How to Teach Other Things

Now more than ever, teachers need our help and support.  Let’s make this school year great by finding ways to step in and help fill the gaps.

A vast number of children have trouble just recognizing high-frequency words. The reason this is a problem is because sight words are a high percentage of the words children encounter in reading. The design of our SnapWords® emphasizes comprehension, correct usage, and word recognition.

The Tide is Shifting Back to a Phonics Based System of Teaching Reading The definition of phonics is the study of the relationship between oral sounds and their representation on paper using symbols. Or more simply put, phonics is the study of the written form of the sounds we hear in words. (National Literacy Trust) The emphasis on phonics has fallen in and out of favor over the decades. The reason for this is that with or without a phonics emphasis, 65% +/- of children continue to fail to achieve reading mastery. When phonics falls out of favor, it is scrapped by decision-makers who believe the fault lies in teaching phonics. Phonics, YES? Or Phonics, NO? Phonics is content; a...

Many types of learners cannot memorize and retain facts that involve symbols. (This includes memorizing words or math facts, too!) They might be able to retain the letters and sequence of a word for a few minutes, but 30 minutes later, the information will have disappeared from their brains.

We received a comment from a teacher that her students were having a hard time grasping the concept of prepositions: what they are and how they are used. Sounds like a topic for which images and hands-on activities will help turn on those mental lights!