Leap into Literacy

Hi, I’m Allison – Leap into Literacy’s founder and a facilitator. I am passionate about literacy levels in our children, who in turn become our next generation of leaders.

In addition to raising my own three munchkins, I was previously a classroom teacher, a Gifted & Talented teacher for both Primary and Secondary students, and also a Creative Writing teacher for adults. In 2019, I finished my PhD in Curriculum and Teaching (just before my third arrived!), and I also hold a Master’s degree in Education.

When I was on maternity leave with my oldest daughter in 2012, I wanted to be able to stay at home with her while still being able to do what I love the most: teach! As a result of this, I designed the Leap into Literacy program to help children become engaged in reading and writing.

Leap into Literacy is a creative reading and writing program for kids to be used as an extension to what they learn in school. Our online classes focus on literacy, covering a different book or topic each week. For example, in an older class we might be looking at The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe and discussing how to paint a picture in your reader’s head using descriptive details. We explore just the first chapter of a book together – that way if students are interested in the book, they can continue reading it at home.

During the video, Allison will help guide students to link what is happening in the book to different types of reading comprehension skills, as we read it or listen to it together. Games and other interactive activities take place during the lesson to help reinforce these literacy skills. Each week we will focus on something different, such as (for older students) character development, paragraph transitions, how to plan your story, persuasive and narrative text, using dialogue, etc. as well as a daily focus on spelling, grammar, and even handwriting.

Students then use creative techniques to plan and then produce their own writing that focuses on the topic for that week, or for younger students we cover the material as we go through it together, with students completing their work on the provided worksheets. Students will then submit all of their work in their own forum to receive written feedback directly from one of our highly qualified teachers. These processes will foster students’ independent learning for confidence and future success.

Provides Online Courses

Accepts NSW Creative Kids Vouchers