LOOK WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU ASK QUESTIONS!
You write a reading program for ALL children!
😊😊
I have a passion for teaching children with learning differences. I never thought of leaving a child behind. I always wanted to make sure EVERY ONE of my students was learning.
However, that desire became stronger and more personal when I first discovered that my own daughter is dyslexic.
When she was three, I began noticing in her drawings how she was struggling with directionality.
One warm summer day as I weeded a flower bed, she sat under her favorite tree drawing. Suddenly, she jumped up and danced over to me to share her artwork.
As I looked down at her drawing, I asked her in my happiest “Wow! That’s beautiful!” voice to tell me about her drawing.
She joyfully exclaimed, “I drew my first picture of our family!” She pointed to each person in the drawing telling who they were.
Again, I asked with my cheeriest voice, “How are we all feeling?”
She looked up at me with the biggest smile and said, “We’re all happy!”
“How do you know we’re happy?”
“Look at our big, happy smiles!”
“You drew a beautiful drawing of our family! I love it!”
She happily skipped back to continue drawing.
As I stood there watching her dance away, my thoughts began to spin. She had not drawn happy smiles. She had drawn frowns, but SHE was not seeing the difference.
That was the moment I knew she was dyslexic.
My husband is dyslexic, and he struggled in school. He was even retained in third grade.
I felt a little scared. My thoughts were whirling. I didn’t want my little girl to feel the unhappiness my husband had felt in school.
I knew she was going to face many struggles as she tried to learn to read. I stood there wondering how I, her mom, was going to help her meet all those struggles. What could I do? How could I help?
I promised myself that day, that very moment that I discovered she was dyslexic, that I would learn the best way to teach her and any other children with learning differences, because I knew they all had a long, hard road ahead of them.
As I set about learning even more about the best practices and strategies to teach all people with learning differences, I thought to myself, “Wait! I’m bouncing around hoping these strategies will work when what I really need to do is ask them! I need to ask my daughter, my husband, and my students, whether they have learning differences or not, for their help. I need to ask them questions, so I understand exactly what really works for them.”
I began to ask questions and I didn’t stop. I asked:
“What helps you learn to read, write and spell?
What did I do today that helped you learn more easily?
What did I do today that didn’t help you learn easily?
How can I teach differently to help you learn more easily?”
I asked these questions the day I first taught a lesson, a few days later, a week later, a month later, and several months later.
I began to notice a pattern.
EVERY ONE of them, whether they had learning differences or not, learned best and retained information best when I taught using “whole-body” and “multi-sensory” instruction.
I realized that “whole-body” and “multi-sensory” instruction was the best for ALL learners!
This knowledge guided every word and every activity in Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”.
Their answers to my questions and the research that supports whole-body and multi-sensory instruction, guided me to write activities that introduce every vague phonics concept with rich multi-sensory activities that stimulate all parts of the brain in every learner, whether they have learning differences or not.
This knowledge guided me to create Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e” ™that teaches phonemic awareness and all phonics rules in a way that ALL children are immersed in learning the concepts and easily move from concept to concept because the rules are made tangible for them.
As I look at other reading, spelling, and writing programs, I realize even more why Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e” ™is so powerful – it’s the ONE that was developed by asking the learners how they learned. I’m very proud of Silent Elephant “e”™.
My entire Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e” ™program (Parts 1-14), the posters, the picture book My Awesome Grandma, and the videos are 25% off through December 31st, 2021. You can purchase the program as a whole or by parts. Click here for the store.
As always if you have questions, contact us at silentelephante@gmail.com
Keep a song in your heart!