Enhanced Learning Skills for Kids » reading

Phonological Awareness – The Foundation of Reading

colleen — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 18:15:30 +0000

You may have heard the term phonological awareness if you have a child who’s having trouble learning to read. It refers to the ability to understand the sound structure of words. Phonemes are the small units of sound that make up language. In order to communicate with words, you need to be able to differentiate the phonemes or units of speech. Phonological awareness also ties into reading proficiency.

When a child is learning to read, phonics is a method of matching letters with sounds. For instance, the letter B makes the ‘buh’ sound. What they’re doing is learning to decode and encode words. In technical terms, reading is decoding and spelling or writing is encoding.

While there’s still some disagreement about exactly how children learn to read, most research on the subject revolves around phonological awareness.

It also figures into people with dyslexia and why they have difficulty learning to read and spell. Dyslexia can impair the ability to differentiate between the small sounds that comprise language. Weak phonological awareness can be caused by a neurological wiring mishap or genetics, so that the child is unable to recognize these foundational codes in language. They will have a difficult time being able to connect sound to code and code to sound.

Phonemic awareness is a subset of phonological awareness and is the ability to understand that each of our words is made up of individual sounds. For instance, the word CAT is made up of the C-sound, the A-sound and the T-sound. At this stage of reading, you have to segment, analyze and blend the sounds together to make the word.

One of the things that can happen with dyslexia is that the sounds that make up words get reversed or scrambled. Take the word pancakes, which we recognize is made up of two words and two distinct sounds. For instance, my daughter has learning disabilities, and when she’s tired she might say something like, “Can I have cake pans for breakfast?” She’s scrambled the two words without realizing it. I’ll say, “You just said cake pans instead of pancakes” and she won’t have realized that she’s done it.

This kind of scrambling of words can be really distressing for kids with dyslexia, because they don’t even realize that it’s happening. The good news is that using my program of brain training in conjunction with proven methods to build phonological awareness, children can overcome many of the problems associated with learning disabilities.

Want To Use This Article In Your Ezine or Website? I would be honored, and just ask that you include the following with the article:

Colleen Bain is the best-selling author of Overcomers Inc. She writes, trains and consults in advanced brain training for children and their parents, teachers and professionals. Professionals also look to Colleen for her expert coaching relative to starting and expanding a brain training business. To find out how Enhanced Learning Skills for Kids can help you – visit How Enhanced Learning Skills for Kids Can Help Your Child!

A Remediation Model for Your School District

colleen — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 18:15:52 +0000

Third grade for your child can be the end or it can mean a life full of successes, but it all starts in the classroom. Studies show if a child is not proficient by third grade, more than likely they won’t reach success later on in life. It also shows they’ll continue to struggle through the rest of the school years and could possibly drop out.

While a large percentage of these numbers are from Latino and African-American children that’s not to say it does not happen to all students. This study shows a stunning 70% of all 3rd graders who fell behind never caught up. Now that surely doesn’t mean they won’t catch up, it mainly shows it’s VERY difficult. That same study also shows a surprising 70% of students who dropped out struggled with reading.

Those numbers are terrible, but many school districts have no idea what needs to happen to decrease those numbers. The Kennewick School District in Washington figured out what needs to happen. When they put their plan into action their numbers significantly dropped. They found the tools they chose to use were so successful they were seeing 90% of the 3rd graders reading at proficiently.

To reach success the same way Kennewick did, you must follow some secrets. The first one is you need to help your child understand that success is not gained overnight. You also need to know if the innate core cognitive skills are not available and success won’t be reached.

When you choose to use the Kennewick success plan you need to develop a plan of attack. It’s better to know what’s going to happen than it is to play a guessing game. Trial and error will always happen though so you need to make sure you expect this, too.

Studies show unsuccessful students enter Kindergarten with an age equivalency of a 3 yr old relative to cognitive skills. The best thing you can do for pre-k children is to ensure that they know their basic letters/sounds and can identify their numbers.

