Grandma, Gruffalo and the Need for Literacy Revolution

Long before the pandemic reared its head, the issue of a decline in literacy and vocabulary skills was a significant topic for teachers.

Does today’s answer lie in returning to the foundations of learning?

In the good old days pre-Covid, I know I for one underestimated how valuable my daughter’s ‘grandchild bond’ was.

Not only did she reap the rewards of spending time giggling, playing and being spoiled rotten thanks to the undivided attention of doting grandparents, but her special one-to-one reading time was always assured.

Every week, she’d work through another chapter or entire book, while learning new vocabulary and unconsciously enhancing her literacy skills for the next stage of her classroom work alongside her peers.

It’s a sad reality of Covid that we now know many children have seen their literacy skills decline, and that’s in no small part due to the fact that there’s now been less time for Mum, Dad or Grandma to sit reading The Gruffalo or taking that youngster on a literary journey through all kinds of book genre.

We’re extremely alert to that reality at Lexonik, and have spent the pandemic ensuring our solutions are one of the ultimate mechanisms for upskilling or continued progress, as our youngsters return to full-time school-based learning.

Our products are rooted in providing rapid learning solutions, giving teachers and pupils the skills to make dramatic improvements in reading, spelling and vocabulary.

Most recently, we’ve poured a decade’s worth of experience in helping over 1300 teachers supercharge reading and vocabulary into our new cloud-based resource Lexonik Vocabulary.

Lexonik Vocabulary goes beyond the rhetoric of merely attempting to upskill classroom teaching practice, and instead develops a systematic approach to support every learner, in every classroom, from KS1 to adulthood.

The most unique area of Lexonik Vocabulary is the facilitation of the explicit teaching of vocabulary, based around the same methodology as our flagship Lexonik Advance intervention programme, making it the ideal supplementary product to lessen teacher variability and ensure sustainability and progress whole-school.

Of course, it goes without saying that I still believe Grandma and The Gruffalo are just as important for reading enhancement among our children as ever, and I look forward to the day when all our children are benefiting from such special time again, but until then, I’m proud to be part of a technological solution which might well help tackle some of the current attainment concern.

If you feel like you want to learn more about our intervention programmes check them out here or if you’re looking for advice, get in touch.

Sarah Ledger
Lexonik • CEO