In this post I am going to be sharing why decodable readers matter and how I found out the hard way! When teaching children to read it is so important to choose the right books. Children need to sound out words, build fluency, and develop reading confidence. But what’s the
As a dyslexia interventionist, I’ve seen firsthand how transformative word mapping can be for struggling readers. In this blog post I’m thrilled to share why this strategy is so effective and give you some practical tips on how to use it in your lessons right away. Let’s dive in! Introduction
In this blog post I am going to break down what the floss rule is and how we can teach it explicitly to help our dyslexic and struggling students. Most adults have learnt to recognise when the spelling of a word ‘looks’ correct, not because they have memorised every word
Have you ever heard of the term ‘Orthographic Mapping’ and wondered what it meant? All the jargon associated with the Science of Reading can be so confusing and it has taken me a while and lots of learning to get my head around it. Now that I have, I want
Building a strong foundation in phonemic awareness is crucial for improving the reading and writing abilities of struggling readers. As someone who has helped many such children, I have found that phonemic awareness is hands-down the most essential skill that is often missing. Phonemic Awareness is one of the most
What are consonant digraphs? Consonant digraphs are when two letters combine to make one sound. They are the very next skill I teach after letter sounds and short vowel sounds. The most common consonant digraph examples are sh, ch, th, and wh. These are the digraphs that I would introduce
Do you often see your child reversing letters or numbers? In this blog post I share some effective strategies to correct…
Have you ever learnt something that has completely changed the way you do things? This is how I felt when I learnt about syllable types and it has been a game changer for my students. If a struggling reader can see a multisyllabic word as a combination of syllables rather
The decoding of words is one of the most amazing things our brains can do! One of the things that excites me is when I see a child begin to read for the first time. This is especially awesome when they thought they couldn’t do it, or have struggled for
Short vowel sounds are what I call the superheroes of reading! So what are short vowel sounds? Let me tell you. They are one of the most important things to teach children as they begin their reading journey. However, before diving into exactly what short vowel sounds are, we first
What is phonological awareness and how will this help my child? Have you ever googled the best way to teach your child to read and been inundated with confusing terms like ‘phonological awareness’. It can all seem so confusing and that was me at the beginning of my journey, training
I live in the beautiful nation of New Zealand with my husband, 3 amazing children and a very snuggly cat Cassie. We live close to the beach which is my favourite place to be. One of my passions in life is to help children who struggle to read and write. I want to give teachers and parents like you, resources that are effective and fun to use, so that you can join me in helping these children.