Category Archive:
Reading

What? Don’t Teach The ABCs?

don't teach the abc's

Don’t teach your children their abc’s,” I tell surprised parents of three-year-olds. “They’ll learn their abc’s later, but to be wonderful readers they need to learn something else first.” Most of us learned the letter names, as we sang our “abc’s” (aye-bee-sees). To learn to read faster and more efficiently, help your children learn the […]


Reading Begins At Birth

reading begins at birth

Avoid the trap of thinking that the road to reading for your child will begin in kindergarten. Parents tell me, “Oh, I’m too busy. I’ll just let my child learn to read in first grade.” For many children important skills for reading are not developed at the time of their lives when it is the […]


On The Road To Reading

understanding how children learn to read

Car seat manufacturers announced changing their installation instructions because the reading level was too difficult for over half of their customers in the United States. How high was that reading level? A fifth grade level. As a young mother, I had a knot in my stomach when reading this kind of article, along with a […]


Learning To Love To Learn

learning to love to learn

Trying to keep our children frustration free by controlling the consequences of movement–for example using spill proof drinking cups instead of ones that can spill–prevents our children from getting necessary and accurate feedback for optimal learning. When we can prepare a child’s indoor and outdoor spaces with a variety of activities that match skill and […]


Creating Phonemic Awareness

creating phonemic awareness I spy game

Around age two-and-a-half to three, your child becomes aware that words are made up of individual sounds. This skill is called phonemic awareness. “Phonemic” comes from the word “phonics,” which means sounds. When you help your children become aware of the individual sounds in words, you are helping them develop a very important skill for […]


How to Help a Child Learn to Read

how to help a child learn to read

Observing a child learning to read words and numbers is one of my life’s pleasures. These two skills, literacy and numeracy, are critical to a person’s reaching his or her fullest potential. Numeracy is the ability to read, write and speak the language of numbers. By the time a child is six years old, he […]