I started this journey years ago, long before I was married and had kids. I never knew it would hit me this personally in my life as a mother.

I see it all every single day. The struggles, the frustration, and the tears from my child. The attempts to read like their peers and work three times harder than all the other kids or even their siblings, and still do not get things right. Seeing the frustration when trying to spell a word, only to erase it quickly or push the eraser into the page so hard that it makes a hole in the page. The tears they cry into their pillow because they just want to be 'normal' like everyone else.

As a mama, this broke my heart.

I knew my child was incredibly brilliant.

I knew they could solve problems in ways that I could never think of.

I knew they were working hard, yet the struggle was and is still there every single day!

I knew they would get it, but my question was always, when?

I would never give up helping them. And I would never give up on them.

As an educator, I work with children every day who face the same struggles. I see how hard they work and how much they have grown through the intervention. But I didn’t see the day-to-day struggles each parent faced until I experienced them myself.

God knew what he was doing when he created my child. He knew how their brain would think, create, and solve problems. He knew they would struggle in academic areas but would flourish in hands-on, mathematical, creative, and logical tasks.

We explain to our kids all the time that everyone has their own strengths and struggles. But sometimes that’s really hard to hear, especially when your child feels like they struggle in tasks that they have to do every single day. Reading, writing, and spelling!

Today, I write this with hope...

I see it now and have hope for my child! They have received and continue to receive support from our incredible University-Model school, are part of a successful research-based intervention, and have been given unconditional support from my husband and me. Because of this, they are thriving! Not in a ‘getting by’ kind of way, but truly thriving!

I will be honest, there were days when I didn’t know if my child would be able to read multisyllable words fluently, let alone accurately. And the other day, we were sitting there, doing our intervention, and I looked over, and my child blew me away! They were getting it. They were actually reading some difficult words and doing an amazing job! This was my child, the one who cried many tears, the one who dreaded school, the one who would lash out in frustration.

They were really doing it! They were reading!!!

Do they still misread and misspell words? Absolutely! But they are reading more than he ever has before. I knew this day would come, but I often wondered when.

I saw this happen for each of my students. I remember because I still have voicemails from parents calling me saying, “they just read the street signs as we were driving, we drove for miles, and they continued to read" or “they just read a book to their little cousin at our family gathering!”

Pure joy and excitement in the voices of these parents.

I knew there was hope. I knew we’d get there, too, but as a mama, I often wondered when.

If you are a parent of a child who is struggling in school or other areas. As you read this, may it give you hope. With the right support and time, your child will get there too.

I remember several years ago, subbing in a 4th-grade class, and one of their morning warm-ups was to divide words into their syllables and mark each syllable type. I couldn't believe that most of these students knew how to do this. I was thrilled! I ran into the teacher the next day, and I remember her saying that this was something really important to her and she wanted to implement it in her classroom.

I was very excited to see this for a few reasons.

First, yes, educators know words and how to read, but may not know how to teach about syllables or why we divide words in certain ways, especially for the students who may need extra support.

An example of that was when I was completing one of my master's classes at a wonderful and well-known university. I remember being in a classroom filled with seasoned teachers. Our professor put a nonsense word up on the board and asked for a student (who were mostly teachers) to come up and divide it. Not one teacher stood up to complete this task. I was very shy and not one to volunteer, but I knew these rules by heart, mainly because I had already been teaching them to my students using the reading intervention. So I stood up and went to the board to divide the word. I was confident that I could do this successfully, and I did. As I walked the class through this and explained some rules, what stuck out to me about this scenario was that many teachers in the room who were already teaching children how to read and spell could not do this task with confidence. This is why I am passionate about educating others, not just about dyslexia, but also about the way that our language is taught.

Secondly, for children with dyslexia, understanding the various types of syllables and how to decode words accurately is crucial for achieving success in both reading and spelling. When they are able to implement these rules and strategies, then they can figure out any word, whether they've been exposed to it or not. That is KEY! We never want to teach them to memorize whole words (unless they are sight words), but we want to teach them the correct decoding skills to use when necessary.

