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229 Articles
August 23, 2023
Diagramming Sentences Demystified
Back in my callow youth, we had grammar lessons every day. They included acquiring the skill of diagramming sentences. At the time, diagramming sentences bored me nearly to tears. As an adult, I began to…
August 22, 2023
Parts of Speech Simplified
Grammar, phonics, and parts of speech often vie for first place at the very pinnacle of the student boredom scale. I have spent a lot of working time as an adult looking for ways to teach these types of…
July 7, 2023
Number Sense: The Power of Patterns
A child more readily learns material if it is embedded within a pattern. Brain research tells us that the human brain is a pattern-seeking organ, and we have only to watch children at work in pattern discovery…
May 10, 2023
Make a Mondrian Matching Game
It’s a good idea to introduce kids to famous, and perhaps even not-so-famous, artists at an early age so they can begin to lay a foundation for future learning. A great artist to start with is Mondrian because…
May 10, 2023
Ants are Amazing: Letter A
As we are enjoying summer break, most students are likely thinking about all the fun yet to come. There are probably not many that are working hard and preparing for the next school year already. This brings…
May 5, 2023
Build a Pinecone Bird Buffet
Summer is a time for fun and adventure, but it can be a struggle to find ways to keep your children from becoming bored. Beyond that, many parents worry about learning loss and desire to find ways to…
May 1, 2023
Double the Digraph Fun
Last time, we met Miss S, T, W, and Mr. H, and saw what happened when they walked together. Digraphs cause letters to make new sounds when they come together. Teaching sound spellings is one of the most…
April 14, 2023
Teaching Sound Spelling Patterns Part 4
We hope you have been enjoying this fun and unique approach to teaching a tricky topic. Over the past few weeks, we have covered many different sound spellings, integrating multisensory components that allow…
April 13, 2023
Teaching Sound Spelling Patterns Part 3
In part 1 of this series, we looked at the benefits of teaching sound spellings and gave a few examples of the best ways to teach them. Part 2 covered an AUGH spelling as well as several OUGH spellings. In the…
April 11, 2023
Teaching Sound Spelling Patterns Part 2
Last week we looked at how teaching sound spelling patterns helps students derive meaning, improve comprehension, and experience success in reading. Today, we are going to take a deeper look at the OUGH…
April 10, 2023
Teaching Homophone Triplets Without Tears
One of the most challenging things about the English language has got to be homophones! These are words that sound the same, but they are spelled differently, and they have different meanings. This can make…
February 15, 2023
When Reading is a Struggle: How to Help Your Child
Each child differs from the next in how they learn, what their strengths are, and what they prefer as they learn. When a child is struggling, we believe in looking at the child first and uncovering the beauty…