Often we look for new, complex solutions to solve the problems we face. However, there are often simple solutions or steps we can take to improve or alleviate the problems we rack our brains trying to solve. One elementary school recently started a breakfast program in their classrooms where each student is provided a meal at the start of each school day. This takes up a small 12 minutes of their day and the school has figured that the teachers have …
How to Motivate Your Struggling Reader to Improve Reading Skills
Research has proven which approaches work for helping struggling readers improve their reading skills, but what if they aren’t motivated to improve their reading skills? We all know how to do a lot of things that we don’t do simply because we aren’t motivated. Often it’s not the know-how that stops us from completing tasks; it’s often the lack of motivation. Because of its fundamental importance in everyone’s daily routine and what we do and don’t accomplish each day, many …
The D Word: Understanding Dyslexia
Reading Horizons is located in Salt Lake City- the heart of Utah. But about 30 miles east of Salt Lake City (a 40-minute drive through a vast canyon and an increase of elevation of about 3500 feet) you enter Park City. A trendy city most known for its ski resorts and the prestigious and star-studded Sundance Film Festival. Around here, the film festival is a big deal. Many locals are already making plans to attend screenings …
How Can Parents Support Their Child’s Reading Development?
by Kathy Chappell-Muncy MS Ed. Reading and Literacy and Margaret Nichols MS Ed. Reading and Literacy Much as papa tiger watched and worried as his little tiger son Leo didn’t speak, or eat nicely, write or read in Leo the Late Bloomer by Robert Kraus, we parents experience the same anticipation and hope that our child will be healthy, strong, and reach all their important milestones on time. Even as Leo’s mama tried to reassure papa tiger …
5 Ways to Make Literacy a Part of Your Child’s Christmas
1. “A Book on Every Bed” – This campaign was started last year in an effort to get a million books on the beds of a million children. The campaign continues on this year in an effort to foster a love of reading in children across America. Here’s how you can participate: Take a book (new or old). Wrap it. Place it on your child’s bed so it’s the first present they see on Christmas morning. Here …
8 Ways to Boost Your Child’s Reading Ability and Academic Achievement
Have you ever wondered how you can best help your child succeed in school? What the most effective parenting tactics are? Recent research from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (the O.E.C.D.) has found several practices that parents can incorporate into their child rearing to increase academic performance. By interviewing parents about their child-rearing habits and comparing these habits to their children’s PISA scores (a test administered every 3 years to 15-year old students of leading industrialized nations) …
Paper or Electronic Books? Which Should Your Child Use?
With the increasingly popular e-readers (such as Kindle) on the rise, the question arises- are printed books on their way to becoming obsolete? According to American Booksellers Association’s CEO Oren Teicher, “ABA in no way believes that print books are going away. Nothing can replace the physical book.” Reading is one of the most powerful skills an individual can obtain. Does it matter the medium? Let’s examine some of the advantages of both formats. Some of the …
Does My Child Have a Vision-Related Reading Challenge?
By Guest Blogger, Joan Brennan Very often when exhibiting our reading tools at educational conferences, parents and teachers will ask, “How will I know if my child (or student) has a vision-related reading challenge?” It is a very good question, one that deserves correct information and helpful resources. After more than 15 years of teaching, it has become very clear to me that reading is a highly individualized activity. Not all children (or adults) see …
Inventive Spelling – Does it help or hurt?
Inventive spelling (also called invented spelling) is the practice of spelling unfamiliar words by making a guess as to the correct spelling based on the writer’s existing knowledge. An example of this would be spelling “is” as “iz” or “flowers” as “flawrs”. Some are touting this method as a way to foster creativity and are defending inventive spelling as part of a natural developmental process. In a classroom where invented spelling is allowed, a teacher …
At What Age Should Your Child Be Able To Read?
Are you wondering if your child is “on time” when it comes to reading? According to the U.S. Department of Education, here are the language milestones your child should reach at each age: CHILDREN AGES 0-3: Imitate some of the sounds and rhythms adults use when they speak Begin to associate frequent words with their meanings Recognize some books by their covers Pretend to read books and handle them correctly Produce some scribbles that resemble writing …
