Learning Resources for
Junior & Senior Infants
Suggested Nursery Rhymes to encourage oral language skills:
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If you are unsure of the words for the rhymes above there are several links on the web to help you remember those rhymes you learned as a child, examples of which include:
- List of Nursery Rhymes - Wikipedia list each individual nursery rhyme also giving details of its origin and history
- Literactive - You must register with this website (it's free) to get the full benefit of its contents
- Nursery Rhymes - a very interesting site that details the history, origins and lyrics of many nursery rhymes including ones that have been lost to this generation. You can also test your knowledge with their Trivia Quiz.
- The Speks - a fantastic virtual Irish Band that has put Traditional Nursery Rhymes to Traditional Irish Music. Some of their music is available on their site and their Book / CD combo is available to purchase on-line
Suggested Reading to Develop Early Literacy:
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Julia Donaldson:
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Lynley Dodd:
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Michael Rosen:
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There is a host of good websites that aid the development of early reading skills, and as many electronic devices are now geared towards our children the number of e-books for early readers available on the web is increasing rapidly. Some free sites that are useful include:
- Oxford Owl - This is a fantastic free reading resource that has numerous eBooks available on-line and caters for children aged 3 - 11. The eBooks include books from the Oxford Reading Tree, Songbirds and Project X reading schemes. There is also a Kid's Barn packed full of on-line and downloadable activities
- Children's Stories - A site that looks at the difference between your child's reading age and hearing age. It also has a fortnightly function that emails a new eBook from a host of new and established writers
- Help my Kid Learn - A wonderful Irish site that is age appropriate and offers a host of eBooks and activities that will help develop early literacy skills
- Starfall - Helping children to read using phonics and there are some eBooks & activities available on-line to reinforce learning
- Early Literacy Activities - A website dedicated to children's books and Literacy offers games and activities that you can play with your children to develop literacy skills. It also offers age appropriate book lists that you can look at for suggested books that your little ones may appreciate as a gift for Birthdays or at Christmas, or even to get at your local library.
A subscription is required for the following websites and discounts are offered depending on number of children subscribed or duration of package:
- Reading Eggs: A brilliant resource that children really respond to through reinforced learning and fun characters. Your child's progress is monitored and regular emails are sent to details your child's progress through their reading maps. Uses and constantly repeats phonics as they are taught in school and is an excellent site for children from 3 to 13. This site offer a few two-week trial to those who are not sure if this is what they are looking for to help their children.
- Gridclub: An all encompassing website that looks at all of the subjects taught in our schools. Though a British based website the information and activities are also applicable to our children's curriculum. There is not a massive resource available for learning to read on Gridclub for the early reader but would perhaps be applicable to children towards the end of the school year when early reading is established. Offers to join this website are often available with Living Social Deals and through Tesco.ie with your tokens.