Top 10 Reasons Your Child Should Read in the Summer: #1 Increasing vocabulary

Welcome to the top 10 reasons that your child should read series.  This is a series motivated to inspire you to encourage your child to read.  There are many reasons why you should encourage your child to read over the summer, but I am just going to focus on the top 10.

The first one we are going to delve into today is a big one.

Encouraging your child to read over the summer will increase your child’s vocabulary.

Last summer, I started to research all of the words that were in books to find out if books have changed today compared to when similar lists where made 20 years ago.  One of the most interesting finds that I came across wA that every single book had at least one word that was never found in any of the other books.  Now, these were easy reader books that I was looking at.  So imagine how many new words that your child has never seen before that are in chapter books, it could be hundreds.

There are three ways that we learn new vocabulary.  One is through everyday interaction with others.  Another is through direct instruction and the last way is through books.  If you take away books, then your child will automatically be 1/3 behind their peers reading books.  That can equal up to a 3 year instructional gap by 10th grade.  There aren’t too many parents that would be happy with this educational gap and the easiest way to overcome it is by having your child read something of interest to him/her.

Some parents say, “But my child doesn’t like to read.”  Well, there are some kids that don’t like to eat, but you don’t stop feeding them.  If you are consistent with reminding them and make it fun, they will get on board.  If you make it seem like a chore, then they will hate it.  Just keep providing lots of opportunities and fill your house with books and ebooks.  If your child won’t read on their own, then you read to them.  They will still get the same vocabulary if you read to them 15 minutes a day to a half hour as they would if they would read on their own.  Or, maybe you want to share the reading where you read one page and your child reads a page.

If your child is below grade level, then a great book called 31 Days to Become a Better Reader: Increasing your child’s reading level will be a great tool.  It is available on Amazon and I wrote it after many parents asked me what they could do with their child at home to help him/her become a better reader.

Things to keep in mind about your child’s reading and increasing vocabulary.

1.  Kids with bigger vocabularies go to college.

2.  Kids with bigger vocabularies have more opportunities available.

3.  Kids with bigger vocabularies get better jobs.

Open up doors and opportunities for your child and have him/her pick up a book.  I dare you to grown their vocabularies.

Amazon

How to Find the Right Online Tutor

Summer time is upon is and with that means that many children will not pick up a book or do any school work.  Some teachers may suggest that some children attend summer school and some parents feel that this would ruin their entire summer.

Getting help in the summer doesn’t have to be an inconvenience anymore and it can be fun if it is done through an online tutoring program with a qualified tutor.  However, the tricky part can come with finding the right tutor.  The first thing to look for is someone who specifically tutors in the area that your child is struggling.  People who specify in one area are more passionate about teaching that subject than people who say they can tutor everything.  They take the time to find out what best practices are and they have helped so many people in this area that they can quickly diagnose what areas need to be focused on.

Another thing to look for is someone that has some prior success.  You can ask for referrals from past clients and see what type of satisfaction rate they have.  I personally have my clients put any feedback they have on LinkedIn.  This way the information is public.  If you are looking for an online tutor you will want to be able to do your research about them online.  Before you contact the tutor online, you will want to get to know them first.  Type their name in google and see what comes up.  There should be videos, blogs, and success stories readily available for you to find.  If there are not, that may be an indication that the tutor is not always up to date on best practices.  An online tutor should be easy to find online.  For example, if you enter Joanne Kaminski in google you find a plethora of information.  This is because she is dedicated to being active online, offering help wherever possible, and utilizing the resources available on the internet.

Ask the tutor if there will be materials that you will be able to use in between tutoring sessions.  The tutors that know what they are doing will be able to set you up properly so that you can help out your child if you choose to.  Last summer I created a book called 31 Days to Become a Better Reader to help parents speed up the learning curve in learning to read.  The first parent who used this resource had a child that made a 3 year reading growth over the summer.

Some tutors will offer free assessments and free sessions so you can see if the tutor is a right fit for you.  Take the tutor up on this opportunity so that you can really get to know their style of teaching and determine if they really will be a right fit.

Online tutoring is easy and fun.  You want your child to enjoy the experience with the tutor and enjoy going back to each session.  The right tutor is out there for you, all you have to do is type what you need tutoring into google and you will have choices immediately.  What questions do you have about finding the right tutor?

Dyslexic Tutoring Student from Canada Makes a Three Year Gain in Less than One Year

When I started tutoring online, I honestly had no idea that I would be able to make as much of an impact as I do.  I have to say that each day I wake I up I feel complete bliss knowing that I am able to service kids struggling with reading everyday all over the world.  I even am able to offer dyslexia tutoring for kids struggling with processing sounds.

