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Parents
This area is designed for parents and carers.
It directs you to the many materials that are suitable for use at home to support young children, and children and young people who have special needs.
From real things to symbols
Infants learn to recognise real objects - and show they can by using them. They learn that words are linked to things. Then they see pictures and hear people use the same words and – over time – the connection is made. A word refers to a thing, and a picture refers to a thing, and pictures are there for you every time you look!
Then comes text. No one can say words are like things to look at.
So symbol support is a wonderful bridge from the known (pictures)
to the unknown (the printed word).
A huge set of symbols for everyday vocabulary is covered by the
Widgit Literacy Symbols (previously know as Widgit Rebus). Thousands of the Widgit symbols are little
drawings that are representations of real things.
You can use these symbols to
- help children to recognise and learn spoken words,
- understand concepts, and
- learn to read.
These pages are full of ideas and activities for parents. They are intended to be particularly useful for those who have children with language difficulties.
Communicate: In Print allows you to make loads of language support activities. There are many resources available to download and print straight from the program, using the 8000 Widgit Literacy symbols.
Communicate: By Choice has 100 activities for early learning and language work. It is ideal for use at home. These are all fully switch accessible for children with motor impairments.
For further information about what symbols are and why to use them, visit the information section of the Parents Area - About Using Symbols
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