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The benefits of learning through characters and narrative
4 min read

The benefits of learning through characters and narrative

Engaging narratives and relatable, larger-than-life characters are proven to be perfect vehicles for learning.   Lovable characters improve engagement with - and retention of - educational content....
reading a book
4 min read

Reading difficulties? Illustrations can come to the rescue

Combining words with illustrations has various learning and memory-related benefits. These benefits are even greater for children with dyslexia because they often need to rely on a visual learning ...
astronaut exploring
4 min read

The importance of visual learning

According to research, children learn better visually, and not only those with a visual learning style. Illustrations are such an effective way to learn because visualization helps to clarify mean...
Why Learning Games Should Be Fun-First
16 min read

Why Learning Games Should Be Fun-First

Do your kids spend hours building entire worlds out of virtual blocks on Minecraft? Is it practically impossible to pull them away from the user-generated game world of Roblox? You might cynically ...
Level Up Learning with Educational Games
18 min read

Level Up Learning with Educational Games

The Mrs Wordsmith team is passionate about the amazing opportunities afforded by games. Founded on the power of storytelling and visual language and with two award-winning card games already, we’re...
The benefits of shared reading according to neuroscience
2 min read

The benefits of shared reading according to neuroscience

Reading with your child is literally “brain-changing".Innumerable studies have shown that shared reading between a child and an adult has many important benefits for children. Shared reading causes...
What it means to learn words in context
5 min read

What it means to learn words in context

There is little point in learning new words outside of context and there are good reasons for this. Placing a word in context is crucial for the comprehension of its meaning as well as for clarifyi...
Writing makes you happy
4 min read

Writing makes you happy

Research shows that writing helps us make sense of our thoughts, feel better about past negative experiences, and feel more optimistic about the future.Why does writing benefit our well-being?Writi...
Why storytelling and characters improve children's learning
2 min read

Why storytelling and characters improve children's learning

Nothing is more effective than a good story for driving children’s learning. That’s because storytelling captures the imagination like little else.[1][2]Stories are incredibly powerful Humans are s...
The science of humor: why laughing helps you learn
5 min read

The science of humor: why laughing helps you learn

When something is funny it’s much more memorable. From an educational standpoint, the solution is obvious: use humor to help children learn better.What's the link between humor and learning?Have yo...
How does handwriting practice reinforce reading skills?
5 min read

How does handwriting practice reinforce reading skills?

Handwriting practice helps develop reading skills. It is a crucial skill for children as they move through their early school years, beginning with individual capital letters in Pre-K all the way t...
What is word consciousness and how can it be built?
1 min read

What is word consciousness and how can it be built?

What is word consciousness?Word consciousness is what emerges when children are given rich enough information that helps them to understand the meaning of words deeply and accurately.[1] Word consc...
The importance of direct vocabulary instruction
7 min read

The importance of direct vocabulary instruction

Reading is great, but not enough for learning new vocabulary Reading has a smaller impact on vocabulary acquisition than you might think - kids need more support. Converging research evidence suppo...
The link between vocabulary and intelligence
3 min read

The link between vocabulary and intelligence

The more words a child knows, the more effectively they read and the more effectively they learn – whatever the subject. Vocabulary is so influential, in fact, that educational psychology pioneers ...
What is phonological awareness?
2 min read

What is phonological awareness?

Phonological awareness is the awareness of the sounds in spoken words, as well as the ability to manipulate those sounds. Phonological awareness describes the set of skills involved in identifying ...
Sight words: The difference between irregular and high-frequency
3 min read

Sight words: The difference between irregular and high-frequency

High-frequency words are words that appear commonly in children's books. These are also worth learning by sight. Examples of high frequency words include words such as are and she. Many high-freque...
Why don’t children just learn whole words?
3 min read

Why don’t children just learn whole words?

Research favors phonics for kids because the “whole word” approach is inefficient. Children cannot store tens of thousands of words in their memory. Eye movement research has shown that, when readi...
The five blocks of the Science of Reading
5 min read

The five blocks of the Science of Reading

Learning to read is a complex process that requires systematic instruction and practice. Here is a summary of the skills that a child needs to acquire in order to master reading.1. Phonemic Awaren...
Why words matter to kids' social development
7 min read

Why words matter to kids' social development

Believe it or not, kids actually have an innate desire to behave well and please their parents - it’s just certain impulses that sometimes get in the way! [1] Interestingly, a big contributor to s...
Teach challenging words early to accelerate lifelong learning
7 min read

Teach challenging words early to accelerate lifelong learning

It's never too early to learn a word, even if it's a challenging oneIt’s almost never too early to learn a word, no matter how long or complex it may seem. In fact, the earlier the better for long...
Why word context is crucial for children with dyslexia
3 min read

Why word context is crucial for children with dyslexia

Word pairs are a word's most common contextThe context of a word is crucial for understanding its meaning and use. Thus, to fully grasp the meaning of a word and to be able to use it proficiently,...
Why is teaching vocabulary so important?
7 min read

Why is teaching vocabulary so important?

Why words matterA child's linguistic competence – how well they understand the rules of a language and their ability to use it correctly – also determines how well a child’s knowledge is organized...
These are the words kids should know at every age
9 min read

These are the words kids should know at every age

Over the last couple of years, we’ve been working with machine learning engineers, data scientists, lexicographers, and teachers to identify, analyse, and present the words kids need to know at ea...
Make the most of reading time: advice from a headteacher
5 min read

Make the most of reading time: advice from a headteacher

As teachers, we have a whole host of aims as far as pupils’ literacy is concerned. From the age of seven onwards, we want them to develop fluency and independence, to develop comprehension and unde...
How does the brain learn to read?
6 min read

How does the brain learn to read?

We aren’t born knowing how to read. In fact, when we are born, the brain is missing the neural networks that are necessary for reading. Download our brain infographic to see the changes that our b...
How to help children develop phonological and phonemic awareness
4 min read

How to help children develop phonological and phonemic awareness

What are phonological and phonemic awareness?Phonological awareness is the awareness of the different sounds that spoken words are made of and the ability to manipulate those sounds. It involves th...

Not sure where to start ?

We recommend diving in with these research papers

Sight words: The difference between irregular and high-frequency
3 min read

Sight words: The difference between irregular and high-frequency

High-frequency words are words that appear commonly in children's books. These are also worth learning by sight. Examples of high frequency words include words such as are and she. Many high-freque...
Why don’t children just learn whole words?
3 min read

Why don’t children just learn whole words?

Research favors phonics for kids because the “whole word” approach is inefficient. Children cannot store tens of thousands of words in their memory. Eye movement research has shown that, when readi...
The five blocks of the Science of Reading
5 min read

The five blocks of the Science of Reading

Learning to read is a complex process that requires systematic instruction and practice. Here is a summary of the skills that a child needs to acquire in order to master reading.1. Phonemic Awaren...