If your child is trying to catch up the best thing you can do is encourage him to work hard and never give up. School curriculums are designed for a child that’s going to have a one grade growth, not multiples.

This is why it’s best to get your child assessed as early as age 6 using my online Gibson Cognitive Assessment. This will provide you a bird’s eye look at how strong your child’s ability to learn really is today. If your child falls into the studies’ results where although your child is at age 6, they are functioning at below age 5, then we need to ensure your child gets their foundational learning abilities strengthened sooner than later.

If your school district is interested in getting a solution to help with remediating classes of students – I recommend that the school reading specialist, special education director or principal reach directly to www.cog1st.org and personally reach to Larry Hargrave.

Remember, there is a solution, there is hope and there is a chance for change! You need to take action for change to happen!

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Tips for Teaching your Child the Scoop Method to Read

colleen — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 18:15:38 +0000

Reading problems happen on a regular basis for children with learning disabilities. They can be very discouraging and may cause children to stop reading all together. That’s not what you want so it’s a good idea to do what you can to try and prevent that from happening before it does.

When you can make learning fun, your child will want to do it, simple because fun and playing is what they enjoy doing. There is a strategy you can use when it comes to reading that’ll help make it more fun for them and you’ll see over time it will become a game to them.

The strategy is called the Wilson “Scooping” strategy. Your child will learn quickly how fun this is and they’ll likely forget they’re even reading. You’ll need to be involved in this strategy at first so they’ll learn how to use it and then you’ll be able to sit back and watch the transformation occur with them as a short amount of time goes on.

Here are the steps you need to follow to make this strategy fun and exciting for your child.

The first thing you need to do is explain how reading a sentence should be as smooth as a plane flying through the sky. When a sentence is read smoothly it will be more fluent and it will make much more sense. If a sentence doesn’t make sense your child won’t understand what he’s reading and he’ll become frustrated very quickly.

To get started you’ll need to write a sentence on a paper and have your child read it. You’ll see how he struggles with it and you can point that out to him in a kind way. Once this step is done you’re ready to scoop the sentence. Write this sentence on the paper and have your child read it out loud.

The cat is stuck in the tree by the house.

Now you’re ready to model it with the scoops.

Next, you need to read the sentence with the scoops. Read the words and stop before the next scoop happens. This will show your child how to do it the correct way. Once you’ve read it, you need to have your child read it the same way you did.

Once your child has read this scooped sentence a couple of times you need to do another one, but this time have him show you where the scoops go. This will help him to learn how to do this process on his own.

Continue this process until your child feels comfortable doing this on their own. Once this happens you’re ready to show them another way to scoop using less scoops. This will include more words in each scoop. Here is an example for you to show and work through with your child.

When this process is complete you’re ready to have your child do this by himself. Write out a dozen sentences and let him do this on his own. You need to make sure you watch him do it so it’s done properly and make sure he says the sentences correctly.

A fun idea is to tape record your child reading fluently once they have practiced scooping the same sentence for a bit. You’ll raise their self-esteem and boost their confidence as you continue your journey with reading tips and strategies.

Scooping is a great way to help your child read smoothly and more fluently. When this happens your child will want to continue to play the game which will in turn help them become a better reader.

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Tips for Reading Fluently

colleen — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 18:56:02 +0000

Reading fluently makes it easier to read, you’ll read quicker, and you’ll retain what you read. For a child with a learning disability that can be a challenge. One thing to remember is this is not something that can happen over night. You need to practice regularly so it becomes easier to read as time goes on.

The saying “practice makes perfect” is exactly what you need to remember when you’re trying to help your child to read with fluency. You need to continually help your child and encourage him to read as often as possible. No matter where they are or what they’re doing they need to read.

Reading fluency has two parts; one is to read accurately and the other is to read fluently. To read accurately means you know the words you’re reading and fluently means you read the words smoothly.

When you put these two things together they work with each other to help you become a better reader, but that won’t happen if you don’t practice and continually read ever chance you get.

When you want your child to become an avid reader, you need to find books he enjoys reading. The more he enjoys reading the more likely you are to get him to read and practice on a regular basis.