Seven Syllable Types

Closed

When a vowel is closed off by at least one consonant at the end

When this happens, the vowel will make its short vowel sound (bat, elk, fig)

Open

When a vowel is open at the end of the word or syllable

It will make its long vowel sound (hi, she, ro-bot, i-tem)

Unit

Usually, there are 3 or 4 letters together that make an unusual sound

Please note that this type of syllable is usually not taught in some reading programs.
Some examples are: ing, ank, ture, sion, ture

Vowel Team

When vowels are grouped together to make a specific sound

Know that the rule "when two vowels go walking, the first one does that talking" does not work for all vowel teams and is very confusing for kids with dyslexia.

Some of these vowel teams are: ai, oa, ea, ie, ue, augh, ei, etc.

Silent-E

In our language (American English), a silent-e at the end of the word does not say anything, but has a purpose for being there within the word or syllable.

(have, five, creative, fridge, huge)

Vowel-R Controlled

When there is a vowel followed by an R, the vowel-r will make a specific sound depending on if it is accented or unaccented and several other rules

(AR will say several sounds /ar/, /er/,/or/, and /air/)

Consonant-LE

This appears at the end of a word when a LE follows the consonant.

(bubble, purple, whistle, hassle)

Facts About Syllables

Some of the most common words with short vowel sounds consist of Vowel-Consonant VC and CVC words.

Sometimes, closed syllables are the hardest to hear and distinguish, especially for those with ADHD and dyslexia.

Multi-syllable words that contain two or three closed syllables are the easiest to read.

In our language, 60% of our words contain a short vowel sound.

Schwa is not a type of syllable but is a vowel sound.

If you would like a quick reference sheet for syllables, you can email me at heather@lifeandliteracy.co

Concepts of a Vowel

All vowels are voiced and will make your voice box vibrate. You can feel it vibrate by cupping your hand over your throat when saying certain sounds. When we say each vowel sound, the air flow is unobstructed.

As long as you have a breath, you can make a short vowel sound. Sometimes with the short-i and short-e, a person saying these sounds will need to put their teeth closer together in order to hear and see the difference.

There are three types of individual vowel sounds: short, long, and schwa.

60% of English words use a short vowel or schwa sound.

A short vowel sound is one of the hardest vowel sounds for a student to grasp, especially a student with dyslexia.

As shown in the picture below, a short vowel's diacritical mark is called a breve. Marking syllables is not something that everyone is taught, so this concept is important for you to understand as a parent or educator when working with a child in identifying syllables and knowing the vowel sounds.

A long vowel sound will say its name. Please be aware that the long-u will make two different sounds. Especially after a R or L, it will say an /oo/ sound like in flu.  As shown in the picture below, the long vowel will have a line on top, which is called a macron.

Schwa is a very misunderstood concept for many students and, to be honest, some educators. It is crucial for a student to understand schwa so they can read and spell words correctly. Essentially, any vowel when following certain rules can switch to the schwa sound /uh/. When looking in the dictionary, you will see several upside-down e's. This is the symbol that represents schwa.

Here are a few examples of when a vowel will switch to schwa. First, the syllable has to always be unaccented (it does not last the longest or is not stressed).

When there is a closed A or O that is unaccented (blos-som)

Vowel-L at the end of a word that is unaccented (pen-cil)

Open-A that is unaccented (a-go, Chi-na)

Concepts of a Consonant

Consonants are made when the air flow is obstructed. It can be obstructed by the lips, teeth, or tongue.

There are 21 consonants in the English language.

Sometimes these consonants form digraphs (th, sh, wh, tch, dge), blends (sp, str, spl), and digraph blends (nch, nth, shr).

It's important to note that digraphs are two or three letters that make one sound.

Blends will still say the individual sound of each letter. Blends are not truly considered special sounds.

