February is a Special Time of the Year

 Every February I do a quick mid-year assessment to make sure that my kiddos are making good growth.

It’s true that as we work together every week, it’s easy for me to see their strong progress as ongoing assessment is built into Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”®, but, it is extremely important for my kiddos to see their progress in GRADE LEVEL NUMBERS, something that makes sense to them. 😊

Most kiddos learning with Silent Elephant “e”® are often not aware of the amazing progress they are making. This is because every phonics skill in Silent Elephant “e”® is taught using their whole body within a fun, memorable lesson that makes good sense to them. The lessons are also organized in such a way that a new skill logically builds upon the last skill(s).

As they progress through Silent Elephant “e”® at their own pace, they attain success and reach mastery through the controlled vocabulary for each phonics lesson. Reading, writing and spelling become comfortable and they begin to relax, to enjoy learning and to believe in themselves that they are totally capable of learning to read, write and spell.

When they see their progress in print and hear me telling them how good they are doing, they have an even stronger feeling of success.

This is especially true of those who have been struggling the most.

They LOVE seeing their progress in numbers on their progress record page. They LOVE hearing me tell them about their progress.

Because I tutor, most of my students are profoundly dyslexic with other learning differences as well. They know what it feels like to not be able to understand what is being taught. Every single one of them has known struggle and disappointment in trying to learn to read, write and spell.

Finally, with Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”® they’re beginning to realize that they won’t be struggling forever. This is life changing for them!

Furthermore, they are realizing they can even have fun learning to read, write and spell.

They become happier, less anxious, more hopeful. They become more eager to pay attention. They begin to see success without struggle.  They feel and are in control of their learning. This usually begins within the first 6 weeks with Silent Elephant “e”®. ❤️

So, I don’t assess just for myself 😊; I assess for them too. They need to see the numbers rising on their progress record chart.

In the last couple of weeks, my students and I have had fun sharing their success over the last year as we did their assessments. I watched their eyes sparkle, and their faces break out in smiles of pride.

Here’s an overview of their progress since last February ‘23:

• 2 students have achieved 3 years of growth.

• 5 students have achieved 2 years of growth.

• 4 students have achieved a half year of growth. These 4 are newer to Silent Elephant “e”® and have multiple learning differences. They are just getting their feet under them. 😊

• 3 students are soon to graduate Silent Elephant “e”® reading at a college level.

No matter how profoundly dyslexic they are or how many other learning differences they have, they have all made great progress!

As we finished talking about their successes, every single one of them smiled with pride and eagerly said, “Mrs. Jones, let’s get going!” They are all happy and ready to continue their success.

They ALL see, or are beginning to see, themselves as capable readers and spellers who can write anything they want to write. It feels like freedom to them.

They see a future without struggle. Their whole life has turned around.

It makes the heart sing out loud.

If you are interested in becoming a Silent Elephant “e”® tutor contact me. It’s a fun, very rewarding way to bring in extra money.

Contact us at silentelephante@gmail.com or nina.silentelephante@gmail.com. We do have answers for your questions.

Teaching Multiple Ages is EASY and FUN

Meet Xander who was beside himself when he got to join in the Silent Elephant “e”® lessons with his sisters. 

It was a very happy day for Xander when he was able to begin HIS Silent Elephant “e”® reading lessons like his two older sisters. He had watched his sisters have so much fun learning to read. He had even been able to join in some of the multi-sensory introduction activities like writing his letters in pudding as they practiced their sight words, but finally the day had come when HE got to have HIS lessons to learn to read, write and spell.

He eagerly listened to his mom explaining phonemic awareness with the Caterpillar/Train Game and the colored squares. He listened intently as his mom said the sounds in “cat”, he repeated them listening intently to HIS voice and then carefully moved the colors squares to indicate the number of sounds he was hearing. He beamed with pride!

Suddenly he had a great idea! His brain was transferring his knowledge! He shot off to his room, returned with his toy cars, began lining up his tiny cars to match the colors of his squares, and moved his CARS to indicate how many sounds he was hearing in a word.

