Research has shown that a child’s preschool level of expressive and receptive language, Phonological and Phonemic awareness and Number sense skills are a direct measure of Literacy and Numeracy skills in the Early Years of Primary.

In a small group with explicit teaching and lots of play based learning it is the perfect environment to build firm foundations.

If your child has been flagged as needing extra language support or Developmental delay in kindergarten then our classes offer the early intervention to assist them.

Your child will not be bored in prep if they have these skills in fact you are encouraging their self development and learning at an age when they are ready for it.  As children are predominantly starting prep at age 6 a prep program is a great way to engage them while they are enthusiastic and ready to learn. Kindergarten used to be for 4 year olds and is still called 4yo Kinder but they are 5yo and 6yo.

When they begin Primary school with these skills they are well equipped to focus on further learning as they are not using their energy learning all the basics. It actually assists the prep teacher if your child begins as a confident learner. As a parent you will be aware of your child’s needs in literacy and numeracy when they start school and are equipped to address any concerns with your childs’ teacher at the start of the year.

We read using sounds, not letter names. Before we can do this we need a firm foundation of skills in phonemic awareness helping us recognise the sounds in words. Rhyming, alliteration, manipulating the medial vowel in a word are just a few activities that are essential to learn as part of pre reading skills. Isolating individual sounds which are a-z comes first, this is called learning the alphabetical principle. Then we progress teaching digraphs and dipthongs two letters making one sound (ck,ng,sh ), trigraphs three letters that make one sound ( igh, ould) and long vowels.We teach the skill of segmenting and decoding words so the children learn the skill of blending sounds and reading and writing the word using these sounds.

Rote learning 1-10 does not mean that your child understands all the necessary concepts involved in number. Love2learn develops and expands on the number sequence 1-10 covering the principles of these numbers and then what is needed to understand bigger numbers and compositions. Research shows that a child’s mathematical competence at pre school age reflects their later maths development level. (Peter Westwood) Children need to be able to identify numbers, understand that when counting each number it relates to the one specific thing that is being counted( one to one correspondence), know that numbers will always come in a set order (Stable order ) and that the last number counted is the total number of objects (cardinality). Maths vocabulary is another important aspect of our numeracy classes. Terms such as groups of, multiply, add, take away can be confusing to some children and Love2learn helps them learn the basic terms and models them using multisensory activities.

It is an Australian program that follows the principles and practices of The Science of Reading and is evidence based. It is a sequential systematic phonics program which is recommended by Associations such as SPELD, LDA, Auspeld. The decodable readers are bright and modern with characters the children love. The adventures of Pip and Tim are fun and the story line in them progresses. They also have non fiction readers which open up a whole new level of knowledge and vocabulary. LLLL are constantly keeping abreast of current research and evolving with it, producing resources from pre-Grade 2 and operating in many schools. I have been using the program for 7 years now and began using it alongside a Speech pathologist who recognised the strength of this program. We have achieved
Click on this link to find out more about LLLL.
https://www.littlelearnersloveliteracy.com.au/great success using this program.

Yes the LLLL readers can be downloaded from The App store. Each stage is available separately. There are 7 stages.The story is read word by word and page by page on the App. This can be turned off if you don’t want to hear it read to you.At the back of each book on the App is the sound sequence and heart words used in that particular reader. If you touch on each one you will hear either the sound or the heart word.

https://www.littlelearnersloveliteracy.com.au/blogs/decodable-books/apps

 How can I practice the sounds at home ?

You can follow this link to hear the card chant.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KmfVGQdRCo

Another good You tube presentation is

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BELlZKpi1Zs

( Kids Tv 123- Phonics song 2)

You can always ask me to demonstrate to you how we use the sound cards !

Reading is not a natural process in fact it is quite complex. Many children struggle learning to read under the current school approach of ‘Balanced literacy’ where children are taught to read using whole words and are given levelled readers with whole words to learn. Children struggle because in prep they have not been taught the basics of our letter/sound system and yet are expected to navigate readers and lists with whole words in them. Our program is a systematic synthetic phonics program based on the current research called  ‘The Science of Reading ‘This is a term used to describe how the brain learns to read and the necessary pathways that need to be utilised to learn to read. At Love2Learn we integrate and teach in our sessions the ‘Big 6 of Reading’. They are Oral language, Phonological awareness, Phonics, Vocabulary, Fluency and Comprehension. Our reading is taught in a systematic way using decodable readers,spelling and writing.

