Deaf Preschoolers’ Literacy Benefits From E-Books

Monday, January 31st, 2011

Ladybird Publishing, a subsidiary of Penguin, recently launched an e-book application (app) for babies. While other major children’s publishers had previously launched apps for children, few were both suitable for babies, and available on all Apple devices, namely the iPad, iPhone and iPod.
Teachers of deaf and hard of hearing  preschoolers at Clayton Elementary School, Delaware, [...]

Inclusive Reading of “Ben” Book At County Library

Monday, November 23rd, 2009

Students from Tallaght’s Scoil Colmcille and Sacred Heart National School gathered at County Library for a reading of “A Birthday for Ben” on the Tuesday morning of November 10th.
During this interactive session the book was read by Elizabeth and signed by Christopher. At various stages, the kids stopped to learn the signs of key words [...]

Inclusive Reading Of “Ben” Book At County Library

Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009

On November 10, 2009, IDK is hosting an inclusive reading of its
“A Birthday for Ben” childrens’ book with Elizabeth Mathews and Dee Byrne-Dunne, at County Library, Tallaght from 10am to 11.30am.
Children aged 4 to 8 from local schools are being invited to the reading as part of South Dublin County Council’s Social Inclusion Week.
Copies of [...]

IDK Celebrates National Volunteer Day At Libraries

Monday, September 28th, 2009

To celebrate National Volunteer Day in association with Volunteer Centres Ireland, the first readings of the IDK childrens’ book, “A Birthday for Ben“, took place at two libraries in Dublin on Friday, September 25th.
In the morning the story’s creators gathered with volunteers and friends at Pearse Street Library to celebrate the release of the book, [...]

Web Technologies Make Storytelling Inclusive

Friday, August 14th, 2009

Twelve UK publishers are using web technologies to present contemporary childrens’ books in sign language with audio, animation and text in a GBP1.5 million project to improve literacy levels among deaf children.
The project, www.signedstories.com, offers a free online library of signed books for deaf children to develop their literacy & language skills, whether signed or [...]

Child Literacy & Social Inclusion (NESF, June 2009)

Thursday, July 9th, 2009

A Plenary Session on Child Literacy and Social Inclusion was organised on June 16 by the National Economic and Social Forum (NESF), at the Royal Hospital in Kilmainham, Dublin.
By 2016, the National Action Plan for Social Inclusion 2007-2016 has the goal of reducing the proportion of pupils with serious literacy difficulties in primary schools serving disadvantaged [...]

Introducing Babies & Toddlers To Books & Reading

Saturday, June 13th, 2009

Babies and toddlers need to become familiar with books before reaching school age, otherwise they will tend to associate books only with school.
Infants at home will be attracted to simple pictures in books, which can prompt their first item-and-word link, the initial step in language-learning.
Toddlers exposed to image-rich books and flash cards early on may [...]

Teaching Hearing Pupils About Deafness

Tuesday, September 30th, 2008

Many school teachers would like how to teach their hearing pupils about deafness but are unsure how to proceed. Children with a classmate who’s deaf can be equally curious about what exactly is involved.
Depending on the age of the children in a school class, the concept of deafness can be taught in a few ways.
Children aged [...]