Pre and Early Literacy

What Parents Need to Know about ‘Book Language’–Next Steps for Children Part 2 (of 3)

2 Comments / Background Knowledge & Literacy, Comprehension, Early Literacy, Language Literacy Connection, Literacy, Parenting, Pre and Early Literacy, Reading Brain, Speech to Print, Your Journey / By

Prelude In January, I started writing about ‘Book Language’ and its importance in attaining school success. You can read this article here. To summarize, ‘Book Language’ differs from spoken language in significant ways. ‘Book Language’ is written using complete sentences including longer and more complex sentence structures. The vocabulary is far more descriptive and evokes […]

What Parents Need to Know about ‘Book Language’–Next Steps for Children Part 2 (of 3) Read More »

What Parents Need to Know about ‘Book Language’–What’s That Anyway?? Part 1

2 Comments / Background Knowledge & Literacy, Comprehension, Early Literacy, Education Equity, Executive Function & Literacy, Language & Literacy, Language Literacy Connection, Librarians, Parenting, Pre and Early Literacy, Science of Reading, Social Emotional Learning, Social-Emotional Health, Vocabulary Development, Your Journey / By

Introduction: Authentic Text Is Full of ‘Book Language‘ In my October blog, entitled, PART 2…Authentic ‘text’ Books for the Main Course/Dessert—IT’S TASTIER!, I write extensively on the importance of having student exposure to ‘authentic text’ as opposed to ‘decodable text’. In short, foundational reading students first need to spend time practicing the decoding skills they

What Parents Need to Know about ‘Book Language’–What’s That Anyway?? Part 1 Read More »

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)

Leave a Comment / Adolescent/Young Adult Dyslexia, Back to School, Decoding (Reading), Dyslexia, Early Literacy, High Frequency Words, Parenting, Pre and Early Literacy, Resiliency / By

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

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) Read More »

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 1

2 Comments / Early Literacy, Executive Function & Literacy, Handwriting, Language & Literacy, Parenting, Pre and Early Literacy, Science of Reading, Written Language / By

(Parts 2 and 3 in the works!) How Does Your Child Hold a Writing Utensil? Ages and Stages…Pre-Writing Ages 0-4 Babies are born into a world in which they are totally dependent on their caretakers, most often their parents. Although their capacity for full sensory and muscle development is intact (in most cases), these skills

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 1 Read More »

What Parents Need to Know About Teaching Letter Names AND/OR Letter Sounds…and Which to Teach First…Get On the Train!

2 Comments / Decoding (Reading), Early Literacy, Handwriting, Language Literacy Connection, Literacy, Parenting, Pre and Early Literacy, Reading Brain / By

The Train is in the Station –The Toddler The Question… As many of my readers are aware, I am a Moderator of the 242+K member FaceBook Group, Science of Reading-What I Should Have Learned in College. So…I see, read, and respond to many questions on an almost daily basis. It is one way I can

What Parents Need to Know About Teaching Letter Names AND/OR Letter Sounds…and Which to Teach First…Get On the Train! Read More »

My Book About How Kids’ Brains Learn to Read and Spell Is About To Be Published! Be One of the First to Get YOUR Copy!!

24 Comments / Background Knowledge & Literacy, Comprehension, Decoding (Reading), Dyslexia, Early Literacy, Executive Function & Literacy, Handwriting, Language Literacy Connection, Morphology - What's That?, Parenting, Phonological Awareness, Pre and Early Literacy, Reading Brain, Reading Fluency, Speech to Print, Spelling, Vocabulary Development / By

WHEN? My new book entitled Calling All Neurons! How Reading and Spelling Happen will be published at the end of May, which coincides with the end of the school year. Timing of the publication is perfect for several reasons including: With adult guidance, this book is appropriate for children beginning at age 8. Older students

My Book About How Kids’ Brains Learn to Read and Spell Is About To Be Published! Be One of the First to Get YOUR Copy!! Read More »

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!

6 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, Language Literacy Connection, Morphology - What's That?, Parenting, Phonological Awareness, Pre and Early Literacy, Reading Brain, Reading Fluency, Resiliency, Science of Reading, Social Emotional Learning, Speech to Print, Spelling, Vocabulary Development / By

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

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! Read More »

Why Wait? Literally (or is it Literacy?) from the Mouths of Babes!

1 Comment / Comprehension, Early Literacy, Executive Function & Literacy, Language & Literacy, Language Literacy Connection, Memory, Parenting, Pre and Early Literacy, Science of Reading, Speech to Print / By

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

Why Wait? Literally (or is it Literacy?) from the Mouths of Babes! Read More »

WHO is Ms. Rachel?

7 Comments / Early Literacy, Language & Literacy, Language Literacy Connection, Parenting, Pre and Early Literacy, Speech to Print, Vocabulary Development / By

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

WHO is Ms. Rachel? Read More »

Happy New Year 2023: Looking Back to Look Forward

Leave a Comment / Background Knowledge & Literacy, Early Literacy, Language & Literacy, Language Literacy Connection, Parenting, Pre and Early Literacy, Your Journey / By

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

Happy New Year 2023: Looking Back to Look Forward Read More »

Scroll to Top