Consonants are either voiced or unvoiced, which is the same as quiet and vibrating. Feel your voice box in order to figure out what the consonant is doing.

Most consonants have one primary sound, and they rarely say their name (like in x-ray).

Y is one of the most commonly misunderstood consonants/vowels. Yes, that's right, it can be both! Y is only a consonant when it is at the beginning of a word (yellow, yes, Yankee). However, it is a vowel when it is at the end of a word or in the middle of a word.

Fun fact: When Y is in the middle of a word or syllable by itself, it is a Greek word and will say either a long-i or short-i sound (hyphen, syllable, cycle).

The letter Q is also misunderstood and should always be followed by a U for the word to be spelled correctly. Ever notice that Q is by itself on the alphabet strip (let's add QU instead to avoid any confusion).

Two foundational pieces that everyone must have before learning to read and write are the ability to discriminate sounds (auditory discrimination) and strong phonemic awareness skills (there are multiple skills to develop).  If you would like to learn more about a program that significantly improves auditory discrimination and auditory memory, please email me.

When I think of the word morpheme, I think of the word form. Morphological awareness is being aware of the smallest units that help form a word. Phonological awareness, phonemic awareness, and morphological awareness are pieces to the literacy puzzle. For our children and students, we always want to make sure we set a solid foundation so they can be successful.

Every child needs to have a strong morphological awareness so that they can understand what a word means and deepen their comprehension. As it grows, their understanding also helps them become proficient spellers and readers.

You may be wondering how this helps with reading and spelling.

Around 55% of the words that we use in the English language are formed from Latin roots. That's just Latin roots!

When researchers performed a study on the predictors of children's reading and spelling success, one significant indicator was their strength with morphological awareness.

Ways to Practice Morphological Awareness

Morpheme Sort

You can do this by writing different types of morphemes on notecards and separating them into the categories of prefixes, suffixes, root words, bound roots and adding in latin and greek roots too.

Instead of introducing all the categories, you can introduce a few from each category, one at a time. The key is always going over the meaning and building words with them as you introduce them.

Change the Word

For this activity, you can build a root word and then add a suffix and a prefix to it. Then, ask your student to change the word to mean something new. You can do this with notecards in a pocket chart or whiteboard.

The hardest part is making sure your students create a real word instead of a nonsense word.

Name that Rule

This one works well if your child is already in an appropriate reading intervention program that utilizes spelling rules.

As your child or student moves through these programs, find the rules applied to the base word when adding a suffix. There are a handful of rules that go with these suffixes. At times, this can be overwhelming, but practice and repetition will help them retain these rules.

You can build a root, Latin, or Greek word, and then, before adding a suffix, ask them what rule they would use and why. The why is always necessary to ensure that they understand and aren't just guessing.

Quick tip: It usually helps them see the original word to know which rule will be used. So, build the original word and then make the new word with prefixes and suffixes next to it.  

If you would like more ideas on how to apply and grow your child's or students' morphological awareness, please email me at heather@lifeandliteracy.co.

Understanding the Different Memory Systems

Have you ever related to this picture, or maybe your child has? You have too many tabs open and you can't seem to keep things straight. I've been there many times!

Today, we will be discussing the different memory systems. Specifically, working memory as it pertains to struggling learners.

Before we dig deeper, here's some information that may surprise you.

Did you know that we have several different memory systems working continuously in our brains? Some of these include...

Working, semantic, episodic, procedural, and perceptual representation...

We have all of these systems working within our brains, yet a person can be weak in some and strong in others. Every memory system will look different.

There are several different memory systems that hold different types of information.

Different Memory Systems...

Episodic memory: is the storage for events in the recent past, like a trip or birthday party in the past week.

Ever wonder why your child can remember a trip or event from several years ago but can't remember a daily routine or math fact? Well, they are using a different memory system to pull that information.