Once you have these books you’re ready to start the practice process with your child. You need to remind your child to read every chance he gets. Explain to him that reading will come easier and he’ll be able to read smoothly each and every time he makes the attempt.

One way to show your child how practice will make him a better reader is to give him a verbal example. The first example below shows how a child may read the very first time they attempt to read a book or magazine out loud. When you read this sentence, pause when you come to the periods.

This.. is.. an … example.. of.. halting … when.. you.. read. This.. will ..stop … when.. you.. practice … your.. reading.. on … a.. regular.. basis.

As you practice your reading the sentences will become easier and you’ll struggle less. You’ll have fewer problems and you won’t stop so you can figure out what the next word or phrase will be. Now in the next phrase, you’ll find it’s easier to read and that indicates learning.

This is an example… of halting when you read. This will stop … when you practice… your reading on … a regular basis.

The more you read the easier it will become and you’ll begin to enjoy what you read. It’s a good idea to show your child this routine and encourage him to use it on a regular basis. The more he does this, the easier reading will come to him and he’ll want to read.

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Play Syllable I Spy

colleen — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 18:15:37 +0000

At some point in your life, you’ve probably played the game “I Spy.” It’s perfect for boring waits at the grocery store, or long car rides. But with a little tweaking, the game can also help kids practice a key first grade concept…syllables. Here’s how to play:

What You Need:

* Hat

* Paper, ripped into small strips

What You Do:

1. Start the game with a little refresher. Tell your child that just as music can be divided into beats, words can be divided into syllables. Spend a few minutes talking about a few multi-syllable words, clapping at each syllable to show your child where the “breaks” are.

2. Let 'er rip! With your child’s help, tear a piece of paper into a bunch of small strips. On each piece of paper, write a number from 1-4. When you’re finished, throw them all into the hat.

3. Time to play! The first player picks a slip of paper from the hat. Just like in “I Spy,” he must come up with an object for the other player to guess. But in this version of the game, he must come up with an object with the number of syllables on the slip. For example, if he picked the number 2, he might choose “table” or “teaspoon” or “stapler.” With children this age, the number of syllables itself probably isn’t enough of a hint to keep the game from getting frustrating, so give clues that incorporate other hints as well, for example, “I spy something black with two syllables” or “I spy something you eat on that has two syllables.”

As your child gets the hang of it, don’t be afraid to throw a bit more challenge into the hat. Or, hat aside, just ask your child to think of a word with five syllables, or even six! He’ll look at your refrigerator in a whole new light.

by Kathy Meindl

Kathy has taught first grade, kindergarten, and fourth/fifth grade for 8 years in Tucson, AZ. She holds a Master's Degree in Educational Leadership.

http://www.education.com/activity/article/syllableispy_first/?cid=50.200

Learning Words through the Sky Writing Strategy

colleen — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 18:15:32 +0000

Most of us know there are several ways to learn different things. Some of us may learn better when step by step directions are available while others may learn better when someone has pictures to show us.

Reading is the same way. Some children may learn to read through memorization while others may learn by sounding the words out. No matter how they learn to read the important thing is they learn to do it correctly.

No matter which way your child uses there is one strategy that needs to be used. There are certain words that can’t be sounded out and may be difficult to memorize. The reason for this is two fold. One is the way it’s spelled and the other is the meaning of the word.

There are certain words that can’t be sounded out. These words must be memorized or your child will never learn them.

One of the easiest ways to teach your child to read when there are words they can’t sound out is to use “sky writing”. This is a very easy strategy to learn, practice, and follow no matter where you are and what you’re reading. Here are a few tips to help you teach your child to use “sky writing” to learn words.

The first thing you must do is explain to your child what “sky writing” is and how it can help him to learn words that can’t be sounded out. Basically you need to tell your child this is a new way to learn words that are impossible to sound out no matter how hard you try. One way to help your child understand this is to give him a few examples. This may be the easiest way to make it happen.

