|
Portable
Document Format
This subject matter was all new to me and I
found it most fascinating. I was very impressed with THRASS particularly how
children with little knowledge of English could understand the principles of
consonants, vowels, digraphs, trigraphs etc. The subject matter as presented by
Alan covered all the points that I wanted to know and I learnt so much. Alan is
a most dynamic lecturer, using all his considerable skills to keep us stimulated
with audience participation. I was so pleased to have the unique opportunity to
attend his course.
Absolutely brilliant approach to teaching phonics, makes so much sense compared
to the way we learnt (Letterland). Thank goodness someone has come up with a
clear way of explaining phonics. Brilliant!
It was an outstanding experience. This method of teaching is wonderful and I’m
sure it will do well in the rest of the world.
This has been an eye-opening experience. I have enjoyed the course and found it
very interesting. The course has really changed my thinking and I strongly agree
with what it’s saying. I would like to do further research and learn more about
THRASS and how I can use it in my class one day soon. The presenter is excellent
and very enjoyable to listen to!
I really enjoyed the course and found it very useful in clarifying my views on
phonics. The presenter, Alan Davies, was very interesting to listen to and held
my attention during the two days.
Great course! Really opened my eyes to spelling and understanding the ‘tricks’
in the English language. Every part of the THRASS idea was explained through fun
activities and actually becoming involved in the stages. Absolutely great!
Nervous to teach it myself, though.
I really enjoyed this course as it has helped me to understand where I go wrong
with my own spelling. I feel that it has enriched my knowledge of teaching
phonics. I enjoyed it too as it was made fun and interactive.
Excellent! A lot of learning CRAMMED into two days! I feel a bit more confident
about teaching reading and spelling in my own classroom one day. My own spelling
skills have improved. Great interaction! This is one of the few courses offered
in our University that actually relate it to teaching in the classroom and give
teaching tips and methods of teaching. Everything was actually relevant, not
just stuff added in.
Very effective. It is very helpful to children with learning disabilities. Thank
you to the course presenter who made this course fun and exciting.
Very effective and it will definitely improve reading and writing skills.
Very interesting and useful. I learnt a lot of new things. I loved that it was
interactive.
A very interesting and entertaining course. It was, however, too much work to do
over two days. I got tired and started to forget things. Perhaps do it over four
days.
It was a fantastic course which I not only thoroughly enjoyed but also learned
from immensely. It also gave a fresh perspective of progressing in South African
schools, which is a great inspiration for going into our schools and achieving
literacy in them. It has simply opened avenues of which I cannot wait to travel
upon and achieve the worthwhile goal of instilling literacy in those who need
it. The best thing about the course, to top it off was receiving the materials,
which I will always have on hand to refer to and develop and sharpen our own
skills in THRASS before teaching and transferring these skills to others. Thank
you Alan Davies for taking the time to personally do the course with us, and not
only doing but doing it with the most delightful sense of humour and
‘flexibility’ on the floor. Thanks again.
The course was very enjoyable and well designed. I don’t feel quite so nervous
about teaching phonics now, which is a miracle in itself. Well done!
The course was very useful and interesting. After teaching THRASS in the Kwena
Basin the course created a lot more clarity to the methodology. It is definitely
a phonics programme that is beneficial to the learners and it is also one that I
would personally use in my class one day. The course itself was co-ordinated
well and presented perfectly.
Very enjoyable and informative. Having gone to Kwena with a very limited
knowledge of the program and having to teach it, I was pleased to learn about
the program and see the methodology put into perspective. The course cleared up
a lot of my confusions. I am more confident with regards to THRASS now that the
content has fallen into place. Thank you for a lovely experience.
Fantastic course. Learnt an incredible amount of new knowledge. Learnt a large
amount of new concepts on phonics. It makes sense now. This course has to be the
most logical and effective programme that can be used. Children will relate to
it and I can’t wait to go on teaching practical, so that I can do some of the
lessons with them. Thank you so much for two enjoyable days.
Course was interesting, fun and wonderfully presented. I was glad to find out
that there are Zulu, Sotho, Afrikaans calendars that will accommodate the South
African children. Needed at least another day so that we do not rush the course
so much. GREAT PROGRAMME.
Very interesting. I like the idea of breaking down the words and the sounds they
make. It really teaches me how to pronounce the sounds. I learnt a lot but for
me it was a very short limit of time because it’s new. I think the course needs
a lot of workshops. It has a lot of information that is very enriching. I liked
it. It was perfect. I liked the idea of introducing new words to learners like
graphs, digraphs…
Very interesting and I learnt a lot of new things. I cannot wait to teach this
on children! The material and aids were very good and I am sure will help a lot.