Procedural Memory: is used for things that use habit or skills, like driving a car, building something, riding a bike, or skateboarding tricks.

Semantic Memory: this system is used to store knowledge gained over a lifetime and includes information about word meanings, spelling, and pronunciations.

Perceptual Representation Memory: is used to store both visual and auditory form of words. Such as when you see the word dog, one can visually see or hear this word and think of what that is.

Working Memory: is crucial for learning and refers to the ability to hold and manipulate information mentally for a short period of time.

For example, information that was just read from a book, sequence of numbers, math problem, spelling of words, or sounds you are sequencing together.

Understanding Working Memory

Did you know that about 10% of people have a weak working memory to some degree? However, 20-50% of people with a learning disorder (such as dyslexia) have a weak working memory. A weak working memory is one of the major difficulties with people who have ADHD, an inattentive type. A person with TBI (traumatic brain injury), deafness, oral language deficits, or genetic disorders such as Down Syndrome is more likely to have a weak working memory. As you can see, this affects several people in our society and should be something we understand and know how to support.

Working memory is a process different from rote memory, which involves memorizing information, like address, phone number, or alphabet sequence.

Working memory is what is needed when we need to not only memorize information but need to do something with it. We must manipulate, change, and organize information from our short and long-term memory.

Everyday Scenarios with Working Memory

Following multi-step directions (remembering or listening to)

Remembering a question long enough to form an answer

Carrying out the steps of a recipe without looking at the recipe

Being able to complete mental math

A sequence of steps to follow (like long division)

It is important to note that once information from working memory is lost, it cannot be retrieved. The duration is limited to only seconds.

If a child loses the information they won’t be able to retrieve that information without some form of assistance.

How does working memory pertain to dyslexia?

A weak working memory is very common when it comes to dyslexia. It doesn't mean everyone will have it but a big percentage of people do.

One key responsibility of working memory is managing, changing, and transforming information from short—and long-term memory. When it comes to dyslexia, one may have difficulty with the phonological side of decoding which then overflows into comprehending what was read.

For example:

If someone is having difficulty decoding the word blend.  First, they must say the individual phonemes /b/-/l/-/e/-/n/-/d/, and then they have to go back to blend those sounds together. They must have a strong enough memory to store those individual sounds to form a word.

Perhaps a child can do this well, but they struggle with manipulating sounds within a word. This includes dropping and replacing sounds within a one or multi-syllable word.

For example:

A child is verbally given the word splat but then has to change the /a/ to an /i/ only using sounds. They must not only form a new word but also hold onto the sounds they heard in the first word. Then, they must create the new word split.

This task is just one example of how having a weak working memory can be overwhelming and frustrating for someone with dyslexia. If they have ADHD, it can be extremely difficult as well.

This is such a common deficit among people with dyslexia that it has now been known as one of the common characteristics to look for.

Characteristics of a Weak Working Memory

Unable to plan properly

Difficulty Organizing information mentally or physically

Accomplishing daily chores or tasks

Frequently daydreaming

Weak written expression

Difficulty with decoding words or spelling

Extreme difficulty memorizing sight words

Difficulty with math facts

What does a weak working memory look like in the classroom?

One can perform below average in some or all areas of learning

Difficulty with complex reasoning

Trouble with tasks that have more than one step

Daydreamer

Lack of skills in planning and organization

Remembering steps in oral directions

Trouble with thinking and doing simultaneously

Distracted and inattentive but not impulsive or hyperactive

Displays low self-esteem

Impact of weak working memory on reading and writing

A weak working memory can interfere with phonological learning in many ways.

For example:

An older child holding onto sounds within a word for spelling

or decoding a multi-syllable word and having to blend all the sounds together.

You will see impacts on reading comprehension and fluency

Holding and sequencing sounds for spelling

Impact of working memory with math

Children with math learning disorders (such as dyscalculia) will have weaknesses across all working memory components.

You will see difficulty and more errors when translating numbers from verbal to written form than do students with a strong working memory.

