Sounds and Symbols

27/08/2026

In the USA last year, statistics showed that 2/3 of 12th grade students were at only basic level or below in literacy.

Today I presented my research at a conference in Japan to illustrate how we can ensure secure foundations upon which literacy proficiency can be built.

There was a full house! Good sign!

It’s time to focus on the early years!

The Literacy-through-Music Model illustrates how foundational literacy competencies can be promoted through musical activities, which are ideal for young learners.

26/08/2026

RIP Dolly 🥲

18/08/2026

As Ann Kay would say, ‘It’s time to zap that gap’!

Join me in Japan! 🇯🇵

18/08/2026

Many musical skills can be used to build the skills required for literacy.

Awareness of sounds and the ability to discriminate between them is vital for phonemic awareness.

The ability to keep a rhythm enables the brain to match the words we see on a page to our language sounds fluently, thus supporting comprehension.

The music of a country reflects the natural cadence of its language in terms of syllable length, stress patterns, tones and structure. Therefore when singing and performing music of a country you are unconsciously assimilating its features, thus preparing the brain for language.

Maybe this is why some children sing before they speak!

12/07/2026

Music is the perfect vehicle for the delivery of literacy learning. This activity promotes concepts of print, receptive and productive language, phonological awareness - syllabic, rhyming and phonemic - entrainment to a beat, fluency, memory, focus and attention, sequencing and prediction, which underpin literacy success, when the teacher focuses on literacy outcomes.

12/07/2026

At the European Conference on Education at UCL in London yesterday, I presented research to demonstrate how musical activities can and should be used to promote essential foundational literacy skills. This research led to the development of a Literacy-through-Music Model to guide early years practitioners.

05/07/2026

05/07/2026

In Finland music is naturally infused through every lesson - no wonder their PISA scores were so high.

Early Years Education in Finland Having been fortunate enough to visit some of Finland’s early years settings, I was able to examine why Finland is so highly rated in terms of its literacy (and numeracy) scores on PISA tests. The early years curriculum has three main overarching goals – the prom...

05/07/2026

Literacy rates are declining.

This article explains how teaching methods, lack of whole book reading and screen time replacing conversations, are the root causes of this decline:

Without substantial reading skills, “the risk is that future generations will simply be unable to think as deeply and with as much complexity as in the past."

02/07/2026

Using musical activities to promote the development of essential foundational literacy competencies is undoubtedly the most effective method due to the commonalities between music and language, the naturally engaging nature of music, its ability to promote entrainment to a beat, its ability to evoke memory and a wealth of other benefits of undertaking musical activities!

The difference between a music session and a literacy-through-music session is the intention of the presenter in promoting literacy outcomes and a deliberate use of books, props and stories to support the promotion of foundational literacy competencies.