Honoring the Neurodiversity of Children: Why I Created Child1st

Learning to Value Children's Differences

One of the most important questions educators can ask is this: What should education look like when we recognize that children do not all learn in exactly the same way?

I believe children's differences should be valued rather than treated as obstacles to overcome.

Every child brings unique strengths, experiences, interests, and needs into the classroom. Some children readily understand abstract symbols and verbal explanations. Others benefit when instruction includes meaningful illustrations, stories, movement, or hands-on experiences.

These differences do not determine a child's potential.

Our responsibility as educators is to recognize when a child is struggling, understand what is making learning difficult, and provide the instruction and support that child needs.

This belief became the foundation of my work at Child1st.

My Why: The Children Who Inspired My Work

In the early 1990s, I became increasingly concerned about bright children who were struggling to thrive in school.

It was painful to see children who wanted to learn become discouraged when the instruction they received did not seem to help them succeed.

I believed then, as I do now, that children are capable of learning and that we have a responsibility to find effective ways to teach them.

I began studying the relationship between how children learn and how we teach.

My goal was to bridge the gap between educational theory and everyday classroom practice.

I wanted to develop resources that teachers could use immediately—resources that made difficult concepts more understandable without sacrificing the essential skills children needed to learn.

What Happened in My Kindergarten Classroom in 1999

In the fall of 1999, I began working with a group of kindergarten children.

I taught the alphabet using stories and illustrations I created to help children connect abstract letter symbols with their sounds.

My reading instruction included systematic, explicit phonics. I taught children to listen for sounds in words, connect those sounds with letters, and use that knowledge to decode and spell.

Initially, the children made encouraging progress.

They learned to identify sounds and represent them with letters. They were developing the foundational skills necessary for reading.

But I began noticing something troubling.

Although many of the children could sound out words successfully, they did not always recognize those same words when they encountered them again.

Some would carefully decode a word, continue reading, and then begin sounding out the same word all over again a few minutes later.

They were learning to decode, but automatic word recognition was not developing as readily as I had hoped.

I realized that I needed to provide additional opportunities for children to become familiar with the words they were learning.

The Experiment That Changed My Teaching

In November, I began experimenting with additional instructional supports.

I introduced meaningful illustrations, stories, and body movements to reinforce the letters, sounds, spelling patterns, and words we were studying.

I wanted children to have more opportunities to connect new information with something they already understood.

Rather than replacing phonics instruction, I added these activities to reinforce what the children were learning.

The response was encouraging.

Children who had struggled to remember familiar words began showing greater recognition and confidence. The illustrations and activities gave us additional ways to discuss, practice, and retrieve what they had learned.

By March, I reported that students in that group were performing at reading levels ranging from second to fourth grade.

That was my experience with this particular group of children, not a prediction of what every child will achieve.

What mattered most to me was the change I observed in their engagement and progress.

I had learned an important lesson: Explicit instruction and meaningful multisensory reinforcement could work together.

The experience transformed how I approached teaching.

Why Instructional Flexibility Matters

Over time, I became increasingly aware that children could experience difficulty with the same lesson for very different reasons.

One child might understand a concept but struggle to remember it later.

Another might need additional practice connecting sounds with spellings.

A third might become overwhelmed when too much information was presented at once.

Still another might understand the material better after seeing a demonstration or participating in a hands-on activity.

These differences do not mean that children need entirely separate sets of reading skills.

They still need to develop phonemic awareness, phonics, decoding, spelling, automatic word recognition, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension.

But they may need different amounts of instruction, different kinds of reinforcement, and different opportunities to practice.

For me, honoring neurodiversity means paying attention to those needs rather than assuming that one presentation of a lesson will be equally effective for every child.

It also means recognizing that a child's difficulty with one skill does not define the child's intelligence, creativity, or potential.

The Impact of Repeated Struggles

Children spend many of their formative years in school.

During those years, they are not only learning academic skills. They are also developing beliefs about themselves as learners.

When a child repeatedly struggles with reading, the consequences can extend beyond the reading lesson.

The child may become reluctant to participate, avoid challenging tasks, or begin to believe that success is beyond reach.

This is one reason I have always placed such importance on helping children experience genuine progress.

Success does not mean avoiding difficult work.

It means providing instruction that makes the next step achievable, recognizing growth, and helping children develop the skills they need for increasing independence.

When a child begins to recognize words that were previously difficult, reads a sentence more confidently, or successfully applies a familiar spelling pattern, that progress matters.

Small achievements can become the foundation for larger ones.

The Principles Behind Child1st Resources

As I continued developing teaching materials, I established several guiding principles.

I wanted resources that would:

• Be accessible to a wide range of learners. Instruction should offer meaningful supports without limiting children's potential.

• Be practical for teachers and parents. Adults should be able to understand the instructional purpose and use the materials without extensive preparation.

• Teach essential skills explicitly. Important concepts should be explained and practiced rather than left for children to discover on their own.

• Connect related literacy skills. Phonemic awareness, phonics, spelling, word recognition, reading, and comprehension should reinforce one another.

• Follow children's instructional needs. Resources should allow adults to teach according to the skills children have mastered and the skills they need next, rather than relying solely on grade-level labels.

• Be affordable and reusable. Effective instructional resources should be practical for classrooms, homeschools, and families.

These principles continue to guide the design of Child1st materials.

How the SnapWords® System Grew From This Experience

The SnapWords® System grew out of my classroom experiences and my desire to help children connect words with meaning while developing essential reading skills.

Each SnapWords® card presents a high-frequency word with a meaningful illustration integrated into the printed word.

The illustration provides an instructional memory anchor, while Mini-Lessons guide adults in teaching the sounds, spellings, meaning, and use of the word.

Body motions and hands-on activities provide additional reinforcement.

As children become familiar with the word, they practice recognizing it without the illustration.

The goal is independent recognition of words in ordinary print, supported by the phonics and spelling knowledge children are developing.

SnapWords® can be used alongside explicit, systematic literacy instruction rather than replacing it.

Today, the system includes resources that connect word instruction with spelling, writing, and reading practice.

Learn how the Child1st SnapWords® System works.

Explore the SnapWords® collection.

What I Hope for Every Child

My hope is that every child will have the opportunity to experience success in learning.

I want children to recognize their strengths without being defined by their struggles.

I want educators to have practical resources that help them respond when a student needs something more than the instruction already provided.

And I want children who have begun to doubt their abilities to discover that they can make meaningful progress.

Honoring neurodiversity is not about assigning children to categories or assuming that a particular method will work for everyone.

It is about recognizing individual differences, teaching essential skills clearly, observing children's responses, and adjusting support when needed.

That belief inspired my work decades ago.

It remains at the heart of Child1st today.

Continue Exploring

• The SnapWords® System and Neurodiversity — Learn how SnapWords® provide visual, verbal, movement-based, and hands-on reinforcement during reading instruction.

• Celebrating Neurodiversity in the Classroom — Explore ways to recognize and support children's different learning needs.

• How to Teach Phonics: Make the Biggest Impact in 30 Minutes a Day — Read more about practical phonics instruction.

Sarah Major is the founder and product designer of Child1st Publications. Her work grew from classroom experiences with children who needed additional support developing reading skills. Child1st resources reflect her commitment to explicit instruction, meaningful learning experiences, and helping children build confidence through progress.