One particular student that stands out this month is a child that has dyslexia from Canada.  When I first met this boy’s dad he had informed me that his son specifically had struggled since Kindergarten and that his progress was slow and delayed.  He was diagnosed with ADHD in grade 2 and has been on medicine ever since.  He has had evaluations both at school and privately and was diagnosed with broad based learning disabilities.  They were using Barton Reading and Spelling with him at school and his parents did activities with him at home.  They had hired several local tutors and had limited success.

His dad mentioned that when his son reads he guesses a lot and that his decoding ability is very weak.  Since reading was so hard for his son, it was difficult to get him to read at home.

When I first assessed him, his reading level was actually at a kindergarten reading level and he was in sixth grade.  My heart went out to this family that they had honestly tried everything that they knew to try and struggled with finding anything that would result in success for their son.

After working with this young man for 10 months an hour an 1/2 a week he is now at a  third grade reading level.  He does still struggle with decoding and seems to do really well with memorizing words.  He is able to read more words immediately, but gets frustrated when asked to decode.  To listen to this young man read today compared to what he was reading like 10 months ago is amazing.  There are times when I think, wow, how in the world did he get that word.  He reads for meaning, he understands what he reads, but it still isn’t his favorite activity.

About 2 months ago when I was doing an assessment I noticed that he was reading very choppy.  I really wanted to improve on his prosody and i decided to do a reading fluency intervention.  So we began reading song lyrics and then using youtube with the lyrics to speed up his reading.  It worked, just like it has with all of the other students that I have used this method with.  It also increased his engagement.  He began getting more excited about our time together and made remarkable growth in the last 2 months.

I am so blessed to be able to make a difference in kids lives whose parents have tried everything.  I get to be a solution to a very big problem that they are struggling with, which is helping their struggling reader increase his/her reading level.  This really is an exciting vocation.  If you are interested in learning more about how you can become an online tutor then you can go to www.tutorpreneurs.com/free-videos.  If you are interested in finding out more about getting tutoring services from me you can go to www.theskypingreadingtutor.com.  I still have a few slots open for this summer, but they are filling up fast.  If your child is struggling with reading, don’t wait to get help.  The longer that you wait the tougher the struggle becomes.  This could be the year that you start your child ahead of the curve instead of behind.

 

We Need Your Help

So, as many of you know my friend Renee and I wrote a book called Three Little Sisters Learn to Get Along.  Last week we had a promotion and many people downloaded the book.  This is great news right?  Well, unfortunately a person that doesn’t know how to leave reviews happen to leave one on our book.  Here is what he said,

I think this book helped kids aruging to their parents.it helped me to stop my tone and pushing people. I like this book.

This person then left a 1 star, which significantly will deter people from reading it.  Now, if my book is truly a 1 star book, I am o.k. with that.  But here is how the star system works for books on Amazon.

1  star = Hate it

2 stars = I Don’t Like it

3 stars = It’s Okay

4 stars = I like it

5 stars = I love it

Technically this person meant to put 4 stars, but put one which now will effect if people will even take a look at it.  I know in my heart that the person who left this rating was trying to be helpful.  I honestly think that it was an honest mistake based off their comment.

So, if you are able to help Renee and I out, we would appreciate it.  If you have already gotten the book and would be able to leave an honest review we would be very grateful.  If you haven’t gotten the book and are able to get the digital one for kindle, look it over, and leave an honest review again we would be very grateful.

Some of you might be thinking, “But I don’t have a kindle.”  Well, no worries you can easily download the Kindle app onto any computer, phone, or ipad.   Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy day to help us out.  Just click on the link below and you will be brought to the page.  In the format section you will notice that the book is just .99 in Kindle.

 

 

Spot and Dot – 3 syllables

Spot and Dot – 3 syllables

These blog posts are part of a program that is in development called Phonics the Easy Way. It is a phonics program that gives parents the information that they need in order to help their own kids with reading. These lessons are meant to be utilized with text that a parent is reading with their child vs. isolated skill and drills that do not transfer over into reading. These are the methods that I personally utilize in tutoring with my own students in reading online and I am able to increase their reading levels a full year with just 8-12 hours of instruction.

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So far we have taken a look at using the spot and dot method to figure out the patterns of words so that we can read more words that have two syllables.  Today we are going to split up words that have three, four and five syllables to see how this process works.  Here is a review of the Spot and Dot Rules.

  1. Spot and dot each of the vowels.
  2. Connect the dots and count the consonants in between the vowels.
  3. If there is one consonant, then draw the line before.
  4. If there are two consonants, then draw the line between them.
  5. If there are three consonants, then draw the line between the consonant and the blend of digraph.

