Is your child ready for their first year at school?

​

Research clearly states that children who have a strong basis in phonological awareness combined with well-developed oral language are best able to cope with the demands of learning to read and write when they begin formal schooling. Phonological awareness, simply, is the ability to understand the sound structure of a spoken word.

​

Our groups are based on research and many years of experience in helping prepare children for the best start for the new school year. They incorporate social skills practice in a fun, engaging but educational way.

​

• Within the clinic, groups run at NBSLR during terms 2, 3, and 4.

• Pre-school run groups during terms 2, 3, and 4. Please have your preschool contact us to express interest.

​

It seems so far away now, but will be here in a flash! Could he or she benefit from skill development in the following areas?

​

Phonological Awareness:

​

•  Awareness of letters and their sounds

•  Breaking down words into sounds

•  Building sounds to make words

•  Letter Formation

•  Use of lines for guidance in writing

•  Pencil grip

•  Print/book awareness

​

​

Vocabulary Development and Understanding of Language:

​

•  Building up word knowledge and understanding of story structure, an important pre-requisite for later reading comprehension

​

Groups are held in a positive environment in which to practice important social and listening skills, learning of school routines, and following directions.

​

Our groups are based on research and many years of experience in helping prepare children for the best start at school.  Considering that Australia ranks only 27 out of 44 countries in terms of literacy levels and approximately 16% of all Australian children will have trouble learning to read, the development of phonological awareness skills as a pre-schooler is imperative to give children every chance of success once they start school.

​

Research shows that with children well-developed phonological awareness and strong oral language skills are far more likely to efficiently learn to read. Our groups use play base tasks and structured activities surrounding book reading to help skill development in these areas.

​

In 2023 we are running groups to help prepare children for their school start in 2024. These groups will be run by our enthusiastic and experienced speech pathologists. Groups will run through terms three and four Monday through to Friday, on demand. Children are expected to attend their group once weekly, across the two terms. Each group will run for approximately 45 minutes.

​

Groups can be held at your child’s preschool, upon request.

​