Studies show the easiest way to learn to say words that can’t be sounded out is to use the senses. The senses are smell, hear, touch, taste, and see. When you’re teaching your child to write you can’t very well use taste or smell with these, but you need to remember there are three others you can use. When you give him the ability to touch, see, and hear the words you’ll have success.

When you teach your child this method you need to follow the steps below to make sure they understand what you’re doing and how to do it themselves. There are different versions of sky writing. Here is the first version and try each one to see which works best for your child. I use this version with my daughter. We put shaving cream down as our writing paper and then follow these steps.

1. Step one is to write the word down in large letters.

2. Step two is to trace the letters that make up the word.

3. Step three is to have your child speak the name of each letter.

4. Step four is trace the word without the ability to see it.

5. Step four is to have your child speak each letter and write it after each word is spoken.

6. Step five is to have your child write the word three times covering up the word once it’s written and speak each letter as it’s written.

Another popular version of skywriting is having your child point to each letter in the air in front of them. Your child needs to visualize the word in their mind’s eye first.

1. Step one is to have your child say the word out loud

2. Step two is to have your child use their finger and point to each letter in the word as if it was already written right in front of their eyes!

3. Step three is to have your child point to the letters of each word as it is spelled backwards!

4. Step four is with practice, have your child point to letters in the word at random (mixed up out of order)

5. Step five is optional – have your child learn the associated word meaning for the word

6. Step six is optional – have your child spell and use the word in context in a complete sentence

7. Step eight is optional – have your child image the sentence in action with detail!

Watch my daughter, Shannon and her cat Wallie, demonstrate Sky Writing Techniques!

Learning to sky write may be difficult at first, but the more you use it the better off your child will be and the easier reading will be to your child. They’ll begin to use this strategy on their own with words they come across and can’t figure out or they’ll remember words they’ve learned through this strategy.

* Understanding What Reading Is All About by the National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy

Tips for Teaching Your Child to Read

colleen — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 19:15:02 +0000

Learning to read is a skill and process that’s learned over time. It’s not something that is easily learned in one day. You learn and grow over months and years. The easiest way to understand this is to think about something you have learned to do in the past and may be efficient in now.

Let’s think about riding a bike. You started out with training wheels and then after a long period of time you felt confident enough to have them removed and you began the learning process all over again without the training wheels. You may have had a few crashes along the way but you did learn how to do it and at that point you didn’t need the training wheels or help from your parents any more.

Reading is the same way. You start out slow and grow from there. Most times children begin to learn how to read when they are in Kindergarten or maybe even preschool if they attend. Each child will learn at his/her own pace, but they all start out with picture books that have maybe three or four words on a page. Once this is accomplished they move on to a book that has two or three sentences on each page. Over time the child will become efficient enough to where they can read 300 or 400 word novels.

To get started with this process you need to help your child read by asking yourself questions. In the example above we talked about riding a bike. So you need to ask yourself how you learned to ride it. Did your mom or dad hold on to you even though you had the training wheels? Once you were brave enough to do it on your own you didn’t need them, but that time came when you were ready to remove those training wheels and you needed your parents to hold on again. Well, the same goes with reading.

So you need to ask your child what they need to know to be able to read and do it correctly. You may need to help them sound out words or you may need to read it to them for the first time. If they struggle with reading the words, remind them of the alphabet. It may be a good idea to go back to basics and have them say each letter and the sounds it makes. Once that’s done, go back to the book and have them sound out the words they don’t know.

Sounding out words is difficult so you may need to help them do it. You say the word, sound it out, and then have them sound it out with you. Make sure they sound it out correctly and make sure they say it correctly. A word that is spoken incorrectly will cause it to be sounded out incorrectly as well.

This is a process you’ll need to follow until your child becomes an avid reader and they struggle very little with it. This will also help your avid reader when they do find a word they don’t know how to say. As you can see, it all takes time. It doesn’t happen overnight. This learning process works for both children with and without learning disabilities and it’s a good way to help them learn to read without stress and with confidence.

