MeganWilliamsAOLE1172018

Cross Curricular Numeracy. How and why should numeracy be cross curricular? Children should be made aware of the importance maths has on other subjects within the curriculum and how it is not just a subject taught on its own it is embedded into others within the curriculum and is extremely beneficial. Cross curricular offers a unique way to teach and enhance children’s knowledge and understanding, whilst encouraging them to learn through interesting topics. Maths is used every day, within the curriculum and outside of the curriculum, the skills that are developed in maths can be portrayed in other subjects. In this blog I will discuss the reasons why numeracy should be embedded into other subjects across the curriculum and how this enhances a child’s learning. Numeracy is integrated into the whole curriculum and not just in ‘mathematics’ teaching (Learning Wales, 2016). A previously stated it is evident that not every child enjoys or understands maths and find it a diffic...

How to make Maths fun and engaging in Primary Education Most children are naturally inquisitive and interested in learning new things, however, this principle does not always apply when it comes to maths. Often children have a negative attitude when it comes to their maths lessons and are a lot more likely to lose concentration and portray bad behaviour within the classroom. Maths is a key subject that must be taught in the curriculum so by making it interactive and engaging is essential for concentration and good behaviour. Donaldson (2015) states that if Maths is taught well through relevant contexts, mathematics can engage and fascinate children and young people of all interests and abilities (Donaldson, 2015, p.49). This blog will discuss ways in which maths can be enhanced and made to be fun and engaging within the primary setting. There are many effective strategies that make maths more engaging and fun within the primary setting, one strategy is to make it hand...

Story Sacks in Primary Education Story sacks were developed in the United Kingdom by Neil Griffiths in the 1990s and comprise of a large cloth bag containing a good quality young child's picture book with supporting materials to stimulate reading activities (Miller, s and Pennycuff, L. 2008). Story sacks are a fun resource to use during story time, making it more engaging and exciting. This blog will expand on the importance story sacks have on a child’s development, and the various benefits they provide for both the child and parent. Story sacks are often a drawstring bag that consist of various items such as, a CD, a soft teddy or toy, plastic characters from the story, relevant food to taste, games or role play or even music that can be used to support a particular book. This encourages children to become involved within story telling as it provides them with a sense of excitement and fun through bringing the story to life using objects. Story sacks can be ...

Storytelling in primary education Storytelling is defined as, “relating a tale to one or more listeners through voice and gesture” (National Council of Teachers of English, 1992, p. 1). Storytelling in education provides many benefits to the child and teacher, it allows the teacher to observe the child’s ability to use their imagination and creativity. Storytelling is not only reading each word, page to page from a book, it is a key component to capturing a child’s imagination and allowing them to decide what may happen next. Storytelling can be told through acting, singing, dancing and reading. “Children’s imaginations are the most powerful and energetic learning tools” (Egan, 1990, p.2). In our seminar on 06/11/2018 we designed our own movie. This included writing a script, deciding each individual’s role within the movie, planning what props to use, the setting of the story, how to use the iPad to film and the key factor to make the movie successful and flow was plann...

The Primary School Curriculum The current National Curriculum was introduced under the Education Reform Act in 1988, this act set out to ensure that all children were equal to the same standard of education. The 1944 Act had introduced universal state education, but ‘what’ was taught and ‘how’ the curriculum was delivered tended to reflect earlier content and practice (Driscoll, P et al. 2015).   Marsh, C. (2009) defines the curriculum as ‘The curriculum is those subjects that are most useful for living in contemporary society.’ Since 1988 there has been very little real change in relation to the core subjects that are taught at primary school (Collins, 2011). This is a concern as a lot has changed within society since then and it could be argued that our education system could have progressed with it. In this blog post I will be discussing the key purposes of the National Curriculum and the subjects I believe should be prioritised and focused on more today. Donaldson (2015...