Teaching Assistant with Special Education & Phonics Course

Explore how children grow, develop, and learn across cognitive, social, and emotional domains. Equip teaching assistants to support diverse learners at different developmental stages through learning theories and environmental interactions.

Explore cognitive development in early childhood, detailing Piaget's four stages from sensorimotor to formal operational and how play, language, and scaffolding shape future learning.

Develop social and emotional competence in children by fostering relationship building, emotional regulation, self-awareness, self-esteem, conflict resolution, and coping skills within a supportive classroom.

Identify individual differences and learning styles to tailor teaching and foster an inclusive classroom where all students thrive, guiding instruction with observational techniques, self-assessments, and formal assessments, including cultural diversity.

Explore the fundamentals of special education needs, the role of a teaching assistant, and how to identify SEN in students.

Explore the diverse range of special educational needs, from communication and learning difficulties to sensory and physical needs, and empower teaching assistants through early identification, collaboration, and inclusive IEPs.

Explore how teaching assistants support sen students through 1-to-1 and small-group instruction, adapt materials, and apply behavior management and collaboration to promote independence and success.

Identify sen in students through systematic observation and recording concerns. Support assessments and engage with parents to build a consistent, confidential plan.

Explore learning disabilities such as dyslexia, autism spectrum disorder, ADHD, and speech and language disorders, and learn how teaching assistants can recognise, support, and foster an inclusive learning environment.

Explore how dyslexia affects reading and writing as a specific learning disability. Learn strategies, including multisensory techniques and structured literacy, to support word decoding, spelling, memory, and fluency.

Explore autism spectrum disorder and its impact on communication, social interaction, behavior, and sensory sensitivities, and apply structured environments, visual supports, and clear language to support students with ASD.

Address adhd in the classroom by applying a structured routine, minimizing distractions, breaking tasks into steps, using visual aids, providing short breaks, and reinforcing social skills.

Explore speech and language disorders, covering articulation, fluency, language comprehension, and voice quality. Learn practical support strategies such as slow speech, visual aids, breathing techniques, and interactive activities.

Explore practical strategies teaching assistants use to support students with special educational needs, fostering an inclusive classroom with differentiated instruction, IEPs, and behavior management.

Differentiated instruction adapts content, process, products, and the learning environment to meet diverse needs, including special educational needs, using tiered activities and varied reading levels.

Create customized IEPs that outline specific, measurable goals and tailored supports for students with special educational needs, including regular reviews, progress reports, and collaboration with teachers, parents, and specialists.

Create an inclusive classroom with flexible physical layout, calm spaces, and privacy options. Use visual supports, adaptive equipment, lighting and noise controls, and classroom technology to support diverse learners.

Apply positive reinforcement, praise, and token systems to encourage desirable behaviors and social skills. Set clear expectations and consistent routines for students with special educational needs, with individualized behavior plans.

Discover a solid foundation in phonics and early reading skills for teaching assistants, focusing on phonemic awareness, decoding, high-frequency words, and developing reading fluency.

Develop phonemic awareness by teaching sound identification, isolation, blending, segmentation, and manipulation to support reading and spelling. Use activities like rhyming and phoneme deletion or substitution to reinforce these skills.

Decode skills underpin reading proficiency by connecting letters and sounds, applying letter sound correspondence to text, and advancing from single letters to digraphs, blends, and sight words.

Learn how high-frequency words, or sight words, are recognized instantly to boost reading fluency, and explore effective strategies like word walls, flashcards, and contextual learning with daily home practice.

Develop reading fluency through daily practice, rereading, modeled reading, listening to fluent readers, echo reading, paired reading, peer feedback, and ongoing progress monitoring using timed readings and checklists.

Explore phonics instruction methods that link sounds to letters, including synthetic phonics, analytic phonics, embedded phonics, and onset and rhyme, to teach children reading.

Synthetic phonics provides a systematic and explicit method for teaching reading by teaching letter sounds, blending them into words, and using digraphs such as sh and th for decoding.

Analytic phonics teaches reading by recognizing whole words and analyzing their parts within known words, using word families, sight words, and contextual reading to build decoding skills.

Embed phonics within reading and writing, teaching phonics as they naturally occur in text, using an integrated approach with meaning-focused, flexible literacy activities.

Learn onset and rhyme to decode words by breaking them into onset and rhyme, build word families, and practice rhyming activities that boost spelling and reading confidence.