Therapists
Resources to support you and your clients
What We offer…
15+ Years of Experience
Experienced Paediatric Occupational Therapist working part-time in my own private practice since 2004; long term home-educating mum of 5 children; children’s book author; and enjoy presenting at various training events for parents, educators and therapists.
Passion & Dedication
I desire to see children blossom by providing support, both professionally and personally to children of all ages and abilities, their families, educators and significant others, and to engage, encourage, equip and empower them to lead satisfying & fulfilling lives.
Events with you in mind!
I love to arrange and co-ordinate various evidence-based CPD events, both online and in-person for parents, carers, educators, teachers, librarians and therapists, often with a global audience – and currently co-admin several handwriting-specific closed FB groups.
Learning to handwrite with Ricardo Reading Mouse®
Current Handwriting Resources
In my clinical work, I have a great interest in the area of handwriting as I have worked with many children over the past 17 years, who struggle in this area.
Teaching children to form their letters correctly from the outset, when they are initially learning to handwrite, is extremely important.
Handwriting is a complex cognitive motor skill which requires explicit instruction and practice to master confidently.
I have received referrals for many students who can not correctly form their letters, and as they are so focused on trying to recall the form of the letters, this then impacts upon their overall literacy skills and can affect their ability to punctuate and add correct grammar or spelling.
As we know, research evidence supports the fact that handwriting greatly helps the development of reading and spelling abilities and when letter formation speed, accuracy and automaticity or fluency improves then so too, do the above mentioned literacy skills.
To provide support and guidance for children in my home state of Queensland Australia, I have developed an engaging, animated ‘Handwriting is Fun’ video tutorial series, please scroll down to see the links for these on my Learning with Ricardo Reading Mouse® Youtube Channel.
Please stay tuned for handwriting games and workbooks coming in the future!
Discover the Power of Handwriting for Literacy! Get your Free 2p Guide
Witness the power of handwriting for learning with our FREE Guide: ’Top 5 Reasons Handwriting Nurtures Literacy.’ Download now and support your students’ journey to confident reading, writing and spelling.
Queensland Beginner Font Handwriting Tutorial Videos
To provide support and guidance for children in my home state of Queensland, in Australia, where the Queensland Beginner Font is taught in our education system, I have developed a short, engaging, animated 'Handwriting is Fun' video series, freely available for viewing on my Learning with Ricardo Reading Mouse® Youtube Channel.
It teaches the correct letter formation of all 26 letters in the English Alphabet. Thus far, only the lowercase letters have been released, via 3 short handwriting tutorial videos: Letters a-g; Letters h-p and Letters q-z.
Great for lessons at home or school!
Pre-writing Games & Workbooks
Not quite ready to learn to handwrite…?
Ricardo Reading Mouse® pre-reading and pre-writing resources are designed to provide support for a child’s skill development in this area.
Our current range includes games and workbooks designed to assist development of eye-hand co-ordination, fine motor skills, motor planning, listening skills, following instructions, turn taking and letter name, initial letter-sound association and letter formation/shape recognition skills which in turn, help develop their ability to learn to read, write & spell confidently when they enter school!
Reading, writing and spelling requires the use of both eyes to track simultaneously following letters and words across the page or board together with the arms, hands & wrists when writing and this is, of course, a complex cognitive-motor skill.
We all value the importance that handwriting plays in the overall development of effective literacy abilities and being an OT, I can’t emphasise enough how essential movement & play-based learning is to a child’s overall health, well-being and their readiness to make the school transition.
Use at home, playgroup, daycare or kindergarten.
Visual Skills Workbooks
Ricardo’s Bingo
Ricardo’s Snap Cards
Online Course for Educators
'Handwriting Automaticity Matters' course enrolment is NOW OPEN!
REGISTER TODAY and don't miss out on joining this self-paced, short online course for busy educators!
The course enrolment period is now open for a limited time - I look forward to seeing you inside the course!
This course is designed to equip and empower you with simple, evidence-based strategies to help you support your students to improve their handwriting & overall literacy skills.
