Adolescent/Young Adult Dyslexia

Decodable Books on the Menu for Foundational ‘Readers-In-Training’ as an Appetizer—–YES, Please! (Part 1)…Save Leveled Books and Authentic ‘text’ Books for the Main Course/Dessert (Part 2)

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Let’s order from the same menu so we know what we are talking about from the outset! 3 Types of Books on the Menu When Teaching Foundational Skills to ‘Readers-In-Training’: Decodable Books Decodable Books are those targeting specific sound/symbol relationships and reliable phonics patterns such as short vowels and basic consonant sounds, etc. These books […]

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Get a Grip!  What Parents (& Maybe Teachers Too) Need to Know About ‘Pencil Grip’—How It Develops (Part 1),  Why It Is Important (Part 2), and What About the Influence of Screen Time on Writing By Hand (Part 3) – Part 2

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July (Part 2), Coming in August (Part 3) 2025  Introduction If you are just reading this article for the first time, I suggest you click back to my June 2025 article here, which explains the development of an appropriate pencil grip from birth to about age 5 prior to reading this month’s article. As a

Get a Grip!  What Parents (& Maybe Teachers Too) Need to Know About ‘Pencil Grip’—How It Develops (Part 1),  Why It Is Important (Part 2), and What About the Influence of Screen Time on Writing By Hand (Part 3) – Part 2 Read More »

NAEP SCORES ARE ‘DOWN’ and ‘OUT’…WHY READ ‘Calling All Neurons!’ NOW?

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The Prelude The results of NAEP 2024 (National Assessment of Educational Progress-otherwise known as the ‘Nation’s Report Card) for grades 4, 8 and 12 are now available. The 2024 scores provide nationwide information in the areas of reading, mathematics, and grade 8 science. For the purposes of this article, I focus only on the reading

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I Was Going to Write About the Nation’s Reading Report Card (NAEP)…But “My Mother Let Go of the Grass”

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Most recently, the release of the new NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress–often thought of as the Nation’s Report Card) scores reveals that our nation’s 4th and 8th graders’ reading and math scores remain dismal and have not risen since the past administration in 2022. The aftermath of the pandemic is real and our nation’s

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Kids and Adults: Time to Chill Out Because Winter Solstice is Upon Us

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Each year on December 21, 22, or 23, darkness envelops Earth’s Northern Hemisphere for a bit longer than normal. While what we now know to be the winter solstice has a straightforward astronomical explanation, early myths of why the solstice takes place also share insights into early civilizations’ steps into science. Science ATL Image by

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What Parents Need to Know About “New School Year’s Eve”… and The Wizard of Oz!

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It’s All About YOUR Perspective… Are you the giraffe looking down on your primary age kiddos? You then might see the top of this model’s hat, although I doubt it very highly. Are you looking at your students from all dimensions? Are you looking at your child(ren) face to face, especially if you are a

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What Do Parents Need to Know About “Summer Slide”–AKA ‘Learning Loss’?

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What is “Summer Slide”? Have you ever even heard of this term before?? I just finished a Zoom meeting with a gal who has three adult children and nine grands–I asked her if she had ever heard of the term….guess what, she had not! So you are not alone. According to Scholastic, a whopping 48%

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Does Your Child(ren) or Student(s) Struggle With Reading? I’m So Passionate About Helping Kids Learn To Read and Spell, I Wrote A Book!

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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

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Do YOU Worry About (Your) Kids (or Adults!) Who Struggle with Reading and Writing? I Worry Too, So I Called Upon Some Neurons!

30 Comments / Adolescent/Young Adult Dyslexia, Attention, Background Knowledge & Literacy, Comprehension, Decoding (Reading), Dyslexia, Early Literacy, Education Equity, Executive Function & Literacy, Handwriting, High Frequency Words, Language Literacy Connection, Literacy News, Morphology - What's That?, Parenting, Phonological Awareness, Reading Brain, Resiliency, Science of Reading, Social Emotional Learning, Speech to Print, Vocabulary Development / By

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

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“I Was Feeling Guilty as a Parent!” 2024 is THE YEAR to Educate Yourself to Support Your Child(ren)

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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

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