I am delighted to feature Anjanette McNeeley, Kindergarten Teacher in Davis County, Utah as a Guest Writer for my blog this month. Thank you, Anjanette—you are an inspiration! One of the most exciting things about kindergarten is unlocking the alphabetic code and learning to read. Years ago, on the second day of school, one student
Why Talk Matters: Building Big Language with Little Learners Read More »
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 »
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
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
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
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 »
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 »
“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!”
The Vowels Are In Charge–Even in Alphabet Soup! Read More »
INFLATION HITS THE LITERACY WORLD Has anyone reading this article NOT noticed the unprecedented rates of INFLATION hitting the nation? Highest levels since 1981! Everything from food to gas to airline prices to the housing market..and yes, to even discussions about how young readers should be taught. Is it best to teach the letters of
Inflation Hits The Literacy World: ‘Sound Inflation’! Read More »
Well, I haven’t fallen off the face of the earth–just been busy with new grandkids and other family matters…glad to report I am back! When I was a new mom back in the 80s, I didn’t know what I didn’t know! That’s me with my daughter, Emily, circa 1984! I just talked to my kids, took
The MIRACLE of Emergent Language→Emergent Literacy!! Read More »