Hello! I'm DebI'm a lover of beautiful children's books, a mummy to two little people and also a school teacher. I'm currently living in Toronto, Canada but just returned from 10 years in London, England where my kids were born. My other half is Australian and we met in Africa...so you could say we have a bit of trouble staying put!
We decided to make our last move because the work life balance of a teacher in London was non-existent! So for now, I am taking a break from the classroom and focusing on just my own little ones. |
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I have always loved reading, so my first degree was naturally English Literature. When I trained to become a teacher, I also focused on literacy. A large portion of my career was spent teaching middle school kids. I loved making stories come alive for my pupils and the discussions the classes would generate. After my first maternity leave, I requested to work with younger grades. I really wanted to gain a better understanding of early development not just in reading, but in all areas.
The most valuable thing I learned after changing age groups, was the importance of play-based learning in early years education. Of course I can now also teach phonics in my sleep but there is so much that needs to be established through play before that point. My eldest was reading basic words by 3, simply through daily exposure to books, play activities linked to the books and various alphabet toys (puzzles, foam bath letters, blocks, etc). Reading at an early age wasn't important to me though. I'm much prouder of the fact that he now walks to the library singing songs about books that he loves.
His enthusiasm for new stories isn't something that I saw in all my previous pupils. I really wanted to spread the word that developing an early love of reading is one of the most important things a parent can do. So I decided to resurrect an old class blog I had and start sharing our play ideas with other parents. I hope you find some new ideas here that help you spend time bonding as a family with books. Hop over to our parent page to read more about the importance of developing a lasting connection with literature.
Please let me know if you enjoy our activities and if there are any special books you'd like play suggestions for.
Deb xx
The most valuable thing I learned after changing age groups, was the importance of play-based learning in early years education. Of course I can now also teach phonics in my sleep but there is so much that needs to be established through play before that point. My eldest was reading basic words by 3, simply through daily exposure to books, play activities linked to the books and various alphabet toys (puzzles, foam bath letters, blocks, etc). Reading at an early age wasn't important to me though. I'm much prouder of the fact that he now walks to the library singing songs about books that he loves.
His enthusiasm for new stories isn't something that I saw in all my previous pupils. I really wanted to spread the word that developing an early love of reading is one of the most important things a parent can do. So I decided to resurrect an old class blog I had and start sharing our play ideas with other parents. I hope you find some new ideas here that help you spend time bonding as a family with books. Hop over to our parent page to read more about the importance of developing a lasting connection with literature.
Please let me know if you enjoy our activities and if there are any special books you'd like play suggestions for.
Deb xx
