Tuesday 14 May 2013

Schools sign up to charter

  On Thursday 9th May I was asked to present a very worthy
Young Carers Charter to one of the schools local 
to where I was born in County Durham. 


There are 175,000 known young carers in the UK,
and many more who are young carers but are unknown, 
who care for a family member
for one unfortunate reason or other.
A young carer is someone aged 18 or under who helps
to look after a relative who has a disability, illness, 
mental health condition or drug or alcohol problem.
Having read the Charter, it is to be applauded in it's thoughtfulness, 
understanding and compassion shown towards young carers 
who may be performing difficult 
but necessary tasks in their home environment–tasks beyond 
what are expected of children so young.

The Northern Echo

TWO schools have been rewarded for supporting pupils 
who have caring responsibilities at home and others are being 
encouraged to follow their example.

Chilton Primary School and Woodham Academy, 
in Newton Aycliffe were this week presented 
with copies of the County Durham Young Carers Charter.
Both schools have worked with Family Action Durham Young Carers 
to create a supportive environment for those youngsters 
who help to look after loved ones.
Glynis Newby, 
educational development worker with Family Action, said:
“One in 12 children is a young carer so we want 
all schools in County Durham to sign up to the charter, 
it involves simple inexpensive steps to make 
the live of young carers better.”

To sign up to the charter each school built an environment 
where young carers and their families feel safe, 
accepted and understood and raised awareness among staff 
and pupils of the pressures some young carers may face.
Young carers should then know they can turn to 
someone at school for help, be it emotional or practical.

Children’s book illustrator Stuart Trotter, 
originally from Ferryhill, 
 presented Chilton Primary School with its award yesterday 
(Thursday, May 9).
Mr Trotter, whose work includes illustrating 
the Rupert Bear annuals since 2008, 
Postman Pat and Kipper books, said:
“To throw a comforting and supporting arm around pupils 
and families has to be applauded.”

By Catherine Priestley, 
Chief Reporter Northern Echo.

Wednesday 1 May 2013

How picture books boost your child's vocabulary...


From the Daily Mail
 
PUBLISHED: 1 May 2013

How picture books boost your child's vocabulary: 
 Stories with no words help because toddlers ask 
questions about what they see.
  • The study looked at 25 mothers as they read to their children at bedtime
  • Mothers use a more sophisticated form of language when they picked a picture book compared to a book with words

Books with no words are actually best for boosting 
children's language skills, a study has found.
Want to help your child develop their vocabulary? 
Pick a picture book for their bedtime story.
Books with no words are actually best for boosting 
children’s language skills, a study has found.
Experts said parents who turn to wordless storybooks 
end up spending time discussing the pictures and answering 
their toddler’s questions – exposing them to complicated words.
The study looked at 25 mothers as they read their children a set of bedtime stories. 
Psychologists from the University of Waterloo, 
Canada, found the mothers used more advanced  
language when they picked up a picture book 
compared to a book with words.
Study author professor Daniela O’Neill said: 
‘Too often parents will dismiss picture storybooks, 
especially when they are wordless, as not real reading or just for fun. 
But these findings show that reading picture storybooks 
with kids exposes them to the kind of talk that is 
really important for children to hear.
‘Mums frequently used more forms of complex talk when reading 
the picture storybook to their child than the picture-vocabulary book.’
She added: ‘Books of all kinds can build children’s language 
and literacy skills, but they do so perhaps in different ways.