He was having FUN while learning and transferring his knowledge.

Learning to read, write and spell should be fun and Silent Elephant “e”® is all about the fun of learning!

Silent Elephant “e”® teaches entirely using multi-sensory and whole-body instruction, so children are actively learning at all times.
 

Xander is Wendy’s third child to begin learning to read, write and spell with Silent Elephant “e”®.

Wendy has honed her method of teaching 3 different ages at the same time and making sure they are always successful. Silent Elephant “e”® makes this easy for her.

Here is the Silent Elephant “e”® method for teaching multiple ages:

Since every Silent Elephant “e”® lesson has leveled materials, begin every new concept with the multi-sensory introductory lesson with all your kids. This gives them a sense of learning community as they are actively learning the same concept. 

1. After the active multi-sensory introduction, move your kiddos to their personal practice pages which are leveled:  

• Level 1 introduces the phonics rule – these practice pages are for your child that is just beginning to learn to read and who are beginning Silent Elephant “e”®.

• Level 2 provides developing vocabulary and independence in using all the phonics rules – these practice pages are for your child that has completed Level 1 and is reviewing each phonics rule.

• Level 3 contains multi-syllabic words for advanced independent reading using the phonics rules – these practice pages are for your child that has completed Level 1 and/or Level 2.  (Some children can move right into Level 3 upon completing Level 1. Other children may need more review after completing Level 1, so it’s best to have them excel in Level 2 before moving to Level 3.)

You and your children will enjoy success and the fun of learning together!

Wendy KNOWS when each of her children have mastered a concept, and she knows if she needs to reteach a concept before moving on because continual assessment is a built-in integral part of Silent Elephant “e”®.  It’s easy for Wendy to meet each of her child’s individual needs to be sure they are succeeding.

And they ARE succeeding!

Her 7-year-old won an award for reading the most books at her library this past summer and
her 9-year-old is blazing a trail through Nancy Drew mysteries. 😊
And Xander is eager to join them to blaze his own trail.

Contact us with thoughts and questions.

silentelephante@gmail.com or nina.silentelephante@gmail.com

12 Wonderful Years of Changing Lives - so beautiful!

YAY for DATA! 12 Wonderful Years!!

This is so good! So fun to share!
I have 12 YEARS worth of Silent Elephant “e”™ data. 12 years! I’ve been watching Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”™ truly change children’s lives (and their parent’s lives!) for 12 YEARS!

During those years, I’ve taught preschool through high school students who were struggling to read, write and spell. Some were staffed into special education. I have also had a few students who were not struggling at all but whose parents knew about Silent Elephant “e”™ and wanted their children to have a solid foundation in reading, writing and spelling.

My students have included those with:

• Dyslexia

• ADD or ADHD

• Speech and Language Disorders

• English Language Learners

• Autism

• Hearing Impairments

• Down Syndrome

• Dyspraxia

• Microencephaly

• Central Auditory Processing Disorder

• Low to Extremely Low IQ

• Other Learning Differences

• Those with No Learning Differences

I share all their differences, because IN SPITE OF their differences, they have ALL SUCCEEDED in becoming fluent, confident readers, writers and spellers. Some needed the gift of time, to move at their own pace slowly but steadily, which is a powerful component of Silent Elephant “e”™. Some quickly moved through the entire program. ALL HAVE SUCCEEDED.

Are you ready to be impressed by the 12 years of data, the quick, amazing progress my kiddos are making in a short amount of time?

Over the last 12 years, students learning with Silent Elephant “e”™ just 1.5 - 2 hours/week, on average:

• Advanced 1 grade level for every 2.8 months of instruction. (Think of this: my students are not taking a school year to advance a grade level—they’re advancing multiple grade levels in one year.)

• Advanced to their age-appropriate grade level in 9.9 months (some in as little as 2 ½ months). (Some of them were 2-6 years behind their grade level when they began learning with Silent Elephant “e”™.)

