You do the math(s). No, wait. Let me : ) At some point this summer, you’ve probably got somewhere between 26 and 60 days before your little munchkin steps into the challenges of Reception, Kindergarten, Year 1 or First Grade. There’ll be lots of new experiences, lots to learn, some excitement, and probably some leg-clinging. Having confidence in one area […]

How would 4 year olds experience a wordless book (an illustrated story, no words) vs. a pictureless book (all sounds, no pictures to look at)? One day I went in to a preschool classroom to debut a draft of my book: Buffalo Joe’s Sound Rodeo. I haven’t illustrated it yet since it’s still in draft mode; so the kids sat […]

This past year, I wrote 5 little books for my 4 year old son. If no other child in the whole world ever read them, it would be worth it. Getting to see his grin. Getting to see him focus. Getting to help him learn how to learn. When I wrote these, my older son had already learned how to […]

or maybe even June. If you’ve been watching the news lately, you know there has been a lot of flooding in England. From minor frustration to really devastating ruinous stuff. Thankfully, even though I think our house is a grand total of about 10 feet above sea-level, it hasn’t been flooded. (Aside: The flooding has made me think about how […]

Skylanders and Moshis aren’t complete nonsense though. In fact, I’ve found that the attention span for my kids looking at books, sticking stickers and playing with figurines is downright amazing! (Disclaimer: I’m pretty sure that Skylanders and Moshis have videogame/online components which we don’t use. We have stuck (no pun intended) with stickers, books and some figurines. Except for that […]

You may be familiar with and possibly may have even taught the reading/spelling rule: When two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking. But what percentage of the time does this widely known reading/spelling rule actually hold true? Pick one: 20% – Rarely 40% – Sometimes 50% – Half the Time 70% – Usually 90% – Almost Always […]

I just came across this fascinating, inspiring and informative article about A Reading Teacher Who Lost The Ability To Read! which illustrates the difference between decoding and comprehending. The teacher, who the article calls “M.”, suffered a series of small strokes which affected her brain. The article explains: “The disorder is called alexia. The strokes damaged the connection between the […]

Like a lot of parents, I want to help my children be prepared for school (and beyond). Of all the skills that parents often help their kids learn in childhood: how to tie their shoes how to a ride bike how to swim How to Train Your Dragon It seems like helping them learn to read is one of the […]

“Some children might not be ready for as big a jump from letter sounds to reading words and sentences and would benefit from making it a few little hops instead of a bigger jump.” –  Jordan K., Elementary School Librarian The Creek Is Wide Have you ever taken a walk through the woods with your small children and come to […]

Trying to Climb Up the Down Escalator In their excellent book, Switch: How to Change When Change is Hard (highly recommend!), Chip & Dan Heath describe the power of identity in hindering or facilitating change.  They state that “[a]ny change effort that violates someone’s identity is likely doomed to failure.” When deciding what to do or not to do, we […]