“Camron is, and always has been, an intelligent child with a deep thought process. He always asks thoughtful questions that seem beyond his years and his thought process amazes me. He has always been aware, alert, engaged and thoughtful. So when he began Kindergarten two weeks after his 5th birthday we were excited. The next [...]
What do you do when a person struggles to read? Most of us would say that the answer is obvious: Give them more practice. Maybe we should give them phonics instruction that is more engaging, and then give them more practice. Maybe we should give them enriched vocabulary instruction, and then give them more practice. [...]
Given that Developmental Dyslexia and a Specific Learning Disability with Impairment in Reading are now accurately classified as “Neurodevelopmental Disorders”, this helps highlight that they are of a medical origin and not caused by educational issues. Poor phonological awareness and the subsequent difficulty learning to read, despite adequate intelligence and opportunity, is most likely due [...]
Diana Leon is a volunteer adult learning tutor for the Alachua County Public Library’s Adult Literacy program. All of the Alachua County Library tutors are trained in NOW! Foundations for Speech, Language, Reading, and Spelling®. Anyone interested in becoming an adult literacy tutor in Alachua County, FL should call Theresa Sterling, ACLD Literacy Coordinator, at [...]
A recent article in The Huffington Post addressed reading skills in Kindergarten. It was intended to relieve parents of the high amount of pressure the current system puts on children to perform at a certain level academically, and it probably did just that. With the current backlash against high-stakes testing, parents are looking for pressure-release valves. In [...]
When we talk about the educational system today, it is rarely in positive terms. Praises for the efforts and achievements of individual teachers are often overshadowed by criticism, pointing out its many shortcomings. Recently, these criticisms have focused on two related issues: high-stakes testing, and the unacceptably low percentage of students who are able to [...]
Often, “new” science simply confirms the merits of how things have always been done. Science often reveals new ways of doing things that improve upon the way things have always been done. Consider the computer, which has practically eliminated limitations of geography and time. Tasks which used to require large groups of people, vast amounts [...]
In discussing its marketing strategy with a documentary filmmaker, the CEO of an airline spoke of the “across the board” changes they were making, from their advertisements to the look of the interior of their airplanes. Even their luggage compartments were being redesigned for the purpose of increasing customer loyalty. When asked to explain how [...]
Orton-Gillingham: It’s Complicated – Part 1 This is a two-part post. Their purpose is to argue that better language is necessary to describe what research has shown to be truly effective reading instruction. Science has shown that effective reading instruction can 1) prevent reading difficulties in most young children, even those with naturally weak phonological [...]
The following article appeared on the Secular Home School site . It was posted as a discussion piece on their forum.. It was posted as a discussion piece to help others make a decision on choosing the reading program that was right for a homeschool environment. With all the reading programs available, you would think that there needed [...]