• Many advanced 4 grade levels with 6 months of instruction. (😊 Wow!)

• Mastered Part 1, Phonemic Awareness within 3 months. (In 3 months, they understood the basics of written language and were ready to fly!)

In these last 12 years, 11 of my students have successfully exited out of special education which is unheard of. All eleven of them are now competent, confident students who are having a good time in school, learning easily and proud of themselves.

Also in these 12 years, I have been able to support parents and teachers in their decision to refrain from placing a child in special education because the student was being tutored using Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”™ and both the school and the parents knew the success of Silent Elephant “e”™ students.

I’m so pleased to share all of this with you! I’m so proud of all those whose lives have been touched by Silent Elephant “e”™ (students and parents) from the beautiful, profoundly dyslexic young woman in her senior year of college majoring in neuroscience who is not struggling to the sparkling little one who began second grade reading on a sixth-grade level after two years of learning with Silent Elephant “e”™ beginning in her Kindergarten year.

If you are wondering how Silent Elephant “e™ can support your children as their (and your) comprehensive pre-school to college reading, writing, and spelling program, call me at 208-859-4406 or email me at silentelephante@gmail.com.

She Improved 5 Grade Levels in 9 Months!! Soon she'll be up to 8th grade level and beyond!

Summer rolled to an end way too quickly. It seems like we didn’t get to do as many things as we had planned -- maybe we had too many things planned. 😉

We’ve packed up and are ready to head back to Seattle until next June.

This is always a bittersweet time. I’m not ready to leave Idaho and yet at the same time I’m so eager to hug my grandkids. And my kids. 😊 It seems like a very long time since I’ve wrapped my arms around all of them.

I did get most of my student’s end of summer assessments finished.

Assessing is such a happy time. Sometimes my kiddos don’t even realize how much they’ve learned and how well they’re reading. I love the way their eyes grow huge, and their smiles explode when they stop for a moment to realize their own progress. It’s a special time.

And -- it’s a time for celebrating for them, for me and definitely for their parents!

Last week I received this wonderful note from Mckenna’s mom, and I’d love to share it with you.  
"Dear Linda,

You have no idea how much we appreciate you…

Jeremy, Mckenna's dad, and I had the best discussion about tutoring tonight (he has dyslexia as well).  He is blown away with how far she has come since last November!
He wishes he didn’t struggle as a child and had had help. We are so happy you can help her down this road! 
So much love,
Brie

In 9 months, Mckenna mastered Phonemic Awareness. She didn’t have Phonemic Awareness 9 months ago. She also improved 5 grade levels in word recognition and 3.5 grade levels in comprehension! Both word recognition and comprehension are at a 7th grade reading level now.

She is so proud of herself, and rightly so.

Within the next 3 months she will be up to grade level (8th grade) and beyond. She is ready to fly!

If you have questions about teaching reading, writing and spelling with Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”™, email me at silentelephante@gmail.com. You’ll love the freedom of teaching with Silent Elephant “e”™. You’ll love watching them learn to read, write and spell so quickly – all of them. You’ll love it when their eyes grow huge, and their smiles erupt. xoxo

If you'd like to be a part of changing lives with us, talk to me about becoming a Silent Elephant “e”™ tutor. You'll never regret it. 

Contact me here!

“My brain felt so disorganized! I felt like a railroad without tracks,”

Stephen stopped in the middle of our Zoom lesson, and looked me in the eyes, “Mrs. Jones, I’ve been thinking about something I’ve been wanting to tell you for a long time. Do you know how I felt all the time before I began tutoring with you?”

I looked at him thoughtfully as he was so serious. “No,” I replied, “but I’d love for you to tell me.”

“I felt like a railroad without tracks,” he said slowly and then quickly looked away. I could tell he felt uncomfortable, and this had been hard for him to say.

My brain began to whirl trying to picture what he had experienced and what he meant. “Please tell me more.”