Please be aware that if your child has difficulty with reading beyond the normal introductory phase of sound to code, you need to assess your child’s cognitive skills. The report generated from your child’s assessment will provide you with the underlying cause of the reading difficulties. From there, we work together to strengthen the weak skills and remediate the reading and spelling.

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Setting Reading Goals for your Children

colleen — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 19:15:11 +0000

Whether you own a business or work for someone else, more than likely you set goals each year. You may set personal goals as well and that’s a great way to make changes in your life and improve things. One thing you may not think about is setting goals for your children.

If your child has an Individualized Education Program (IEP) then you’re pretty familiar with the goal setting process. If you don’t , then this process is going to be new to you, but it’s one you should do each year. One goal you should set for your child is for reading. Reading is something everyone should know how to do because it affects every part of your life.

Deciding what types of books your child wants to read is the most important thing to do before you set your goals. If you can’t find something they enjoy reading you’re going to struggle from the get go and that will do more harm than good. Series books are good for this type of goal, but you may not be able to find those for some age groups or styles of writing.

Once you find the types of books your child will enjoy reading you’re ready to set your goals. Your child should read for at least 20 minutes four days a week. This goal is good for a child at any age, but you may need to consider the reading ability before you set that in stone. If your child really struggles 20 minutes could cause them more frustration and avoidance to reading. In that case, it’s better to start out a little slower and work your way up to that point over a few weeks or months.

Each day when your child sits down to read, you need to have them write down three to four sentences that explain what they read. These sentences are not to be copied directly out of the book, they need to be from their mind and explain what they remember reading during the 20 minute time period. Depending on the age of the child and the abilities you may want to consider one or two sentences to begin with. It also very helpful to have your child draw a picture of what the sentence(s) are making them image in their minds.

These sentences need to be complete and make sense, but again you need to remember the abilities first. When they first start accepting a sentence with four or five words is ok, but the longer this goes on the longer the sentences need to be. You may need to read the book with them so you know if the sentences they wrote make sense and are in line with what they read.

You follow the steps above for four days and on the fifth day you need to do a review. Have your child read each sentence they wrote and in their own words tell you what they just read. Then discuss the book and see how well they do with the comprehension part of the reading. If they don’t remember what they read during the week you need to change things a little. This change may be an easier book to read, or it may mean slowing down on the reading so each word is read and understood.

Reading goals will help your child develop better reading skills and they will help with comprehension and the speed. It will take a few days or weeks to get the feel for how this will work, but once it happens you’ll find it will be easy to do and your child will grow and become a better reader.

If you already know that you could never implement this with your child due to inability or lack of interest, let’s talk. You can easily assess your child to see if he/she has the cognitive skills needed for reading and comprehension. We can also work with my reading comprehension program to help your child grasp the main idea and higher order thinking skills.

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Tips for Teaching Your Child with Learning Differences How to Read On Demand

colleen — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 19:15:11 +0000

Brain training takes care of providing your child with stronger skills needed to read and additional pathways in the brain. Once your child has begun to read you will want to practice to allow for on demand fluency. For some new or young readers, this takes practice. It is what you would call reading on demand.

Reading on demand is something we all do on a regular basis. Most times we don’t even realize we’re reading because it comes natural to us. It may not seem like we’re reading because of what it is or how long it is.

If you’ve read a recipe, a receipt, a card, a shopping list, a job application, or a list of ingredients then you’ve read on demand. While this may come natural to you, a child with a learning disability doesn’t have the same abilities and may struggle with this type of reading.

To help this child, you need to help them understand that they can and will read on demand one day. The best thing to do for your child is to create a vision of them reading fluently and efficiently. From that vision, build a strategy on how to arrive at the goal. In essence, you need to “see” your end goal and work backwards from that point forward.

The first thing you need to do to help your child that learns differently is to help them understand what reading on demand is and how they can become good at reading without even thinking about it. Once your reader has this knowledge under their belt, they’ll constantly be on the look out for things they can read on demand. Over time this will stop and they’ll do it without even thinking.

