Articles
Aug 22, 2012
Reading Log
Reading logs can be a contentious issue for both educators and parents. For educators a reading log is often the signal of the trench war between enthusiasts for phonics and the devotees of whole language instruction. In a reductive nutshell, teachers who favour phonics tend to work on the literacy skills that help kids break down words into their parts in order to be able to read, while teachers who favour whole language instruction tend to favour the use of reading logs and stress the reading of entire texts. For parents, reading logs can seem like just another box to...
Aug 22, 2012
Kids Spelling Tips
Kids’ spelling is nothing if not inventive, but sometimes, the funny way kids spell things is a great reminder to parents and teachers that the English language is rather, for lack of a better word, irregular, in its spelling. The very frequent irregularities in English spelling can perplex and baffle students who already struggle to read, much less work out all the hidden rules lying beneath English spelling, such as: ‘I’ before ‘e’, except after ‘c’. However, learning the spelling of words can help kids become better readers. Researchers have found that spelling and reading are linked in the brain....
Aug 16, 2012
Reading and Writing
Literacy involves being able to both read and write; reading and writing are sister activities, if you will, in the family of literacy. In writing circles it has become almost commonplace that reading helps you become a better writer. But now, the same can be said for reading. A recent report funded by the Carnegie Corporation has found that *writing* can help you become a better *reader*. Without question, the ability to read is essential for learning as we use the written word to communicate knowledge. But what hasn’t been as clear is how important writing is to the ability...
Aug 15, 2012
Learning Difficulties
Learning difficulties beset the best efforts of many children learning to read. Learning to read is a complex process in which young readers must engage in a number of literacy skills simultaneously in order to read fluently. Fluent readers must have a handle on the five essential literacy elements: **• Phonemic awareness** **• Phonics skills** **• Fluency in reading** **• Vocabulary building** **• Text comprehension** Any hiccup along the way in any of these areas has the potential to cause reading difficulties, and if not caught can lead to learning difficulties. There are a number of myths that accompany the...