Slowly Stephen began explaining, “For years and years, I tried so hard to make sense of what my parents, teachers and other tutors were teaching me. I felt my brain was built for learning concepts. I felt capable of learning. I really did.

“But I also felt dumb. I watched my teachers walk away from my desk – giving up on helping me. It took too much of their time to try to help me. They had so many other children to help. They began to ignore me. I felt so alone.

“My brain felt so scattered! My brain felt so disorganized! I needed railroad tracks to guide me.”

I could feel Stephen’s profound pain – it was palpable!

He continued, “I tried so hard to do what I thought was right, but I was never right!

“I could see and hear what my friends were doing, but no matter how hard I tried, I could never get it right. I thought I was the stupidest person alive! I felt like giving up!

“I’m so glad my mom didn’t give up on me. She was aware that I was developing numerous coping mechanisms – trying to cope in school with the way teachers and other kids looked at me, trying not to feel embarrassed in front of everyone, trying to learn and always failing, trying to keep on believing in myself.

“It was the best day of my life when my mom brought me to your house for tutoring. Within just a few minutes of meeting me, you told me that I was smart! You said that I would learn! You said that I just needed to be taught a in different way. You said I needed to be taught to read, write and spell the way MY brain learned!

“After just 3 weeks of tutoring with you, I suddenly could see and hear individual sounds within words (phonemic awareness). I finally got it! Before we did the caterpillar and train games, I couldn’t figure out what I was supposed to do when teachers and my parents said, ‘Just sound it out.’ When I began to hear the individual sounds within words, I knew I was going to be able to learn to read!

“When we started using colors for phonics, I felt relief and joy too! The color that helps me the most is the purple lines between syllables! The purple lines break the words into smaller pieces and then I can use the other colors to help me see the small phonetic parts of words that the letters form.”

As I listened, I was doing my best not to be too emotional. “Oh, Stephen, I’m so grateful to be your tutor!

“Hearing your words, I am reminded of just how serious and important a teachers’ job is and I’m reminded of the huge responsibility that I have to all my students.

“I’m so thankful I’ve been able to help you learn to read, write and spell so quickly! Do you remember that in just 2 years you went from a primer to a 9th grade reading level between the ages of 8 and 10?”

“Yes, I do remember,” he said with a big smile, “and my reading continues to grow and become even faster and smoother.”

“You are an extremely intelligent person! You and your family would never have given up on you!

“I’m so proud of you! You’re awesome!”

I could see the relief and pride in his eyes. He had realized his own growth and could feel a bright future ahead.

With smiles on our faces, we did our computer high five and returned to our lesson. 

Phonemic awareness is the foundation of reading, writing and spelling. If a child doesn’t have phonemic awareness, they will struggle with reading, writing and spelling, it’s just that important.

Part 1 of Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”™ is 47 lessons in phonemic awareness. Part 2 has all the assessments you will need including a detailed phonemic awareness assessment.

When they finish Part 1, when they have phonemic awareness, their foundation of success is set and they will fly.

Contact me here, silentelephante@gmail.com! 😊

She Looked Down at Me and Said, “What Will You Do Differently?”

She Looked Down at Me and Said, “What Will You Do Differently?”

Today I want to share a story. Stories are always illuminating and fun.
 
About 6 years ago, I welcomed a sweet girl and her mom into my home to begin tutoring. It was the first time we had met, although I had visited with the mom on the phone. She had expressed deep concern about “Beth’s” lack of progress in learning to read.
 
Since I want everyone to relax when we meet, we share our favorite foods, games, hobbies, subject in school, etc. I introduce them to my service dog who’s a great icebreaker.
 
As I could feel this sweet young girl relaxing, I asked her if we could play some listening games. She very shyly agreed, so I began assessing her phonemic awareness skills.
 
She scored 90% on Silent Elephant “e”™ Phonemic Awareness Assessment Part 1, but her answers were hesitant. To continue to Part 2, Beth would have to have had 95% accuracy with quick, confident answers. I praised her and told her she was doing beautiful, which she was. She was working very hard to know the correct answers.
 
