching television and the use of other electronic media (DVDs, computer and other electronic games) should be limited to less than one hour per day."
And for children younger than 2 years: "Evidence suggests that TV watched in the first 2 years of life may be connected with delays in language and short-term memory development and poorer social skills."
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Quotes taken from The Australian Department of Health Website:
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Best Parenting Advice.com is a high quality parenting website designed with child and family success in mind. This site provides free resources for busy parents who want best practical advice on: effective child rearing strategies, easy healthy family meals, self-care tips for time-poor parents and fun learning games to help best educate children while also encouraging positive relationships within the family.
One of the best pieces of parenting advice to help support healthy cooperative families, is to provide regular nutritious meals, eaten together as a family as often as possible. Best parenting advice provides a range of quick and easy family dinner recipes supplied by busy working parents. These are the recipes asked for: because they taste great, they're quick and easy they're family friendly and they're foolproof.
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This site provides examples of what worked for me over decades and you are welcome to use these ideas as you see fit but you do so at your own risk. This site does not provide any guarantee that this information will work in every circumstance with every family or every child. It is your responsibility as a user of this site to ensure that you adhere to any recommended safety suggestions either implicit or explicit on this site and supervise your children while playing any games suggested. Best Parenting Advice.com is not affiliated with any other groups, clubs, religious organizations or educational systems.
Best parenting takes time. The best parenting advice ever is simple: Do your best, don't give up and love your children, no matter what.