Some students demonstrate a slower processing speed due to difficulty retrieving information, such as math facts.

What helps in the classroom or at home?

Awareness of each student and their memory

Decreasing the amount of information that has to be stored

Simplifying information being brought in

Teaching students memory aids for storing information (acronym, saying or phrase)

Simplify instructions

Repetition

Using visuals full of colors and pictures

Allowing extra time to process information

Re-read information to help with comprehending

If you need any ideas on implementing these strategies with your student or child, please ask me. I'd be more than happy to give you some ideas.

-Information sourced from the International Dyslexia Association-

We enjoy seeing all these fun milestones in the early years. Beginning to scoot and do the army crawl and then all of a sudden you are chasing after your child because they are now walking. It seems like we are always anxiously waiting to be in these stages and yet they are here so quickly. I feel like the same thing happens when our child learns to read on their own.

We read to them constantly on our lap as a baby and into the toddler years. They are fully engaged into the story and can't wait to see what's on the next page. You practice the alphabet and letter sounds with them and it seems like they are grasping it. Or maybe you have a child that builds the most elaborate creations out of their Legos and can explain every single detail of their masterpiece, yet when it comes to reading they struggle and it doesn't come naturally.

What happened? What is going on in their brilliant mind that is in the way of helping them learn to read.

This looks differently for every child. Some may find learning to read the sight word the impossible. It could take months, trust me I've been there.  Or maybe they can identify the letter sounds but can't blend the words together accurately. It may look a little like this.... /c/-/u/-/p/....upc or just guessing and saying the closest word that has similar sounds or letters. Maybe they finally read the word correctly on one page, yet when they see the same exact word the next they are stuck again. You are not alone in this. Believe me, there are many child who struggle in this way.

Maybe all of these examples sound very familiar to you or may just a few. If so, there may be a reason why your brilliant and clever child is struggling to read.

They may be struggling to read because of the way their brain is wired. Yes, you read that correctly. Their brain may process language differently. When it comes to a the way a brain processes language it will activate different areas. A child who does not have difficulty with learning to read, will access several areas of the brain and be able to quickly and accurately blend sounds together to create a word. This does take practice but happens fairly quickly.  They will even put meaning to each word, as well as store it in their long-term memory. In fact, several studies have been done doing fMRI scans on a brain when a child is reading. What they discovered was incredible. Different areas of the brain would light up on the scan that were activated during the reading process. And believe it or not, a child that struggled to read had only one area activated when reading, this area is called Broca's area located in the frontal lobe.

So a child who didn't have several areas of the brain light up showed to have a dyslexic brain. A right hemisphere that was actually 10% larger than the left hemisphere. Very interesting, right? You see when it comes to dyslexia you may have a very brilliant child who struggles in the area of reading and spelling. You may have had their IQ level tested and it was quite high. This may have lead to some confusion when those tests were done. Dyslexia has nothing to do with a low IQ but in fact gives incredible strengths.

They rely quite heavily on that right hemisphere to be an out-of-the-box thinker. This looks like several things, maybe that are very hands-on and like to use their hands to create things, draw and use their artistic ability, maybe their can pick up any sport very easily, or maybe they are great at conversing with others and have lots of social skills or tell the best stories. I could go on and on about how brilliant someone with dyslexia is. No matter what the strength is, it's there for a reason.  

How do I help my brilliant child learn how to read?

If you discover that dyslexia may be the cause of why your child is struggling to read, then there is a way to help them bridge this gap. Please know that dyslexia is a live-long issue and not be cured. However, it can be overcome with the right type of intervention. Keep in mind that it is important to screen early on (as early as halfway through Kindergarten).

According to the International Dyslexia Association, the only proven way to help someone with dyslexia is to teach them an Orton-Gillingham based method. This should include an intervention program that is explicit, systematic, multisensory, and the curriculum is taught simultaneously.