We moved to uppercase and lowercase letter names, to letter sounds and then to rhyme. We were giggling while having fun making up silly words that rhymed.
 
On the San Diego Quick Assessment, Beth scored instructional at a 1st grade level. On the Silent Elephant “e”™ oral reading inventory she scored Primer level. Beth was 10 years old and in the 5th grade. She was 4-5 years behind in reading. I could see why her mother was so worried.
 
When I asked her if she liked to spell words and write stories, she answered that she loved to draw pictures and her mom wrote the stories for her. I heard a sadness drift into her voice when I asked her to write some words for me. We only tried three words; she only got “the” correct.
 
We finished our assessments, and I knew we needed to begin at the beginning: Phonemic Awareness Part 1 and Short Vowels Part 3. We jumped into the phonemic awareness train game and had fun playing it together.

As we finished the game, Beth’s Mom said, “Beth, you may play with Mrs. Jones’ dog for a bit. I want to talk with Mrs. Jones in the kitchen.”
 

I was a bit surprised, but went to join her in the kitchen where she was standing with her hands on her hips and said as she backed me into the cabinet corner, “What do you think you can do differently than I have done to teach my daughter to read?”
 
Before I could answer she continued, “Beth has been in preschool, public school, tutoring with Sylvan Learning Center and other tutors, and recently I’ve begun homeschooling her part time while she also attends a public-school alternative learning program. So, what makes you think that you can teach her to read?”
 
I took a deep breath, stood straight and tall and looked up into her eyes (she’s about 6 feet tall) and said, “Let ME tell YOU about my background, how my reading program came to be, and how I KNOW she will learn to read quickly with Silent Elephant “e”™.”
 
I told her how my life changed the day I realized my daughter was dyslexic. I told her how I knew I had to be THE ONE that researched, learned and helped my daughter succeed in reading, writing and spelling.
 
I mentioned classes I had taken. I mentioned the hours I had spent learning about how our brains learn, about dyslexia, and about other learning differences. I talked about the hours I spent asking my daughter, my husband (who is also dyslexic) and all the children I taught what helped them learn and what didn’t help them learn.
 
I shared that Silent Elephant “e”™ teaches reading, writing and spelling all together, simple to complex, because our brain perceives them as the same subject, just different parts of, “words in print”.   
 
I shared how every vague phonics concept (they’re all vague) is introduced in Silent Elephant “e”™ by engaging the creative parts of the brain first and then moving to the analytical part, therefore stimulating both hemispheres to interact with the concept. I told her how the creative brain understands and stores the knowledge through the senses as we color, dance, sing, draw, perform puppetry and much more. At the same time, the analytical part of the brain is understanding the “whys” and the “rules”. I shared that when learning this way, the brain in never confused. It connects the creative with the analytical and logically fits ALL the pieces together easily.
 
Then, I finally took a deep breath and said, “You’re going to have to trust me. And just so you know, my daughter graduated Magna Cum Laude.”
 
She looked at me and said, “I’ll give you 3 months!”
 
At the end of those three months, I had to smile thinking about Beth’s mom staring down at me in my kitchen. By that time, Beth was already reading at a 3rd grade level. By the end of 8 months, she was reading at an 8th grade level - 3 years above her chronological age. And now, she’s a very successful, happy, high school student.
 
Beth learned to read, write and spell in a very short time even though she’s profoundly dyslexic, because Silent Elephant “e”™ taught her in the way our brain learns new information best: in fun and creative ways.

Have questions?

Email us at silentelephante@gmail.com or call us at:
Linda        208-859-4406                            Nina    208-860-3125

Getting Started With Silent Elephant “e”, A Mom Shares

 Getting Started With Silent Elephant “e”, A Mom Shares

In our last email, we shared notes from the video that Jennifer did for us during our vendor week with Top Picks Homeschool Curriculum Facebook group. Jennifer is the mom of two lovely girls that I tutor. Jennifer shared how completely different her daughters are as learners (one dyslexic, one not) and how successful they both are with Silent Elephant “e"™.  (Here’s the link.)

