Principal's Page - Judy Egan
Dear Parents/Carers,
St Michael’s has now introduced Let’s Decode a Program developed by Associate Professor Lorraine Hammond AM, PHD, CF from Edith Cowen University. For the first 15 minutes of everyday children in Kindergarten to Year 2, are involved in building their literacy skills.
Let’s Decode is an evidence-based programme built on understandings about how the brain learns. In Education we are referring to ‘The Science of Reading’ because after 40 years or more of research in many disciplines we can see we need a revolution and an end to false theories:
If the evidence is overwhelming and compelling, why are so many children failing to learn to read? Despite a preponderance of evidence about what constitutes good reading instruction, these false theories persist:
- Reading is as natural as speaking, therefore immersing children in print and literature will teach children to read.
- Teaching young children to look at pictures, skip over words, or guess at words based on context will develop the strategies necessary for reading comprehension.
- There are hundreds of ways to learn to read, therefore there is no single set of instructional principles that will work for all children.
(Laura Stewart, The Science of Reading, Evidence for a new era of reading instruction)
I am proud to be leading a school community where everyone is committed to using the best methods and research to help your child to learn.
If you would like to know more about the Science of Reading, this is a great article.
Many Blessings
Judy Egan