Discover why teaching handwriting in this digital age is still relevant and what handwriting automaticity is and its benefits for your students in regards to not only improving handwriting but overall student outcomes for reading fluency, spelling and written communication skills.
I share invaluable, easy to apply 'tried & tested' strategies to integrate automated handwriting instruction and practice into your busy classroom without added stress and enable you to still fulfill your curriculum requirements.
You will learn how to best support your student's/child's ability to learn to read, write & spell - with confidence & joy - with minimal prep and next to no ongoing costs! Definitely don't need to photocopy hundreds of pages of worksheets per student!
BUY NOW so you don't miss out on this great value PD at only AUD $159.00 (inc GST) and receive:
1. 12 months ACCESS ANYTIME, ANYWHERE on ANY DEVICE!
2. Certificate of completion for 1.5 hours of PD!
3. SPECIAL BONUS Resource: Pencil Grasp/Grip - The rising of a new dawn! In this handy 17 page reference guide you will discover when and why or why not to change a child's pencil grip with evidence-based facts to support you.
The course takes about 100 minutes to complete and you can say goodbye to:
*endless late nights googling for 'easy prep' handwriting improvement ideas/activites/workbooks/handouts etc;
*the stress & overwhelm of wondering how to best help your students who are stuggling to improve their handwriting, reading and spelling!
*feeling guilty or regretful when agonising about whether or not to put handwriting aside and hope they learn to touch type quickly - as now you will be equipped and empowered with an understanding of how essential automated, functional handwriting is to your students and you will be able to help them using easy, engaging, evidence-informed strategies for practice at home and in class.
Keen to learn more CLICK HERE now! Looking forward to welcoming you!
Course registration has been extended for a limited time!
ENROL TODAY in this evidence-informed online professional development course designed to meet you and your students' learning needs! Register now and you gain instant access! Be equipped to put in practice what you learn straight away!
Online Course for Parents/Carers
'Let's Get School Ready!'
Is a self-paced, short online course for parents & carers, designed to help you prepare your child at home, in the early years, with the skills needed to learn to read, write & spell confidently, when they enter school!
Discover how movement & play-based learning together with the simplicity of reading, singing, listening and talking to your child, all provide such a precious foundation for life-long learning!
I share invaluable, low-cost, easy to do, developmentally-based tips and tricks to best support your child's ability to learn to read, write & spell - with confidence & joy!
Join now (takes only 3-4 hours to complete) and say goodbye to:
*endless late nights googling for 'easy prep' ideas to do with your toddler or young child!
*the stress & overwhelm of wondering how to best help your child before they get to school!
*feeling compelled to break the bank with expensive toys - learn how to opt instead for super-engaging, easy to use, low-cost loose parts play items
Keen to learn more click here now! Looking forward to welcoming you!
GREAT VALUE - ONLY AUD $59 (inc GST)
Enrol in 'Let's Get School Ready! today and get started straight away!
Ricardo in young hands, hearts & minds!
Thank you to all of you, who have been enjoying learning: ABC letter sounds, letter names and letter shapes with Ricardo Reading Mouse® apps, books, games, songs and videos and those reinforcing their learning of the short vowel 3-letter rhyming word families’ words using my uniquely designed word grid apps and book- and also those using my ‘download & print’ pre-reading and pre-writing card games and workbooks.
It is always a joy, to hear good reports coming in from all over the world! Please continue to send in your photos, testimonies and Ricardo Reading Mouse® colouring ins!.
Sarah, Guangchou, China
Enjoying learning her ABCs with Ricardo Reading Mouse® ABC Picture Book.
Rachel & Maria, Brisbane, Australia
Tummy time reading at Logan City Council Library whilst enjoying Ricardo Reading Mouse® books, which are both available for loan at Logan City Council and Brisbane City Council Libraries! (children are reading whilst lying under My Burrow® Sensory Learning Tool)
Stephen, Adelaide, Australia
Stephen learning his letter sounds and names with Ricardo's ABC Picture Book!