 
This week we want to share thoughts that Crystal Kroush shared in her video during our vendor week.(Here is the link.) Crystal is an experienced homeschool educator who is just beginning to use Silent Elephant “e"™ with her three kids ages 12, 10 and 4. Here are notes from her video:
 
“We’re just beginning with Silent Elephant “e"™. I have just finished assessing all the kids and am getting ready to begin.
 
“We’ve used other programs for reading, writing and spelling. The other programs have assessments, but they’re usually assessments to tell us where they are in that program.
 
“Silent Elephant “e"™’s assessments are different. They’re comprehensive; they cover EVERYTHING you want to know about your kids’ language arts skills. They tell you their strengths AND their weaknesses. This is very important information. You want to know their weaknesses so you can fill them, and you want to build on their strengths. It’s like when you get into your car to go somewhere, you want to know where you are going and why. 😊
 
“I know as homeschoolers we teach where they are. We are more relaxed about their progress, not as concerned about how fast they are progressing, but that they are progressing. But I feel it’s also a very good idea to really know exactly what they know and don’t know, because you never know what might happen. Life might change. You might decide you want them to go to a public or to a private school and you’ll want to know they’ll be successful in that transition.
 
“So, even though my intention is to homeschool right through high school, it’s super important for me to know where they are in their skills, what their strengths are, and where they weaknesses are. I’ve already been surprised by our results.
 
“I think this is important too: since I have given them Silent Elephant “e"™’s comprehensive assessments, when I assess again with Silent Elephant “e"™, I’ll truly be able to see their growth. I’ll REALLY KNOW where their skills grew. I won’t be guessing or hoping.
 
“For my husband and I it was exciting to KNOW our kids are reading on grade level, and a bit of a relief. It was also reassuring to know exactly where their weaknesses are. Now with Silent Elephant “e"™, I feel confident I will address those weaknesses and my children, especially our 10-year-old, won’t continue feeling frustrated with certain concepts. On the flip side of that, I love the thought of building on their strengths with the multi-sensory activities of Silent Elephant “e"™. This is fun and exciting for all of us.
 
“I do have a tip for giving Silent Elephant “e”™’s comprehensive assessments.  Because they are so comprehensive, you will want to focus with only one of your kids at a time. Have the others do un-schooling activities like building with Legos or art, something that doesn’t need your immediate attention. This allows you to focus your attention on the one you are assessing. This will set all of you up for success and sidestep frustration on your part. 😊”
 
Crystal continued:
“I enjoyed watching Wendy’s video (Here's the link.) and her comment about how her kids are able to pick out library books that they can read and comprehend. I believe mine can do that too. Our kids are also avid readers and bring home dozens of books from the library each time we go. 
 
“But I do know, especially now that I have assessed, that they could be better especially in spelling and phonetic skills.
 
“I love that Silent Elephant “e"™ covers reading, writing and spelling all together as one and I love that it focuses their learning with color. Our kids really love color and are responsive to learning with color.
 
“I also loved seeing the confidence of Wendy’s kids as they shared their knowledge and work on the video. I loved the ease of it and the consistency of the rules. They knew exactly what to do because the rules are consistent, and they’ve learned them through their senses.
 
“And I also love the fun, multi-sensory approach of Silent Elephant “e"™! I have to say that we have tried some ‘workbooky’ type programs. They got the job done, but it was not very fun and there was lots of frustration. I like fun and, of course, all our kids like fun!
 
“Both my kids and I are eager to get started with Silent Elephant “e"™. 😊”
 
Here’s the link to Crystal’s video. 

 
Crystal’s last comment was very thoughtful. She encouraged utilizing my and Nina’s expertise. She appreciates our years of experience, research, and knowledge and how accessible we are to help and support. She scheduled a time with me to discuss her assessments and where and how to begin with her 3 kids who are all on very different levels. She left feeling empowered and knowledgeable, knowing how to addresses particular weaknesses and eager to begin.
 
