Here's the second installment of my series on processing speed. This post examines how we might spot slow processing in our students, and our own children.

‘Slow processing speed’ is something I’ve encountered a lot recently, both personally and professionally. So, I’ve been doing some research into what it is, and what we can do to support students who are affected in this way.

This will be the first in a series of 3 - if you find this helpful, look out for my next post next week.

I’m just getting my desk cleared, ready for a week of teaching. Some of my students bring their stuffed toys to their lessons.

Sometimes the toys speak on their behalf, it takes away some of the anxiety over making mistakes, and I’m happy to chat to stuffed toys.

I’ve now got Paddington on standby in case I need reinforcements.

For breakfast this morning, my student and I sampled some banana. This photo is a reconstruction, because by the time it occurred to me that we could write on the skin … I’d already eaten mine … so only my student actually wrote on a banana at the time!

Can anyone recommend edible pens? I don’t think sharpies and soft fruit will be a tasty combination!

✨ Sensory Salt for Learning to Read & Spell! ✨

Sensory salt is a fantastic multi-sensory activity that engages touch, sight, and even smell to make learning more engaging! My sons enjoyed tracing words in our homemade cinnamon-scented salt – perfect for a winter learning session. ❄️

Why use sensory salt?
✔️ Engages multiple senses to reinforce learning
✔️ Supports fine motor skills development
✔️ Makes spelling and phonics practice more fun!

Want to try it at home? Read on to learn how to make your own.

Multi-sensory learning strategies

Dienes (or Base 10) are a really useful way of showing number in a concrete way.

Why are decodable books important for dyslexic learners?