When you start showing your reader the different things they can use with on demand reading, show them what you use. Think about yesterday and what you did and how it worked its way into your day. Start with your morning routine and work your way to the end of your day. You’ll want to include the magazine you read while eating your cereal, the email you answered when you got to work, the menu at lunch, the recipe you used for dinner, and the story you read your baby when he went to sleep.

When you start the learning process, go to your kitchen table and put things there that you could use as examples. This would include a can of soup, the grocery shopping list, a bill, a box of rice, a recipe book, the phone book, and a DVD. Discuss how easy each of these things are to read, how we use them on a daily or weekly basis, and how we read them not even realizing what we’re doing. Once this discussion is over, have your child begin reading these things on the table so they can see how easy it is for them as well.

In the next few days watch your child and whenever you see that they’re reading on demand, bring it to their attention. Tell them how good they are doing and to continue doing this so they become better and better. Reading on demand is something we do all the time whether we realize it or not. It makes things in our lives easier to handle and understand. When you show your child with learning differences how to do it, things will become easier for them as well.

Enhanced Learning Skills for Kids takes reading very seriously. In fact, the reason that I chose to specialize in reading and comprehension is because of my daughter’s inability to read at such a late age and due to her Dyslexia. I recommend that you first assess your child online and find out what is sabotaging the ability to read. Next, we can work together to create your vision and develop a program that will only lead to success!

Source: Understanding What Reading Is All About

Teaching Materials and Lessons for Adult Basic Education Learners

By: National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy

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Diagnosing Dyslexia in Young Children

colleen — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 19:15:34 +0000

Dyslexia is a disorder that affects the reading and writing skills learned by a person. It’s considered a developmental issue, but it’s hard to diagnose because of the many different things that are affected by it. Dyslexia is a difficult disorder to diagnose in children which causes learning problems down the road. The reason for this challenge is the fact that you must be able to read and write before it’s diagnosed and that doesn’t happen until the school years.

There have been studies that show Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) has helped people with dyslexia. The down side to the fMRI is it has not been studied in young children. This problem arises with children under the age of six due to lack of information. The lack of information makes it difficult to diagnose a child at an early age which in turn makes it difficult to help with treatment.

The diagnosis of dyslexia is different with each language. The reason is due to the rules that apply for each language. The English language has rules that identify the ways we translate letters to speech and this helps with the diagnosis of dyslexia or another type of disabilities. In some languages you may see the diagnosis comes with the speed of the person reading while others may have to do with the way a word is pronounced. Spelling is another factor in this diagnosis.

The way people see letters also makes the diagnosis some what easy to make. Studies show people with dyslexia may see their letters as objects. This is known as the Logographic Level. When a person can sound out words using phonics and for the most part get it correct it’s known as the Alphabetic Level and when a person knows the rules that go with speaking certain words, it’s known as the Orthographic Level.

A study was conducted using these levels and its findings helped with the diagnosis of dyslexia. Many groups were used so it was thought the right answered would present themselves. These studies had a lot of detail that was released, but one that was not released until now shows that more than 60% of the children that participated that had dyslexia in the immediate family had it themselves.

It’s possible the environment and the country you live in will have something to do with a child’s diagnosis of learning disabilities. If a parent doesn’t have the ability to attend school due to money or other factors, then it’s possible their children will have problems because they won’t have the ability to help them when it comes to learning. Education won’t be a top priority in that family and that can compromise the learning.

There are a number of learning disabilities that go undetected in children. It’s possible they are undetected due to the lack of knowledge when it comes to the disability in general while others could be undetected due to the age of the child. Dyslexia is one of those learning disabilities that go undetected due to the age of the child and the knowledge of people in that area.

The good news is that science is proving that learning disabilities can be overcome. Through intensive work using brain training at the foundation of the program, a child with Dyslexia, can learn to read, write and spell.

Contact me today for your free 30 minute consultation. We will discuss your concerns, answer questions and create a crystal clear vision for your child’s success.

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Enhanced Learning Skills for Kids » reading

Phonological Awareness – The Foundation of Reading

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