The course was good although it was too short. I’ve learned a lot about
graphemes, phonemes. I’ve learned about how to fill a profilecard to see how my
learners understand the yellow card or the blue card, the spelling knowledge.
And to see that are they improve in spelling, writing, pronunciation and so
forth. It was an exciting exercise.
The course was educative and it was an eye opener in most areas where, not only
children had problems but even adults, on :- How can you tech children the
concept of spelling and how can you teach children the concept of pronunciation.
Excellent – the resources are of incredible quality. Alan, of course, is a
brilliant teacher. I think I’d like some more advice and perhaps demonstrations
about how to deal with the NPS words/graphemes. For example, in teaching
children counting words – you start with ‘one’ and it is immediately a problem.
I enjoyed the training. It really taught me a lot. I am so positive. I will
implement to the kids effectively.
It was a very good course. It was a crushed course and I feel there is a need
for follow-ups especially on the Internet. The base is very good.
Happy to have an opportunity of having such a wonderful course. It was very
interesting and Mr. Davies must really be thanked for this course in our
country, South Africa.
Very good course, quite exciting and professionally conducted. It is my feeling
though that the duration of training could be extended and I wish Mr. Davies
comes back to get feedback from the newly trained members.
The course was audible, precise and clear. Fun to learn THRASS. We/I wish we had
more time but we managed to wrap up lots of information in a short period of
time. Alan is fun. We/I wish him good luck with his program and believe it is
going to benefit all the children of the world.
I enjoyed the course very much and I hope it is going to be helpful especially
to the pupils/students who have handwriting problems.
I really enjoyed it and I found it extremely helpful. I teach Grade 5 – some of
them are unable to read or write. I was really concerned and worried because I
did not even know how to start revising phonemes and graphemes. Now I know
exactly what to do and I am extremely relieved and excited to start teaching
them.
The THRASS course was really fantastic, especially for us who are new in the
programme. It will produce confident learners in speaking and writing of words.
The learners will be able to have multi-skills in the usage of language. It will
help the learners to grapheme the vowels and letters correctly.
I have enjoyed this course because I have learnt real things so that I can teach
the children the right things about phonics. I have realised that I have been
teaching the wrong sounds in phonics. I will start to apply a right method that
I learnt from THRASS. Thank you for your help.
Fantastic. I found the course to be extremely interesting. Thank you so much to
Mr. Davies for his enthusiasm and outstanding work.
I enjoyed the course and I learnt a lot even the clarification of words, i.e.
phonemes etc. It was so educative and I wish it was not for two days only so
that we can have some group presentation and see to it that we can make it
happen in class, for me doing is better than listening when learning something
new. Thank you for a wonderful lesson!
The course was very interesting and enjoyable. I have learnt a lot from this and
I feel I can now stand and teach with my learners with confidence. I am looking
forward to implementing this to my learners.
An eye-opener to my teaching career. I enjoy the whole course. I wish the
emphasis should be given to the foundation phase, that will build the better
future for the children. Thank you Mr. Davies.
Learnt more about phonics and spelling and the teaching of phonics and spelling
than I did in four years at college.
Dear Mr. Davies, “To teach is to touch lives forever”. Thank you so much, you
are an amazing man. I believe that with the right attitude and good background
knowledge, teachers can implement the THRASS course thus enabling the children
to succeed because they have amazing skills. Thank you so much for empowering me
and making me so excited and enthusiastic to teach! It was absolutely
unbelievable and I loved every minute. I wish I could have spent more time with
you!
Brilliant, very informative and logical reasoning behind concept! Attractive,
clear and concise charts and Teaching THRASS booklet. Very useful to have
photocopiable section to reproduce for numerous classes and children. Videos
show THRASS in action and are a guideline for our own teaching. Alan Davies kept
us entertained and attentive. Interaction aided recall. He was a very good model
of behaviour/teaching for us to use in our own classrooms. Perhaps three-day
course would be more beneficial as there is a lot of information to absorb and a
high level of concentration is needed. The Profilecard was rushed at the end of
the course. Well done and thank you so much for developing a new approach to
teaching letter names and their sounds in context!
Looking forward to using this. Feel I finally have the words and understanding
to explain phonics. Enjoyed the course too. Interaction was great.
An exciting way of teaching language to young children. A hands-on course. It is
an excellent course even for adults to learn how to pronounce English words
properly.
I really enjoyed the course. It challenged my thinking to a great extent. Alan
was great and kept us interested all the time. I truly hope that more schools
use THRASS so that I can teach it.
