WHY DO I SUGGEST STUDENTS UNDERSTAND THE READING/SPELLING/WRITING BRAIN PROCESSES? Let’s talk about this phrase: “Knowledge is POWER.” Don’t you agree? The more students of any age know abour how a task is accomplished, it’s got to have a positive outcome. Children and parents alike are often confused and upset when things aren’t going well for the kids at school. If you or anyone you know has experienced struggles related to mastering the written word, you can relate. Many of the struggling students I’ve had the privilege of teaching have told me of the trauma school days engendered for them ..read more

My first book Calling All Neurons! How Reading and Spelling Happen will be published this spring! You will be able to find it on Amazon and all your favorite online book retailers too. SO I WROTE THIS BOOK…WHY? Well…. It is my belief that all children have the right to be taught literacy skillls. According to literacy gurus, 95% of all human beings have the capability to learn to read and write (may not be at the high school or college level, but certainly learn to read and write at a basic level). Sadly, that is not the case, as only 33% of children today read proficiently for their grad ..read more

A few months ago, I had occasion to correspond and speak with Lisa Hanifan, who by her own admission, was an “angry teacher” and a mom who later “felt guilty as a parent.”  You see, Ms. Hanifan didn’t know what she didn’t know. My colleague, Lisa, has NOTHING to feel guilty about—neither as a teacher nor a parent.  I ‘met’ her after a totally on-line conversation as part of the Facebook Group Science of Reading. We later had a nice conversation by phone. Ms. Hanifan’s experience more than validates the notion that ‘change is possible and change is good’.  I want to share her sto ..read more

Why Write a Thank You Note? A thank you note is simply an effective and simple way to show appreciation for the kindness of others in terms of generosity and support.. One can write a thank you note not only for gifts received (’tis the season), but also for any kind gesture including, but not limited to: a gift received–especially this time of year! a job interview a meal delivery to you when in need attendance at an event help provided to someone in need of assistance time spent professionally to help a client or patient a kind word a visit to someone’s home, especially if you are a house g ..read more

Start Early!! Why wait? Start with oral language, encourage interest in letters, then speech to print (sound to symbol correspondences) to teach blending and segmenting! A few things crossed my desktop this week, but NOTHING compares to the birth of a new granddaughter, which also occurred this week!! That’s number 3 for me. Molly will be joining her older brother, Caleb (20 months), and her older sister, Jeri (almost 3 1/2). So ‘you-know-who’ got to babysit for a few days with Grandpa while the parents were otherwise occupied. We were glad to be called in to help. As I am a former teacher and ..read more

For some students, even able ones, reading is just “too much” work. A little parable is then offered in support of teaching literacy skills efficiently, effectively, and in accordance with what we now know about how the human brain learns to read–in other words–aligned to The Science of Reading. HERE IS THE STORY — EVERYONE LIKES A STORY, RIGHT? A couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of dining out with what most folks would consider a precocious 10 year old, currently a 5th grader in the northeast United States. We got to talking and inevitably, I asked her the title of her favorite book. S ..read more

I love sharing stories. That’s why I received a gift of a ‘storyteller poster’ which hangs in my office. And that’s why I continued to receive gifts relating to storytelling over the years. Image by Lori Josephson I used to talk with my students, all of whom had dyslexia to greater or lesser extents, about how they felt concerning going back to school. I used to ask my own kids, none of whom had dyslexia, how they felt too. These were always my parting words: “There is only 1 time to make a first impression.” Lori Josephson And you, my dear readers, know when that is:  THE FIRST DAY ..read more

A question from a teacher this week prompted this article. The teacher writes:  I tutor a 9 year old student with a diagnosis of dyslexia. This student has been taught ‘the code’ (I take that to mean this student is familiar with most, if not many sound/symbol relationships). This student’s first or ‘cold read’ is 60 wpm, and then when this student rereads the passage a second time, this student reads 100 wpm. The question is: How can I get this student to 100 wpm the first time the passage is read? LET’S DEFINE THE TERM…WHAT IS FLUENCY? Simply, the term ‘fluency’ can be defined as readin ..read more

Have you heard about one newest and one of the biggest video crazes to hit the airwaves for the younger set? Well, it’s Songs for Littles featuring Ms. Rachel and her cast. You can find it here–just go to YouTube–everyone knows how to find things on YouTube these days! I didn’t know about Ms. Rachel’s videos until a couple of months ago as I witnessed my two grandkids, ages 2 ½ and 14 months, literally mesmerized by the up close and personal way Ms. Rachel models and teaches language skills to littles.  These kiddos do not have much screen time in their lives, but…they sure do love Ms. Ra ..read more