Contact us with thoughts, questions, or to schedule a consultation.
Linda   208-859-4406                            Nina   208-860-3125  

Knowing What They Know Makes All the Difference!

Knowing What They Know Makes All the Difference!

As a sweet fifth grade girl and I began tutoring this past week on ZOOM, I heard her mom remind her, "Tell Mrs. Jones what ‘Mrs. Hartman’ told you."

 
Carol said, “Oh, yah, Mom!” Then she turned to me. “Do you know what Mrs. Hartman told me yesterday?"
 
“No,” I replied, “but I’m excited to hear!”
 
“She said I improved 69 points in my i-Ready Reading Test since the last time we took it. I made the greatest improvement of anyone in my class! I’m at a fifth grade reading level now! I’m caught up! But now, I even want to get higher!”
 
“Oh, my gosh!” I said. “I’m so, so proud of you! You’ve been working so hard with such a positive attitude! From our last assessment, I knew you’d caught up to fifth grade reading.”
 
I smiled at her. "And, what’s this I hear? You want to get even better in reading? That’s wonderful, let’s go for it!”
 
Carol began tutoring with me 9 months ago at the end of her fourth-grade year. She was struggling in reading, writing and spelling and was beginning to feel more and more defeated and behind.
 
When I assessed her, she didn’t understand phonemic awareness at all and was frustrated at a third grade reading level. Until fourth grade she had appeared to have foundational reading skills but had been memorizing all the words and had finally reached that place where she just couldn't memorize everything being taught.
 
Now she is reading on grade level and is eager to learn more. She has mastered phonemic awareness, the 700 High Frequency Fry Sight Words and has caught up with her classmates! 
 
She is very proud of herself and eager about her future. 

Every time I can help a child learn to read using Silent Elephant “e”, I am thrilled! I’m one step closer to helping ALL children know the joy of reading.
 
I have a concern though. I’m concerned that there are many more children with or without learning differences who for whatever reason did not pick up phonemic awareness when they were younger.
 
These children begin to think that you their parent and their teacher have just memorized the words in the books being read to them. This makes sense to them, because they can memorize short books. They make the assumption as they observe their classmates and siblings read fluently, that reading is about memorization. They try hard to memorize everything.
 
This works for them until, like Carol, they reach that age when there is too much information to memorize. At that point, they begin to realize something isn’t right and become more and more frustrated. You become more and more concerned as you watch them.
 
Even worse, they begin to question themselves as a learner and doubt their own abilities to succeed.
 
Sadly, this frustration occurs because no one realized that they, like Carol, simply do not have phonemic awareness, and do not understand phonics concepts. No one assessed their reading skills.
 
This is why I strongly recommend that there is no time like right now to assess your kiddos to make sure their reading foundations of phonemic awareness and phonics skills are truly solid. This is especially true if your kiddos are struggling or becoming resistant to reading, writing, spelling instruction in any way. Frustration of any kind is a clue that assessments are needed.
 
When you have assessed them, you will KNOW they have the skills they need to succeed, or you will know exactly which skills you need to teach them. You won’t be wondering, hoping or guessing.
 
Of course, Silent Elephant “e”™ has you covered.

• Part 2 provides you with all the assessments you will need pre-k through high school beginning with phonemic awareness.

• Part 1 is the 47 phonemic awareness lessons.

• Part 3 teaches phonics skills through the end of second grade.

At this time, Parts 1-3 are 25% OFF!
In fact, all Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”™ program books and videos are 25% OFF!
 
Click here to visit our store, read our blog posts, and learn more about how Silent Elephant “e”™ supports the success of your kiddos and your success as their educator.
 
As always Nina and I love visiting with you, answering your questions about Silent Elephant “e”™, reading writing and spelling and supporting you as you teach your young ones! Please contact us anytime!
 
Linda Katherine Smith-Jones  208-859-4406                Nina Henson  208-860-3125