In our Little Learners Love Literacy Program after the children have learnt the first 8 letter/sounds which are the easiest to make the sound of, m s f a p t c i and learn 3 basic high frequency words ( I My The ) which we call heart words they can begin making and reading words. They take home our stage 1 decodable readers which have decodable words and the 3 heart words taught. From then on they are reading and each week they add more sounds and words to their vocabulary. As we teach them the skill of decoding words using sounds we also teach them to spell them using a process called ‘encoding’. This helps them to get repetition through repeated practise and consolidate both skills simultaneously.

In order for your child to write and spell they need to first learn the letter shape, formation, direction and starting point of all letters which have a corresponding sound. They need to map the letters out on paper which represent the sounds they hear in a word. Often children struggle with this as there are so many letters in our alphabet- upper and lower case. Imagine starting school having to learn all of this from scratch and being given whole word lists (golden words, magic words etc) to learn off by heart from school. Worse still being expected to spell them! Let’s bypass this stress which discourages them from reading as it builds anxiety. Remember if they can’t read the words on the list then how can they manage the readers which are levelled!

Trial classes are given to new comers to love2learn. A normal class fee is charged. Parents are required to stay for the duration of a Trial class so they can see the class in action and make a committed and informed decision to enrol. 

• Love2learn Tote bag
• Scrap book with each week’s sheets glued in
• Show and share ( 2-3  items starting with the prior week’s letter/sound.)
• Drink of water in a bottle clearly named

3yo class parents stay and are active participants during the class.

4-6yo and Primary classes parents may leave their child once they are settled. If your child is new to Love2learn perhaps stay a little at the start then leave. We have a lovely Village shopping strip where you can have a coffee or get some jobs done (Post office, supermarket, bakery ,butchers, newsagency, fruit shop, jeweller, beautician, nail and eyelash salon and 2 fabulous Op shops!)

Our home activities are relevant to their age and learning. It is fun and engaging.

• Show and share– go around the house and find things that begin with the sound of the week and bring them to next weeks show and share
• Letter tracing sheet and find items beginning with a set letter sheet
• Practice the sounds learnt so far -using our chant and cards in Milos card pack, revise the page in the story book at home.
• Readers are sent home after week 9- once the first sequence of sounds have been learnt. Read together using the sounds to decode words and use the basic learn off by heart words learnt. Read it as many times as you like! Repetition is key to developing fluency.
• ‘Maths Magic’ real life activities are sent home from time to time.

It is a year long program running across the 4 terms of the school year. Your child can join at any time during the year as each session includes revision. During the holidays we run holiday programs.

Our class can range from 3-12 children.

Fees are due at the start of the year before the first class. Once enrolled it is considered you are enrolling for the rest of the year unless we are notified.  If you enrol in the start or middle of a term then fees are due as soon as you sign up. Two weeks notice is required before the end of each term if you no longer wish to continue on the next term.  If this notice is not given then 2 weeks fees will be charged for the first 2 weeks of the following term you do not wish to continue with as we will have turned another child away from that class for your child to have kept their place.

Pre school make up classes are offered if you are unable to attend a class. These make up classes can only be on the other mornings we run the classes during the week. The animal friend and letter sound they missed is always covered at the start of the next lesson as revision and your supporting Milo’s surprise party picture book can be used to go over the missed letter/sound at home. Your child will be given the missed Activity sheets when they return to clss the following week. Unfortunately, missed Primary classes cannot be made up as they only run one night per week. No refunds are given for missed lessons. Primary School children who cannot attend a make up class will be given the missed activity sheets and new readers when they return the following week to follow up at home.

In the event that a teacher is away we will endeavour to re schedule the class either online or on another day which works for the majority. If that is not possible then a credit class will be made provision for.

 If you are self managed you may be able to claim for the 4-6yo School Readiness classes through NDIS.

Lisa holds all qualifications with VIT, Working with children cover, current First Aid, and a Post Graduate certificate in Learning Difficulties. We can write up a supporting letter if needed.

We follow the guidelines as set out by the Victorian Government. As the guidelines change parents are notified by us in an email as to these changes.

As of February 2020

Parents are asked to remain outside social distancing and scan in using the QR code on our gate.

Children are required to sanitise their hands upon entry and leaving

Soap on tap is provided in the bathroom along with paper towel for drying of hands.

Sanitiser is in the foyer and classroom

Room is cleaned after every session

Children are reminded every session to cough or sneeze into their arm/sleeve

Windows are open for air ventilation

No child or parent is to come to Love2learn if they are Covid positive or have been in close contact with someone who is.

If your child is sick with any illness or has any covid like symptoms what so ever they are not to come to class.