Course was very good. Good interaction and participation. I find the method very
accurate and look forward to trying to implement it in my class one day.
I would use this for my tutoring job and hopefully in the school I will teach in
one day. I think this is a very realistic programme with a lot of integrity.
Would like to start off by means of saying thankyou for coming to share this
with us. Have really enjoyed learning THRASS and can’t wait to put it into
practice. Loved watching the clips and seeing the children’s reactions. Believe
that the course will assist me personally with the way that I pronounce words as
well as spell them. The way that Alan presents the course is amazing! He loves
to share his ideas and is very excited about the THRASS course! It’s great,
Alan!
I think the course is fantastic and I have really learnt a lot from it and will
definitely use it when I teach in my own class. I think it will help children
gain a much better understanding of how to pronounce, read and spell words. You
are also an excellent guest speaker and kept us entertained and encouraged us to
work with you which I feel always works best.
I think this course was extremely valuable and I really learnt a lot. It is an
excellent way to teach reading and spelling and I was very glad to come on the
course.
I really enjoyed the course. It was presented well and I feel that THRASS should
be implemented in our schools. I found it extremely helpful as a future teacher.
I enjoyed this course and would like to “celebrate” your enthusiasm. I liked the
way that you have recognised and made clear that there are more than 5 vowels
(because of the different jobs they do!). However, at times I felt the pace was
too fast with too little thinking/reaction time. Thankyou, this was extremely
worthwhile.!
Wow! What a fabulous course. I really enjoyed learning more about THRASS. It
makes so much sense to teaching reading/writing/language in such an interactive
fun way.
Wonderful to finally understand phonics. I can’t wait to teach it! Thank you for
an enjoyable course.
I felt it was too much to take in in two days, maybe spread over three days! I
think THRASS is a great programme and will really improve our schools.
The content of the course was fantastic. It was well presented. I feel I would
have enjoyed it more if we had three shorter days as opposed to two long days. I
was losing concentration by the second half of the day, but it is wonderful and
will improve literacy in our schools!
It was a very interesting course. It was long, yet insightful and I enjoyed
myself – that ‘rap’ is very catchy and sticks. Thank you so much.
Was a very interesting course with some wonderful new concepts/ideas. Will
definitely attempt to teach THRASS in class.
This course has given me a new outlook on teaching. It has also shown me what
the reason is, for some of the words I cannot spell.
Absolutely beneficial to my studies. I feel that by using the THRASS approach in
the future, learners will find phonics so much easier and reading will be a
pleasure, not a task. Course presenter is enthusiastic and presents in a very
interesting manner and involved us actively throughout the duration of the
course. The aids that we were provided with are excellent and will definitely be
used in my teaching.
It was a beneficial and very informative course. I loved that it was interactive
as I learnt more that way. I would definitely implement this in my classroom and
will begin by trying it on my niece. Thank you for your time. It makes so much
more sense than Letterland and the new terms I learnt will help with my
assignments for the year.
The THRASS course was very interesting. It was also stimulating and interactive.
It made a lot of sense and it will make the teaching of reading and spelling a
lot easier. Materials received will also be highly useful. I am really
enthusiastic about the course and cannot wait to use it in my classroom.
I felt this course to be very stimulating and encouraged participation (active).
It makes a lot of sense, answers every question I had and I’m confident it would
help the children and be beneficial. It was highly informative and I appreciate
the material which we received, as this helps us understand it better and we
have life long resource material which will be useful.
Excellent.
Excellent.
Very interesting. Very enlightening and gave me a positive attitude to teaching
English language with confidence. I’m looking forward to imparting the knowledge
to my learners. Well done, Alan.
It was very much interesting and I learn a lot of sounds. I recognise that how I
sound the letters and write them is different to that in teaching. It will help
me to teach my children also at home.
The course is excellent. Truly, I feel my time was well spent. I haven’t been
teaching reading to my learners because I was not sure where to start. I was
never taught how to teach phonemes at college. So at least now I have an idea. I
just wish that we had more time to go through everything practically as
educators before we try it in class.
The course was fruitful. We benefited a lot. I appreciate a lot. Reading is now
going to be more interesting than ever. Keep up the good work.
Very good. It must be done for a month so that all the steps can be understood
by all. Teachers need to understand it properly, so that they can be able to do
the proper work, especially assessment.
It is an interesting course. It does not only help the learners to read and
write but also help the teacher to develop a reading skill. I enjoyed the course
very much.
