The Elegance of Frequency: Seeing Results with Word Lists

As you teach your child the 1000 most common words in English using the Teach Your Children to Read Well program, you will want to know the rate and accuracy at which your child is learning. We will use fluency checks as a measure of his or her performance and of your teaching. After eachContinue reading “The Elegance of Frequency: Seeing Results with Word Lists”

The Elegance of Frequency: Seeing Results for Sounds and Sound Combinations

As you teach your child the 63 various sounds and sound combinations in the Teach Your Children to Read Well program, you will want to know the rate and accuracy of your child’s learning.

A Critical, Simple, Almost Never Used, Measure of Academic Performance

Whether you are a teacher, homeschooler or therapist, when we teach, we want to know that our teaching has been successful. Whether it is at the kitchen table, in a classroom, a withdrawal special ed program or a therapy session, we want to know that our teaching had an effect, made a difference, was worthContinue reading “A Critical, Simple, Almost Never Used, Measure of Academic Performance”

How Common Human Frequencies Affect Learning: One Concrete Example of a Fundamental Academic Skill

Much of what students do in school on a day-to-day basis involves using a pen, marker or pencil. The productivity of students in their use of these tools varies widely. Humans can create 150 to 160 legible characters or numerals per minute. Sometimes students are far from being able to write letters or numbers atContinue reading “How Common Human Frequencies Affect Learning: One Concrete Example of a Fundamental Academic Skill”

Getting Started in the Right Direction: The Case for Behavioral Objectives

If you are going to assume the role of a teacher, whether you are trained as one or not, there are some conditions that you must be able to fulfill if you are to be successful. To ensure that the learning is passed from you to the student, there are several critical components that youContinue reading “Getting Started in the Right Direction: The Case for Behavioral Objectives”

Helping Foster Children Improve their Reading Skills

Sometimes it helps to convince people to try something if they know that you have actually done it yourself, so I have decided to tell you one of my many war stories about living in the special needs trenches for the past almost 50 years. Our local Children’s Aid Society called my office to seeContinue reading “Helping Foster Children Improve their Reading Skills”

Two Magical Tips for Blending Sounds Into Words

As I outlined in my last blog, “Three secrets you must know about teaching phonics”, there are both easy and difficult ways to teach someone the relationship between symbols and the sounds they make. By using those three secrets, you are employing the most effective method. I always prefer following the KISS principle. So nowContinue reading “Two Magical Tips for Blending Sounds Into Words”