Living / 7 October, 2021 / Ellie Thompson

Tonies For Teachers: The Benefit Of Bringing Audiobooks Into The Classroom

The Toniebox is being introduced into classrooms up and down the country thanks to a brand new initiative called ‘Tonies for Teachers’.

Tonies partnered with the National Literacy Trust to share research that proves listening to audio increases vocabulary and expands the language of young children, building independence and self-esteem. Together, their aim is to help teachers close the literacy gap and expand access to audiobooks in schools and nurseries.

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What the teachers say

Peter Wright, Community Assistant Headteacher from Boxgrove Primary School says, “Teachers understand the importance of listening to, talking about and enjoying stories. With Toniebox, children can take control of storytime, allowing them to increase and improve their understanding, vocabulary and ideas within the classroom.”

Sharing her experience of working with tonies®, Mrs Ruth Lue-Quee, Educational Consultant for primary schools in the West Midlands and special needs teaching specialist, comments: “We have children in the class who are slower learners, or have special educational needs. The Toniebox helps with specific exercises and sometimes children take the Toniebox home to do the learning – they check it out like a library book.”

Miss Grant, Early Years Teacher at Granton Primary School comments: “As a teacher in Early Years, I read to the children every day, but the Toniebox has been such a benefit to have in class. I use a Creative-Tonie to invite children to complete weekly classroom challenges. I have also noticed how it’s developing their listening and attention skills, as it engages them so well. I like how it can also be cross-curricular: I sometimes put it in the Maths area with the counting songs Tonie and use a Creative-Tonie to record Maths challenges or questions on there. It’s so much better than using a computer, tablet or laptop, as it is more personal and they can use it independently.”

Peter Wright, Community Assistant Headteacher, Boxgrove Primary School, Surrey

The importance of audiobooks for kids

Analysis by the National Literacy Trust found that 380,000 children in the UK do not own a book. Without essential vocabulary and literacy skills being instilled at a young age, children are likely to be held back at every stage of life. Listening to audiobooks and music will help to improve literacy skills and vocabulary in an enjoyable, accessible way.

Emily Best, Knowledge and Research Manager at The National Literacy Trust, comments: “Our research shows that engagement with audiobooks can benefit children’s reading skills and enjoyment, as well as their mental wellbeing and emotional intelligence. During the first lockdown, more than half of children said listening to audiobooks increased their interest in reading and 2 in 5 said it made them more interested in writing. Boys were particularly likely to listen to audiobooks during this period. For children who struggle to decode words, audiobooks and podcasts provide a great alternative to books – children can still be immersed in a narrative, while building vocabulary and improving comprehension.”

Pinky Laing, UK Partnerships at tonies® comments: “Children have always been at the heart of everything we do at Tonies… Tonies is committed to helping children learn through the power and magic of storytelling and we are delighted to help support schools and nurseries across the UK with such an important education initiative. Our audio storytelling devices help to engage young minds, and we feel fortunate that we can help inspire the next generation to learn and develop their literacy skills.”

Creative Tonies

Included in the starter sets are Creative-Tonies, containing 90 minutes of ‘blank audio space’. Creative-Tonies give teachers the opportunity to upload their own content for children in their classroom, such as a daily challenge for the class. Teachers can set up small groups with an activity narrated onto a Creative-Tonie, and the user-friendly nature of the Toniebox means children can replay information as many times as is necessary for learning.

Get involved in Tonies for Teachers

This initiative comes on the back of the recent announcement that tonies® partnered with the Book Trust and Waterstones Children’s Laureate Cressida Cowell MBE’s ‘Life-changing Libraries’ project to gift Tonieboxes and Tonies to primary school libraries in underprivileged areas of England. The donation allowed children in the schools taking part to enjoy some of the nation’s favourite stories, such as Elmer, Peter Rabbit and How to Train Your Dragon in audio form.

For further details on tonies® Schools and Education initiative, ‘Tonies for Teachers‘ – please visit https://tonies.com/en-gb/tonies-for-teachers/

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