On this episode, I cheat a little and share an interview in which I was the guest- I guess it's role reversal time on Kindergarten Ready: What Really Matters! It's all about the science of reading and just what that tells us about teaching kids to read. More about Brain Words: https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/raising-readers-writers-and-spellers/201902/brain-words-solution-america-s-reading-problem https://www.mta.ca/Community/News/2019/April_2019/Brain_Words_%E2%80%94_the_psychology_of_learning_to_read/ Full interview can be found here: https://pacificeducationpulse.simplecast.com/e ..read more

On this episode of Kindergarten Ready: What Really Matters (#11!) we shift gears once again and do a deep-dive into research methods for studying just what shared (storybook) reading does to a child’s developing oral language and emergent literacy. _________________________________________ References this week all come from the lab of Monique Sénéchal at Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada. Sénéchal, M., & LeFevre, J. (2002). Parental involvement in the development of children’s reading skill: A 5-year longitudinal study. Child Development, 73, 445-460. Sénéchal, M., LeFevre, J ..read more

On this episode of Kindergarten Ready: What Really Matters (#10!) we continue with last episode’s focus on being topical and timely- it is back to school time after all! So this week I hand the mic over to two experienced, dedicated kindergarten teachers who share their thoughts on kindergarten readiness and provide many thoughtful tips for parents.   _________________________________________ As always, please feel free to reach out with comments, suggestions, and maybe sound clips of your kids even! www.kindergartenreadywhatreallymatters.com https://www.facebook.com/kindergartenreadywha ..read more

On this episode of Kindergarten Ready: What Really Matters we switch our focus once again to the title of the podcast- this time kindergarten readiness in the traditional sense. We’ll see what some top ranked websites have to say for themselves, and hear from a real life kindergarten teacher too…yes a real life one…       _________________________________________ Richard Gentry’s post about our show: https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/raising-readers-writers-and-spellers/202007/science-early-literacy-learning-really-matters Websites reviewed… https://www.scholastic.com/par ..read more

On this episode of Kindergarten Ready: What Really Matters we switch to the social-emotional domain of development and take on a topic that has relevance not only throughout the 0-5 age range, but for our entire life – this week on Kindergarten Ready, it’s all about attachment!     _________________________________________ As always, please feel free to reach out with comments, suggestions, and maybe even sound clips of your kids! Who knows, they could star in future episodes... www.kindergartenreadywhatreallymatters.com https://www.facebook.com/kindergartenreadywhatreallymatters la ..read more

On this episode of Kindergarten Ready: What Really Matters we have our first ever listener requested topic: invented spelling and kid writing! Yay! A topic near and dear to my heart- and brain. We’ll talk about how early kid writing is not only a great gateway to learning to read, it actually directly tells us about the child’s developing brain!   References & Links: Richard Gentry Phases of Spelling: http://bpsassets.weebly.com/uploads/9/9/3/2/9932784/gentry.pdf Some of my related research: Ouellette, G., Martin-Chang, S., & Rossi, M. (2018). Learning from our mistakes: Improve ..read more

On this episode of Kindergarten Ready: What Really Matters, we are all about....babies! This week, we shift the focus age wise, and talk about babies and their amazing speech perception abilities and early babbling. And yes I geek out a little on the science and research, but trust me, this is super cool stuff. Seriously. Seriously cool. References on request. As always, please feel free to reach out with comments, suggestions, and maybe sound clips of your kids even! www.kindergartenreadywhatreallymatters.com https://www.facebook.com/kindergartenreadywhatreallymatters languageliteracylearn ..read more

On this episode of Kindergarten Ready: What Really Matters we try to better match the content to the podcast title....and talk about what readiness really means... and emergent literacy! Special thanks to the stars of this week’s episode, Sloan (3.5 years old), Maddy, & Arwyn (both 4 years old)! References for those interested in the research literature: Ouellette, G., & Sénéchal, M. (2017). Invented spelling in Kindergarten as a predictor of reading and spelling in Grade 1: A new pathway to literacy, or just the same road, less known? Developmental Psychology, 53, 77-88. Ouellette ..read more

In this episode, let's talk about stress, AUGH... More specifically, anxiety, uncertainty, and structure for children given stressful situations such as, gee I don't know, how about a global pandemic...Did I say AUGH? A tad more serious this time around- promise I'll come up with some light-hearted stories more related to being kindergarten ready next time- but it seemed only appropriate that we broach this subject now. WHO HANDOUT: https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/helping-children-cope-with-stress-print.pdf?sfvrsn=f3a063ff_2 Zero-to-3 : https://www.zerotothree.org/resource ..read more

In this episode, I boast of my progress made in overcoming some demons that reside in my version of Garage Band (still a ways to go, but getting there), and we continue the discussion of vocabulary. This week the focus is on specific ways that we can talk to kids and turn everyday activities into opportunities for language learning. www.kindergartenreadywhatreallymatters.com www.facebook.com/kindergartenreadywhatreallymatters/ email: languageliteracylearninglab@gmail.com See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information ..read more