5 November 2015 FÁILTE!

 Introduction & Welcome  Our Mission  Boys’ thoughts on school so far…  Your role as primary educator  The Curriculum Areas  Oral Language  Reading  CAPER (Children And Parent Enjoy Reading)  Writing & Handwriting  Numeracy  Gaeilge/Irish  Homework  Recommended websites

 To provide a safe, friendly, effective and stimulating educational environment  To promote the principles of respect, truth and equality  Seek to promote confidence, self-esteem and communication skills  To show consideration and respect for each individual and for others  Affirm in faith and celebrate difference  Strive to help children to attain goals and to help each child develop his own potential and talents for future life

 What are our boys saying about school…

 “The support of parents who are engaged in their child’s learning has a significant positive impact on a child’s educational achievement, especially in literacy and numeracy.” (Literacy & Numeracy for Life National Strategy )

Family and environment arguably six times more important than school?

 “When Parents and Schools Work Together, Everyone Wins”  “Schools and parents must work together to improve children’s attainment”  “Working Together To Make a Difference For Children”

The Primary School Curriculum was developed by the NCCA and launched in It is presented in six areas which comprise of 11 subjects.

 Language – 1. Gaeilge and 2. English  Mathematics – 3. Maths  Physical Education – 4. PE  The Arts – 5. Visual Arts, 6. Music, 7. Drama  Social, Environmental & Scientific Education (SESE) – 8. History, 9. Geography, 10. Science  Social, Personal, Health Education (SPHE) – 11. SPHE  Religious Education (RE)

 Junior and Senior Infant Classes in Primary School Junior and Senior Infant Classes in Primary School

Aistear - what it's all about and how you can support it at home Aistear is the early childhood curriculum framework for all children from birth to six years in Ireland. We use it extensively in the infant classes.

Literacy For The 21st Century

 The development of oral language is given an importance as great as that of reading and writing, at every level, in the curriculum. (English Language Teacher Guidelines, p3)  A child can have between a thousand and five thousand words by the time they are three depending on family circumstances.

Solid oral language = better reading = improved writing

 Talk to him every day about every day things in his environment at every possible opportunity.  Encourage full sentences.  The use of the past tense.  Express feelings.  Play games. Make sure he interacts with his peers.  Read to him and let him re-tell you the story.  Introduce new vocabulary – picture dictionary useful for all children but especially international children.  Poetry, rhymes and riddles  Improvised drama  Children should be seen and not heard!!

 Junior Infants – much of the English programme in his first year will be devoted to oral language and informal reading activities  What is happening in class now in preparation for formal reading?

 Read to him every night.  Join the library. Have a rich variety of books available at home.  Create a print rich environment in your home.  Make sure you do his CAPER with him.  Practise his letter sounds. (Look for sound in newspapers, books, signposts etc)  Check he is not reading from memory.  Recall/prediction in story.  Encourage him to use pictorial cues.  Question him on the pictures.  Don’t jump in. Encourage blending of sounds.

 What is phonics? Phonics is simply the system of relationships between letters and sounds in a language. When your boy learns that the letter B has the sound of /b/ and he learns that "tion" sounds like /shun/, they are learning phonics.

Jolly Phonics

Examples of tricky and common words The Here There Come Said Go Was

 Construct-A-Word Construct-A-Word We’ll be doing blending after Christmas.

 Children And Parents Enjoy Reading  Shared Process between child and adult  Main focus is on enjoyment  Talk to them about the book – front cover, author, illustrator, pages, left to right orientation etc  Shared Reading Video Shared Reading Video

 Froggy Legs ->  Left to right, top to bottom  Finger space between words  Pencil position, page position, table position  Free writing  If my child is finding writing difficult...?  Handwriting & Presentation Policy on website Handwriting & Presentation Policy

What It Means To Be Numerate?

 Forming the numbers correctly (how we do it on handwriting/presentation policy)  Finding maths in the child’s environment e.g. Calendars, brochures, shapes etc  JI – write 1-5, count from 1 to 10  The language of Maths – more, less, the same, different, rough, smooth, heavy, light  Maths Resources For Parents Helping Their Boys in Infant Classrooms Maths Resources For Parents Helping Their Boys in Infant Classrooms

 Children have no hang ups about speaking Irish  Encourage to use simple words at home e.g pass me the bainne.  Question the boys on words they learned in school, games they played.  Dún/oscail an doras – common phrases  Watch cartoons/play games on TG4 Watch cartoons/play games on TG4  – coming soon

 Junior Infants – Homework goes out on Tuesday and is returned on Friday.  1 Activity Page Per Night  2 pages of sound booklet per week (Tues & Weds)  Maths Sheet (Thurs)  Revise sounds in sound book each night  Thursday night – complete RE page  Colouring in is part of the homework

         (subscription)    

 Behaviour management systems in Junior Infants and school-wide  Lunches  Absences and Attendance  Communication Journal  Tracksuits days

 Presentation on our website in the Parent Zone Section

Questions/Ceisteanna?