Let’s take a look at a 3 syllable word.

ad/ver/tise

First we spot all of the vowels for this word and they are a, e, i, and e.  Next connect the dots and count the consonants in between the vowels.  For the word advertise when you connect the a and the first e you will notice that there are two consonants, so draw a line between them both.  Continue connecting the dots and counting the consonants.  For the next set of dots there are also two consonants, so you will draw the line between the r and the t.  Now it is time to identify where each of the parts goes on the chart.

Closed

ad

 

Open Silent E

tise

Bossy R

ver

 

Two vowels C + le

As you can see  ad- goes under closed, -ver- goes under bossy r, and -tise goes under silent e.  After the child has identified where each of these parts goes on the chart, she is ready to put the word together and read advertise.  Check out the video for a detailed example.

http://youtu.be/DOfsuuBV148

Here is a list of other three syllable words that you can practice this strategy on.

  • committee
  • percentage
  • headquarters
  • festival
  • percussion
  • distinguish
  • advantage
  • livelihood
  • bicycle
  • reasoning
  • episode
  • elephant
  • porcupine
  • afterward
  • obstacle
  • permission

Spot and Dot – 3 consonants

Spot and Dot – 3 consonants

These blog posts are part of a program that is in development called Phonics the Easy Way.  It is a phonics program that gives parents the information that they need in order to help their own kids with reading.  These lessons are meant to be utilized with text that a parent is reading with their child vs. isolated skill and drills that do not transfer over into reading.  These are the methods that I personally utilize in tutoring with my own students in reading online and I am able to increase their reading levels a full year with just 8-12 hours of instruction.

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Today we are going to take a look at using the spot and dot method when there are 3 consonants in between the vowels.  We are going to use the word backpack as our example.

back/pack

  1. Spot the vowels and put a dot above them.  In this case a dot is going to go above the a’s.
  2. Connect the dots.  As you are connecting the dots count how many consonants are in between the vowels  .  In this case there are three.
  3. If there are three, then draw the line between the consonant and the blend or digraph.  The word backpack has a consonant digraph -ck.  A digraph is two consonants that make a one sound.  A blend is two consonants that each keep their own sound.  Some examples would be sp and bl.
  4. Decide which pattern the first part is and read it.
  5. Decide which pattern the second part is and read it.
  6. Blend the whole word together.

Here is a video example of the spot and dot method with 3 consonants.

 

Spot and Dot – 2 Consonants

Spot and Dot – 2 Consonants

These blog posts are part of a program that is in development called Phonics the Easy Way.  It is a phonics program that gives parents the information that they need in order to help their own kids with reading.  These lessons are meant to be utilized with text that a parent is reading with their child vs. isolated skill and drills that do not transfer over into reading.  These are the methods that I personally utilize in tutoring with my own students in reading online and I am able to increase their reading levels a full year with just 8-12 hours of instruction.

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The other day we took a look at using the spot and dot method to break apart a word that had one consonant in between the vowels.  Today we are going to use the spot and dot method to break apart a word that has 2 consonants.

Our word today is “spelling”.  Here are the steps to break apart the word spelling.

  1. Spot the vowels and put a dot above them.  In this word, the vowels are e and i.
  2. Connect the dots.  As you are connecting the dots, count how many consonants are in between the vowels.
  3. There are two consonants in spelling, so you are going to draw a line between the l’s like this.

spel/ling

4.  Figure out the pattern of the first part.  In this case it is the closed pattern, so one knows that the e is stuck in the middle and is going to make it’s stuck sound.

5.  Figure out the pattern of the second part.  In this case it is also the closed pattern, so the i will make it’s short sound or stuck sound.

6.  Put both parts together and you have spelling.

Here is an example of spot and dot being done with the word Spelling.  Tomorrow we will take a look at an example with three consonants in between the vowels.

http://youtu.be/eunbADnr-cw

Three Little Sisters Learn to Get Along is Published

Three Little Sisters Learn to Get Along is Published

Today is an extremely exciting day for my friend Renee and I.  We have created our first picture book together and it is live on Amazon Front_Cover_of_Three_Little_Sisters_Learn_to_Get_Alongbeginning today.  It is called Three Little Sisters Learn to Get Along.  It is about three little sisters that yell, pinch, fight, and kick.  When the mother sees how her little girls are not getting along she becomes extremely distressed.  She teaches her girls how to use “I messages” and at once the sisters learn that there are other ways to resolve their problems. There are parent pages at the end that help parents with some ways to help their children in  a calm manner when their kids are not getting along.  Let’s face it.  This is a reality for our kids, they will fight, but now there is a healthy solution to make things right.

