***************************************************************

New for children:

RTE have a live News Broadcast especially for children which can be accessed through the following link: http://www.rte.ie/trte/news2day/  . It broadcasts general stories from around the country and world; some information on politics (especially around the time of elections ) and also some sporting news. It is therefore suited for middle /senior classes.

**********************************************************************

Useful websites for all ages :

The internet is a valuable resource when it comes to education. Many websites have been developed for educational purpose to include a wide range of information on various topics; powerpoints, videos and fun games and activities which all children enjoy. These types of websites appeal to all learners – visual , auditory and so on.  There are so many websites available; it is very hard to narrow the list down. However here are some websites which you may find useful:

English (junior classes)

English ( middle -older classes)

Maths (junior classes)

Maths ( various ages)

General websites:

  • http://www.ictgames.com/ – contains literacy and numeracy games for various ages.
  • http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks1/ -this website provides information, videos, games and activities under   Numeracy , Literacy and Science.
  • http://www.communication4all.co.uk/ – an excellent resource. Again this website contains a wide range of resources for Numeracy, Literacy and Science. I particularly find this website good for literacy ( phonics, word identification , reading , comprehension skills and so on) , Science – ( Living things, life cycles and plants). The resources are extremely child friendly and are available as powerpoints or printable documents.
  • http://www.scoilnet.ie/ – covers every area of the curriculum with links for students and parents.
  • http://resources.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/ – fantastic website. Woodlands junior covers multiple aspects of the curriculum with links to each area. It is an extremely informative website that contains links to other websites also containing further information or games/activites.
  • http://www.askaboutireland.ie/learning-zone/ – covers a number of areas from the curriculum, in particular history, geography and science and is categorized into class groups.
  • http://www.theproblemsite.com/ – various interactive games for English / Maths.

We will continue to add websites which we come across that are particularly useful. This list however is never ending!!

Help your child learn at home

The Department of Education & Skills have developed a website called helpmykidlearn.ie ( accessible through http://www.helpmykidlearn.ie )as part of the National Strategy to help improve Literacy and Numeracy among young children. The website provides fun activities that parents can do with their children in order to improve their literacy and numeracy. It also includes general information and tips and is certainly worth a visit. Every little bit helps when it comes to children’s education

****************************************************************

Jolly Phonics at home

Practice Jolly Phonics at home with your child using these Jolly Songs and the actions that go with them.  Your child should be able to show you the actions for the sounds.  Keep checking your sound book for the sounds that have been learned in class and any new sounds that have been covered, and then sing the songs at home while you practice the songs.

The Jollyphonics songs are available on you tube – here is a link for one of the videos from British Early Years Centre. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCjJYB07aSU