Next Level Tutoring

Who feels ready for the ‘back to school’ madness to commence?

Let us know any ‘back to school’ traditions you have at home or any tips on how you prepare your little ones transitions back to the classroom!

Phonics is so important when helping children learn to read and spell. It gives them the tools to decode words, breaking them down in to smaller sounds which they can then blend together at the end.

We like to segment them by using sausages and beans (I know, it may sound strange). The sounds (phoneme) can consist of one letter (grapheme) such as c, a, t or two or three letters such as ai or igh. We call the longer graphemes (digraph = 2 letters, trigraph = 3 letters) sausages and the one letter graphemes beans. The children love drawing these on while recognising different sounds.

If your little one is ever stuck reading a word, get them to write it out and add their sausages and beans below it!

We love asking children questions to make them think. This encourages self-awareness, builds confidence through sharing their perspective and helps them improve their communication.

Let us know some of the best thought- provoking questions you’ve asked your little one or ones they might have asked you!

We love the opportunity to read books, in the (possible) sunshine on these long summer days. If you are stuck with what to read with your little one over the summer break, then have a look at our reading list below for a few ideas.

These are books are high-quality and full of rich language, and they should keep your child engaged and wanting more!

KS1 (Y1&Y2)
- Beegu
- The Day the Crayons Quit
- The Snail & the Whale
- That Rabbit Belongs to Emily Brown
- We're Going on a Bear Hunt
- The Bad-tempered Ladybird (has some great links you can use for helping to tell the time too)
- The Gruffalo
- Hairy Maclary from Donaldson’s Dairy
- The Tiger Who Came to Tea
- Not Now, Bernard
- I Want My Hat Back
- Dogger
- Lila and the Secret of Rain
- One Plastic Bag (great to use when talking about the importance of recycling)
- Matilda (for more advanced readers)
- Room on the Broom
- The Way Back Home
- W***y the Wimp
- World’s Worst Children 1 & 2 (for more advanced readers)

LKS2 (Y3&4)
- Leon and the Place Between
- Voices in the Park
- Kid Normal
- The Invisible Boy (thought-provoking and a nice link to talk about more sensitive issues)
- Flat Stanley
- Fantastic Mr Fox
- The Diary of a Killer Cat
- The Cat in the Hat
- The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs
- The Giving Tree
- Where The Wild Things Are
- Operation Gadgetman!
- The Worst Witch
- Billionaire Boy
- Cliffhanger

UKS2 (Y5&6)
- Who Let the Gods Out
- The Violet Veil Mysteries
- Artemis Fowl
- The Butterfly Lion
- Charlotte's Web
- Danny the Champion
- The What on Earth? Wallbook Timeline of Big History
- The Iron Man
- Krindlekrax
- Stig of the Dump
- Hacker
- The Demon Headmaster
- The Boy At the Back of the Class
- The Silly Book of Side-Splitting Stuff

These are just a few of our many recommendations! If you have any specific questions regarding what material to use to engage or enhance your child's reading skills, drop us a private message :)

What can your children teach you? We have always given the children to show off their knowledge and skills, as this not helps improve their confidence and improves their speech and language development.

We have been taught many fascinating facts (did you know a crocodile can't stick out their tongue?'), been shown new skills (now we could floss professionally) and gained invaluable insight into the child's personal interests. This helps us keep them engaged in future sessions!

What're the most interesting/fascinating/strange things your child/student has taught you?