This book is perfect for anyone that has kids or knows anyone that has kids.  The illustrations engage kids of all ages and the text is at a 2nd grade reading level.  Below in the Amazon carousel you will find all of the books that we have created and are published through For the Love of Books Publishing.  I have also added a book in the carousel that I featured a few weeks ago by my friend Kat Kirst called Snitch.

Spot and Dot with One Consonant – Phonics the E

Spot and Dot with One Consonant – Phonics the E

For the last few weeks we have taken a look at the 6 basic vowel patterns that help kids to read more words easily and effortlessly.  One may be thinking, well this is all great that we know each of the patterns, but what happens when there is a multi-syllable word?  How would the child know where the vowel pattern begins and where the vowel pattern ends?

 

The answer is easy.  It is called the Spot and Dot reading strategy.  The Spot and Dot method is a simple way for the child to know where a word begins and where it ends.  Let’s take a look at the word hotel.  Here are the steps with this word. Spot and Dot 1 consonant powerpoint

 

  1. Write the word down on a piece of paper.
  2. Put a dot above all of the vowels.  In this case you would put a dot above the o and the e.
  3. Connect the dots. (As you are connecting the dots, count how many consonants are in between the vowels.) The word hotel has one consonant.
  4. If there is one consonant, like in this example, then you draw the line before it.
  5. Now we have ho/tel.  Ho goes under the open pattern and tel goes under the closed pattern.

Here is a video showing the entire process for the word hotel.

C + le (Consonant plus le) – Phonics the Easy Way

C + le (Consonant plus le) – Phonics the Easy Way

The last phonics pattern is C + le.  Unlike the other patterns that often occur in one syllable words, C + le only happens in two syllable or more words.  That is why this is always the last pattern that I teach to kids.

 

Up to this point, when I have come across the C + le pattern I may have added it to the chart, but I have just told the child how to read the word if she was struggling with it.  Let’s take a look at a closed pattern and C + le pattern word like, “bubble.”  The child may come to this word and not be able to read it.  To get her started draw a line after bub/ like this or straight up and down line.  Then ask her what pattern this is.  Reading the first part may be all that she needs to easily figure out that this word is bubble.  Some kids are really good at using context to help them figure out words.  If you haven’t introduced the C + le pattern yet, then tell the child that the second part is /bul/ and have her put both of the syllables together.

 

Once the child is ready to learn about the C + le pattern you can go to your chart and look at the syllable word parts that you have collected.  Your chart may look something like this.

 

Closed

Open

Silent E

Bossy R

Two Vowels

C + le

-tle

-ble

-gle

 

You may notice that there is a dash before the pattern.  This is because this pattern will only happen at the end of a word.  There will be another pattern that comes before it.  All of the patterns except for Silent E have the possibility of being combined with the C + le pattern.  Each of these parts will go in the designated area on the chart.  Not the whole word.  Remember this is a vowel syllable chart.  Having the whole word mumble under the closed pattern is confusing to the child because the –ble belongs under the C + le pattern.

 

Here is an example of what a chart with each of the patterns would look like for the following words.

 

  1. Jiggle
  2. cattle
  3. hassle
  4. bub
  5. bible
  6. table
  7. bugle
  8. staple
  9. purple
  10. startle
  11. gargle
  12. eagle
  13. beagle
  14. noodle

 

Closed

jig

cat

has

bub

Open

Bi

table

bu

sta

Silent E

Bossy R

Pur

Star

gar

Two Vowels

Talkers

Ea

bea

Whiners

noo

C + le

-tle

-ble

-gle

-sle

-ple

-dle

 

Now that the chart is filled out you can take a close look and notice what is happening with C + le pattern.  Remind the child how to read each of these patterns if they do not remember how to pronounce it.  Then, ask the child what she notices about this pattern.  She may notice that they all end in e and that you cannot hear the e sound.  She may notice that they all end in the /ul/ sound.  Use the information that the child gives you and simply acknowledge if they are right.  After the child has finished making observations about the pattern you can introduce her to the rule.

 

Whenever there is an –le at the end of a word it is going to grab the consonant before it.  The consonant is going to make the –le say /u/. 

 

Many children will look at the c + le pattern and think that the pattern only exists if there is a c before it.  If this happens simply let the child know that the C stands for consonant and review what the consonants are.  One way to explain consonants is to say, “Consonants are all of the letters of the alphabet that are not vowels.”

 

Take a look at a video clip where I am introducing the C + le pattern.

 

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