If you have any questions, please email me for more information.

Source: interdys.org

***Please note any information on this site is for educational purposes only. It should not be used to treat or diagnose an individual.***

The most important component of reading that is not focused on enough is phonological awareness.

Phonological awareness is the KEY to reading and spelling success. If a child doesn't get a solid foundation in this, there is strong evidence that they will struggle to read and spell. Many studies have shown that if a child lacks in this component, then it is a big indicator of reading failure. This is HUGE and needs to be addressed and focused on in every classroom and at home with your child.

So what exactly is phonological awareness?

To put it simply, you could teach phonological awareness with your eyes closed since it’s just focusing on what we hear. Phonological awareness is having the ability to think about the sound structures of language. When we work with phonological awareness, we look to see if one can remember, discriminate, and manipulate within a sentence, word, syllable, and phoneme (sound) level.

Let's break that down and show what that looks like in an educational setting.

A word level can be identified by being able to count words used within a sentence.

Example: He was the quickest runner in the Olympics.

Give the sentence orally and have the student repeat exactly what was dictated. Can they identify how many words are in that sentence just by listening?

A syllable level can be identified by clapping or tapping each syllable in a word.

Example: el-e-phant, bath-tub, thanks-gi-ving, game

A phoneme level can be identified by hearing the initial, medial or final sound in a word.

Example: What is the first sound you hear in fish? /f/

What is the middle sound you hear in cup? /u/

What is the last sound you hear in frog? /g/

An onset rime level can be identified as being able to rhyme words easily or being able to manipulate sounds within a word.

Example: Give me a word that rhymes with much? (such)

Example: Say baseball without saying base. (ball)

Example: What word am I saying? /ta/.../ble/ (table)

Example: What word does not rhyme? Pair, share, shame

What is the difference between phonemic awareness and phonological awareness?

Oftentimes we hear phonemic awareness more often than phonological awareness. So what's the difference? As you can see, phonemic awareness was mentioned under these levels (phoneme level). Phonological awareness is the umbrella term that covers all four developmental terms. Phonemic awareness is just one piece of the puzzle.

Why do we need a strong foundation in phonological awareness?

First of all, phonological awareness performance is a strong predictor of long-term reading and spelling success (Put Reading First, 1998). Students with strong phonological awareness are likely to become good readers, but students with weak phonological skills will likely become poor readers (Blachman, 2000). It is estimated that the vast majority—more than 90 percent—of students with significant reading problems have a core deficit in their ability to process phonological information (Blachman, 1995).

If we can easily identify and work on these areas of phonological awareness, then we can help close the gap and ensure reading success for any student. This can be done through explicit and systematic reading instruction.

If you have any questions on how to assess these different levels, please email me.

Mamas, you aren’t alone on this journey. Your child may be struggling academically; they may be struggling emotionally. Or maybe they are struggling with both. Either way, know that you aren’t alone.

You may have a child who just can’t read as well as others. Or no matter how hard or long they study for a spelling test and still get half of them wrong. Know that you aren’t alone.

You may struggle to have your child get started on their schoolwork or homework. It ends up resulting in a battle, and you both are in tears. Maybe you keep handing out consequences or incentives like its candy, and it works for a short time, but then you’re back to square one. Know that you are not alone.

You are exhausted from making sure everyone's needs are met (besides yours) and feel like you can’t catch a quick break. Know that you aren’t alone.

You, like others, compare your child to another sibling or friend's child and maybe question what you’re doing is wrong. Know that you aren’t alone.

You, mama, are not alone in this. God has placed your child in your hands because He knew you were the best fit and exactly what they needed. I want to encourage you to talk about the hard times and celebrate the victories with mamas. Never forget that what you are doing is making a difference. Continue to dig deeper and be your child’s best advocate. In the midst of all of it, take time for yourself. Yes, your child needs you but needs the best version of you. Take those deep breaths, go on that long walk, soak in that bubble bath, meet a friend for coffee, and know that on this journey, you are not alone!

