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We are two educators and mothers who share a passion for early literacy. As educators we have noticed the devastating gap between many children's abilities and the expectations for proficiency in learning to read and write. We have great desire to catch those children who are falling through the cracks and put them on the pathway to academic success. This podcast is our attempt to reach out to all of the fellow educators, parents and anyone else who works with children to share research and ...
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In this episode we tell we give a basic, easy to understand explanation of what is happening inside a person's brain when they learn to read. We are not brain scientists but sometimes learning from brain scientist can be a little difficult to understand. But, it is important to understand what it going on in kids' heads so we can be patient and und…
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How do kids learn vocabulary and comprehension? In this episode we explore the different levels of word knowledge, how kids learn words, the different types or tiers of words and how do you choose what words to teach kids? We also talk about some of the reasons kids may struggle with comprehension. We've also included another clip of 3-year-old Bea…
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In this episode we talk all things fluency! How do you help kids become fluent in reading? If kids do poorly on a fluency test, what do you do? Should you encourage kids to read as fast as they can? References: "Reading Above the Fray" by Julia B. Lindsey Quote by Jan Hasbrouck "The Megabook of Fluency" by Timothy V. Rasinski and Melissa Cheesman S…
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In this episode we talk about sight words, or what is better named high-frequency words. We discuss how they are often taught and how we think they should be taught. And we do a fun word sort to figure out which ones are decodable, not yet decodable, partially decodable or not decodable at all. References: Fry word list Dolch word list "Reading Abo…
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In this episode we discuss the three different ways you can and should read with kids: reading to them, reading with them, and listening to them read. Resources include: "Active View of Reading" Model by Duke and Cartwright, 2021 "Hop on Pop" by Dr. Seuss "Bob Books" by Bobby Maslen and Lynn Kertell "Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See?" by Bill…
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This is one of our favorite episodes! We had so much fun recording it as we experimented with singing using only vowels and only consonants and consequently had a great conversation about the importance of vowels and the challenges of teaching them. References: Letrs Manual Volume 1 pg. 119 by Louisa C. Moats and Carol A. Tolman "Not So Lazy Schwa"…
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In this episode we discuss the following three big questions surrounding the teaching of letters and sounds: 1. Shoud we teach the names of letters first, sounds first, or teach them at the same time? 2. How fast should we teach the letters and sounds? 3. How should we handle the complexities of English in connecting sounds to letters? References u…
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Do you know the difference between phonemic awareness and phonics? Do you know how important phonemic awareness is for setting the stage for reading? Do you know how to teach phonemic awareness? In this episode we talk about all these things. References used: National Reading Panel nichd.nih.gov "Reading Above the Fray" by Julia Lindsey "Hop on Pop…
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In this episode we go through some studies that show how talking to kids might just be the most important thing you can do for their academic and professional success. We have a special guest appearance by 3-year-old Bea and her mom to show a great example of how talking to children can look. It's amazing! References Used in this episode: "The Read…
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Wouldn't it be great if there was a place to find all the best research on teaching kids how to read? Well, there is! It's called the National Reading Panel report and it can be found at nichd.nih.gov. The National Reading Panel was a panel of researchers and educators tasked by congress to compile the best research on teaching kids how to read. Th…
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In this episode we talk about the basic things that all parents, caregivers and early teachers can be doing to set their kids up for success on the path of literacy. We go through the Simple View of Reading (P.B. Gough and W.E. Tumner) and how activites in both Language Comprehension and Word Recognition gives kids the best chance at success. Refer…
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In this episode we discuss the methods many schools are using to teach kids how to read and how it compares with what science says. We discuss Whole Language versus Phonics. In this episode we reference: "Sold a Story" podcast by reporter Emily Hanford Letrs Training Manual Vol. 1 pg. by Louisa C. Moats and Carol A. Tolman National Reading Panel Re…
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In this episode we talk about the overall problem of illiteracy and what we believe some of the causes of this problem are. We discuss issues with teacher training and parent lack of knowledge, as well as the challenges teachers face in the classroom every day. We talk about the difficulty of science and understanding what is good science and what …
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In this episode we introduce ourselves and our history as educators and mothers and where our passion for early literacy comes from. We talk about what the statistics are for non-proficient readers from www.nationsreportcard.gov and what topics we will be covering in future episodes. Have a comment or question? Please send us a message at kandicean…
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