Dear Parents:
L to the Third Power!!!

Nursery Rhymes, sometimes called Mother Goose Rhymes, have been in existence as early as the 14th century. They were sung and repeated to young children, even before much of the population was literate. And many of the authors of these rhymes are unknown. So what gives? WHAT ABOUT NURSERY RHYMES? Human beings, in many if not all cultures, have passed along stories from generation to generation as part of  oral tradition likely since the beginning of time. Some of what are considered nursery rhymes were never intended for the young, but were simply part of an oral folklore tradition…

Since it is November with the holidays upon us all, a nod to cooking seemed appropriate to me.  What does cooking have to do with literacy development?  What can YOU do to ‘whip up’ successful literacy instruction whether you are a parent or a teacher or a teacher of teachers? Let’s start with this… Created by Lori Josephson I read this poem to each and every teacher I taught throughout my long tenure as a trainer of teachers once it was placed in my hands. Why? IT ALL ‘BOILS DOWN’ TO ‘FIDELITY OF IMPLEMENTATION’ What is ‘fidelity of implementation’…

IT WAS JUST ANOTHER BIKE RIDE, AND…. On a relatively cool Sunday morning in August, I set out to complete a 50 mile bike ride to benefit our local Ohio and Erie Towpath Coalition. Between my husband and me, we raised several thousand dollars as per the support of our family and friends. I hadn’t completed one of these ‘rides’ in several years and honestly, I was pretty nervous about finishing the ride–and finishing in an appropriate time frame so as to avoid totally embarrassing myself!  I RODE WITH A PEDIATRICIAN, AND… To my surprise, I ended up meeting…

“My mum used to feed me alphabet soup when I was a kid. She insisted on me telling everyone that I loved it. I didn’t really, she was just putting words in my mouth!”

This month, I ‘teamed up’ with my colleague and friend, Dr. Kelly Moran. We share our thoughts on what parents can do to foster their children’s literacy development by likening the approach to a coach’s involvement in each individual athlete, as well as the team. DO SHARE with other parents, as well as teachers, school administrative personnel, board members, and even pediatricians. Be a revered ‘Coach’ and read on so that you can follow the ‘Playbook’. PARENTS AS “COACHES” Win.  Excel.  Beat a personal best.  These intentions comprise the mindsets of athletes.  Even those who are not athletes know…

SO MUCH BETTER for students to have the ability to say, “I’m not sure” instead of “I don’t know”!!  Let’s aim for a growth mindset by teaching kids and remembering to say “I’m not sure” in place of “I don’t know” or “I dunno”–that’s even worse! I cannot tell you how many students (and teachers) sat in front of me either for assessment, a lesson, or a professional development class over the course of my multi-decade career in education who continuously said, “I don’t know.”  Let’s just say the number is likely in triple or even quadruple digits. WHAT…