Giving the gift of time is one of the easiest yet most valuable gifts to give to someone with dyslexia and dysgraphia. It's simple, free, and doesn't require extra prep for an educator or parent.

Why does someone with dyslexia need more time?

Dyslexia is a language processing disorder, which means that someone with dyslexia may have delayed processing. When we are doing anything that pertains to language, we rely mainly on our left hemisphere to process information. It can be from identifying a phoneme (an individual spoken sound) to writing an essay. When we rely on our brain's left hemisphere to access this information, it tends to have a difficult time or is delayed.

The dyslexic brain relies heavily on the frontal lobe, also known as Broca's Area. When trying to read, spell, or get thoughts down on paper, the processing time takes a lot longer. Instead of accessing a few different areas of the left hemisphere, the brain becomes activated and gets stuck in the frontal lobe and can't process the information effectively, or it will take a while to recall. This leaves all the work for the frontal lobe and doesn't allow other areas of the brain to be activated. For many years, fMRI scans have shown the difference between a person with dyslexia and a person without. The image below shows the different areas that are activated for a dyslexic brain versus a non-dyslexic brain. As you can see that several areas of a non-dyslexic brain are activated, and not one area is heavily relied on. When looking at the dyslexic brain, you can see that the size of the frontal lobe is bigger because the brain gets stuck in the frontal lobe when trying to process information. This is one of the reasons why extra time is quite beneficial for someone with dyslexia or struggles with reading and writing.

How and when can I implement this for my student or child?

Anyone with dyslexia, no matter the severity, will benefit from more time, especially when reading a lengthy passage, writing, or taking a test. You can implement this in many ways. Here are a few:

• Send home handouts, literature books, or any other reading material a week or more before it's needed.
• Give a student a colored square to put on their desk to indicate that they need extra time. This nonverbal task eliminates distraction and doesn't draw attention to that student.
• ALWAYS allow a child to attend recess and NEVER keep them in to finish a task or test. Every child needs to get their wiggles out.
• Allow extensions on projects or written work when it's needed.
• Break a project or test into sections. This will help a child focus on one task at a time and not become overwhelmed with the entire thing.
• Try to avoid timed tests especially when it comes to math facts or comprehension tests.

I love this gift because you are can start it at anytime. No matter what the task is, give the child who is struggling some extra time. I guarantee you'll see a difference in their performance and will even eliminate some anxiety. Who knows, they may even thank you for giving them this amazing gift.

With having two younger children one of my favorite times of the day is when we snuggle up in a chair or bed and read a book or two. It seems like everything is calm when we are surrounded by books. Granite, I know this isn't always the case or picture perfect.

Believe me, I've been there, especially when my children were babies. Even in the midst of the wiggles and distraction I've always made it a point to actively read with my kids.

What does it mean to actively read with your child?

When you actively read, you can do a handful of things. These may be things you already do and may not realize it. What's great about this is it seems natural and doesn't change things up a too much but makes a huge difference for your child.

When we actively read with our children, we can start by setting a tone for what we are reading. Before reading a story talk about what is already known if your child is old enough. Or share a new piece of information or give your child a few keywords to listen for in the story. Maybe you're reading about dinosaurs and a new word is in the story. Tell your child the word and tell them to listen for it in the story. They will stay engaged in the story to hear that word.

One strategy that I use at home and in the classroom is doing a picture walk. This can be done quickly and quietly with any picture book. I simply tell them that they get a little preview of the book by looking at the pictures before we read. I tell them not to read any of the words but to just look at each picture. I spend a few seconds on each page and then move to the next. This takes about a minute or less. This creates excitement and curiosity in our children. Try this the next time you read a picture book. I guarantee they'll love it!

There are so many ways we can actively read with our children and students. It doesn't have to be the same all the time and still can be just as beneficial as the time before. Give it a shot and let me know if you see an impact.