The course was well presented, enjoyed by all. It was very informative and
interesting. THRASS tied up a very tight knot experienced in teaching phonics.
This method can be taught confidently now and well. Many well worked out
resources and supports are available. This is great.
Very meaningful and makes good sense! However, children with severe language
impairments will need to receive a lot of attention re. language learning to
serve as “scaffolder” for learning to read/spell. Poor phonological and phonemic
awareness and delayed language could impair THRASS success.
Well presented! Wish I learnt all this years ago.
The course was interactive and fun. What I liked the most is how to let learners
come up with their own stories from just looking at the picture. How to make a
song from words and alphabets. Using pictures to stimulate a 3+ year to think.
A very fun and entertaining course. Learnt more than I did in lectures because
it was interactive.
Was fun and interactive. I see the relevance of THRASS in today’s schools. It
improved my knowledge of phonics.
Absolutely unbelievable. What a wonderful way of teaching phonics, spelling,
writing etc. Thank you for sharing with us.
It was a very interesting and enjoyable course. I can’t wait to try it out on my
nephews and the children I teach.
Thank you. Very enjoyable.
Very big eye-opener. I found it very interesting and fun.
An enlightening course. Very practical. User-friendly. I can see how my pupils
are going to have “lightbulb” moments. Thank you so much. I feel empowered and
excited to get started.
I have really enjoyed this course. It has been extremely helpful and insightful.
I am definitely going to educate myself more on the programme in order to teach
it effectively. It has made a lot of sense to me and has clarified certain
things for me. I was not taught any kind of phonics programme at school (not
even Letterland) and so this course has been very worthwhile and beneficial.
This is a brilliant course! Thank you so much for giving me so much insight into
teaching phonics. I wish I was taught this way when I was in primary school.
Alan is a genius!
This course was extremely beneficial to any teacher or teacher in training. I
know that I have a much better knowledge on how to teach phonics in a meaningful
and far more educational manner for children. Thank you Mr. Davies.
I think this was an excellent presentation. Very informative and exciting. I’m
looking forward to teaching THRASS in my own class! I think it’s an excellent
program that has many important issues. It’s very extensive. The involvement was
great! I didn’t get bored!
Very informative and interactive, the course gets everyone involved to ensure
understanding.
Excellent presentation. Very entertaining. A programme which would benefit
schools and motivate children to learn phonics.
Enjoyable. I will try to use it in my own classroom one day. A very useful and
relevant course.
A very interesting and enriching course. I am looking forward to implementing
what I have learnt.
Throughly enjoyed it. Very informative and a dynamic presenter. Hope to teach
THRASS one day soon.
It was thoroughly enjoyable. I learnt a lot. Was entertaining. Everybody was
enthusiastic. I hope to implement THRASS in teaching, in my own class and
school. Thank you Mr. Davies for your time.
I found the course very informative. This approach to teaching phonics in my
opinion will work well in South African schools I feel that I now myself have a
better understanding of phonics.
Course was very interesting and eye-opening. Makes you realise why there are
problems with reading and spelling in schools and how easy it could be to fix.
Brilliant! Truly enjoyed it. Leant a lot and will implement in teaching.
Exciting and fascinating. Loved it.
Interesting, informative and I extremely enjoyed it. The presenter kept us
entertained throughout the course. I think that everyone present for the course
has gained a lot of knowledge of this programme.
I thoroughly enjoyed this course! I can’t wait to actually implement it in the
classroom. Through the activities we did during the course phonics, finally
makes sense to me like never before. I especially benefited from the explanation
of the unstressed vowels, e.g. ‘open’ and this will greatly help me with my own
confusion when spelling. I also think that because the course was so
interactive, I’ve taken in a lot and feel confident about stretching myself. By
repeating the sounds after Alan also helped with any pronunciations I was unsure
of. The raps are all fantastic and the ideas to integrate movement and drama is
endless.
A brilliant programme that every South African school should use.
Interesting, wonderful. Will be easy to implement since the facilitator (Alan)
covered all important aspects with the team. Everything has been well explained
and has been made easy for us as educators. Thank you very much and god bless
you.
Enjoyed it thoroughly! Alan was an awesome course presenter and made the course
very interesting as well as extremely entertaining. I have gained a lot
I found the course inspirational. I can’t wait to teach it to my own children
one day. The presentation was amazing as it managed to keep our attention for
the full two days! Thank you so much for helping me be a better teacher.
Brilliant course. I enjoyed every second of it. Thank you for your time,
enthusiasm and enlightenment. I would recommend it to everyone. Thank you for
changing the future of our children.
Return to TOP |
