The benefits of summer reading programs are well documented. In fact, summer reading programs have been around for more than a century, and they continue on because of their great benefits. There are many shapes and sizes of summer reading programs, from online reading and answering questions to reading library books, to 4-hour per day…
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Summer Learning Loss: How to Prevent the Summer Slide
4 Steps to Stop Summer Learning Loss Kids often lose much of what they learned from the school year over the summer. This is because most of the time, during the summer, we don’t spend much time stimulating the brain and keeping them active. It’s typical for kids to lose between two and four months…
Best Practices for Teaching Phonics
What is phonics? Phonics is the ability to pair individual sounds with a visual symbol (letters). This method is frequently used to teach reading. Phonics teaches the sounds that letters or groups of letters make when spoken. Phonics is the process of matching sounds to letters. Reading experts refer to this as the alphabetic principle.…
Phonemic Awareness and Reading
What is Phonemic Awareness? Phonemic awareness is critical to reading and is the first of the five principles of reading. Phonemic awareness is the ability to hear, identify, and manipulate individual sounds – phonemes – in spoken words. A phoneme is a unit of sound that distinguishes one word from another, for example, /b/, /k/,…
What is Reading Fluency?
Reading fluency is the ability to read smoothly, easily, and quickly. Good readers can read words automatically without having to sound out each syllable (also known as decoding). In other words, you don’t have to spend a lot of effort and attention on the mechanics of reading. Reading becomes easy. Why is Reading Fluency Important?…
COVID-19 Learning Loss
Is your child behind? One of the most heard concerns from parents is that they worry that their child is behind. In fact, learning loss during COVID-19 is something we should all be aware of. You know as well as I know how your kids have struggled this year with the school’s partial or complete…
Reading and Spelling: Decoding and Encoding
How are Reading and Spelling Connected? Reading and spelling are two sides of the same coin. In order to do one part well, you need the other part. In order to read, you need to decode (sound out) words. In order to spell, you need to encode words. In other words, pull the sounds apart…
Mind-Body Connection: Movement and Learning
How does the mind-body connection affect overall learning skills? Most of us don’t think about learning skills in conjunction with the mind-body connection and movement. However, the mind-body connection and movement are very important to your ability to learn and master reading skills. The brain and body work together as a machine, one designed to…
10 Best Practices to Improve Reading Comprehension
When you use best practices for improving reading comprehension, it is easier to understand what you have read. Reading comprehension is the ability to understand, analyze, synthesize, and use what you have read. Continue reading to discover 10 best practices to improve reading comprehension.
Sleeping Tips and Solutions for Sleep Problems: How to Adjust to the Time Change
Table of Contents Overview Sleep Problems and ADHD Set Up a Bedtime Routine 8 Sleeping Solutions and Tips 5 Tips for When You Wake Up Overview Sleep problems can affect all of us and are especially difficult with the time change. Sleep is critical for our minds, memory, learning, and development. While you are sleeping,…