The goal of the HSCL scheme is to help parents and children get the best out of school life. Part of this is to raise awareness in parents of their own capacities to enhance their children's educational progress and to assist them in developing relevant skills. We recognise that parents are the primary educators of their children and want to work with parents for the good of the children. We run literacy and numeracy activities in the classroom with the children and are always looking to get parents involved.
Drop into Andrea, phone 0867931194 or send a message to the Facebook page 'St Joseph's HSCL' for more information!
Junior Infant Packs
One of the tasks of the HSCL teacher is to give each incoming junior infant pupils a pack at the Junior infant meeting in June. Each pack contains a nursery rhyme book, colouring pages, scissors and crayons. The aim of this
project is to support and encourage parents to play a positive role in the development of their
children's literacy skills. Research has shown that children who have experience in handling books
and being read to from an early age, are those who enjoy the most success in learning to read.
Storytime
Storytime takes place for junior and senior infant pupils after school once a week for a number of weeks throughout the year. This involves an interactive reading of a storybook by a member of the community. Each child gets the opportunity to borrow the Storytime pack for a week, this includes the book itself and a number of other resources. The child is encouraged to read the books as many times as possible, with different people during the week. This is to instil a love of reading in the children.
Talking for Fun
Developing a child's oral language and vocabulary is very important so that they can express themselves and communicate with those around them. Talking for Fun involves parents coming into their child's class, one day a week for 4 weeks and playing some simple talking games with a small group of children. The children love to see their parents coming into the classroom to help the teacher and we have great fun!
Developing a child's oral language and vocabulary is very important so that they can express themselves and communicate with those around them. Talking for Fun involves parents coming into their child's class, one day a week for 4 weeks and playing some simple talking games with a small group of children. The children love to see their parents coming into the classroom to help the teacher and we have great fun!
Storysacks
A Story Sack involves parents/caregivers of children under the age of six choosing two books for their child, a story book and also a fact or non-fiction book related to the theme of the story. The parent then decorates a bag - the "Sack" - with the name of the story book applied to the front and they then create a background with relevant props to bring the book to life for the child. A game (e.g. flash cards, board game, or jigsaw) is also made, relating to the storybook to give the book another dimension. These props help the parent and the child to bring the story to life and encourage conversation and vocabulary building around the story. The fact, or non-fiction, book is used to bring learning about the "real" world into the conversations and learning for the child.
All of these different elements are then placed in the bag, and the Story Sack is complete. The parent presents the Story Sack as a gift to the child and shares the contents with them.
Story Sacks is a lovely, enjoyable course. It aims to encourage parents to read and tell stories to their children and to develop and nurture a love for reading. It also aims to help parents to recognise their role as their child's first and most important teacher. Children, too, can put new value on learning if the parent is seen to enjoy the process.
This course is run in conjunction with Lána from Youngballymun and all materials are provided free of charge. Storysacks will start this year on Wednesday 16th of March for 6 weeks. Please contact Andrea if you are interested.
A Story Sack involves parents/caregivers of children under the age of six choosing two books for their child, a story book and also a fact or non-fiction book related to the theme of the story. The parent then decorates a bag - the "Sack" - with the name of the story book applied to the front and they then create a background with relevant props to bring the book to life for the child. A game (e.g. flash cards, board game, or jigsaw) is also made, relating to the storybook to give the book another dimension. These props help the parent and the child to bring the story to life and encourage conversation and vocabulary building around the story. The fact, or non-fiction, book is used to bring learning about the "real" world into the conversations and learning for the child.
All of these different elements are then placed in the bag, and the Story Sack is complete. The parent presents the Story Sack as a gift to the child and shares the contents with them.
Story Sacks is a lovely, enjoyable course. It aims to encourage parents to read and tell stories to their children and to develop and nurture a love for reading. It also aims to help parents to recognise their role as their child's first and most important teacher. Children, too, can put new value on learning if the parent is seen to enjoy the process.
This course is run in conjunction with Lána from Youngballymun and all materials are provided free of charge. Storysacks will start this year on Wednesday 16th of March for 6 weeks. Please contact Andrea if you are interested.
Maths for Fun
This involves parents coming into the classroom and playing Maths board games with children. Games include number bingo, clock bingo, a pizza fraction game, tanagrams, shopping games, dominoes and playing cards. It is a fun and lively way for children to engage with Maths concepts, helped by our parent volunteers.
This involves parents coming into the classroom and playing Maths board games with children. Games include number bingo, clock bingo, a pizza fraction game, tanagrams, shopping games, dominoes and playing cards. It is a fun and lively way for children to engage with Maths concepts, helped by our parent volunteers.
