Making a Difference in a Young Person's Life - It's a Wonderful Feeling!

As a Silent Elephant “e”® tutor, we truly make a difference, whether our student is 6 years old, 14, or 30, their lives will be forever different.

Here’s a heart-warming example of one of our tutors and her 10-year-old student.

After just five one-half hour tutoring sessions they had reached Lesson 4D in Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”®, Part 1 Phonemic Awareness.

The shy young girl looked at her tutor and softly said, “I think I have figured out what you are trying to teach me.”

“What have you figured out?”  her tutor softly asked.

“I have figured out that words have sounds in them,” she hesitatingly began. “I can hear sounds in words now. I see the different colors on the squares, and I have figured out that the different colors mean different sounds. When I touch the squares one at a time, I can hear one sound at a time in my head. I think that is what you are trying to teach me.”

“That is exactly what I have been teaching you! You explained it so clearly. I could not have done any better.”

Her shy smile and twinkling eyes said it all—she was so proud of herself! Doors were opening for her; she was hearing the sounds in words. She was beginning to have phonemic awareness, the foundation of all reading, writing, and spelling.

“I think I am going to be able to learn to read now,” she quietly proclaimed.

Her tutor sat quietly with her and together they felt the power of that moment. She knew she was going to be able to read.  The confusion and struggle she had experienced for years trying to read, trying to make sense of printed letters and not hearing individual sounds, was beginning to slip away behind her.

She was going to be able to read and she felt it.

With Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”®, the joy and love of reading and writing is open to her for the rest of her life!

As a Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”® tutor, you are a part of their joy and their success. They will never forget you.

Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”® Parts 1-14 and the Educational Posters are now 25% off until May 31st at midnight. The check out code is LKAV6ZT. We have Afterpay available.

Contact us a silentelephante@gmail.com or nina.silentelephante@gmail.com

Exactly What DOES Silent Elephant "e" Teach?

Let's answer this question that came in, “Just exactly what does Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”®  teach?”

I’ve always wanted to say, “The WHOLE enchilada!”, but I always answer, “Everything a preschooler to college age learner needs to know to become a successful, competent, confident reader, writer, and speller.”

I do realize that this doesn’t really tell you anything about how Silent Elephant “e”®  teaches and how your children WILL learn with Silent Elephant “e”® .

I did this video to answer this question for a homeschool group. I think you'll find it very informative.

It's not a short video with tidbits of info. Instead, it’s chocked full of information about Silent Elephant “e”® : phonemic awareness, phonics, how it works, why it works, and why it’s easy for you to teach with and easy for your kids to learn with. :)

When you finish watching this video, you'll have solid knowledge about Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”® , how it's different, how you can teach multiple ages at the same time, and WHY your children will so quickly learn to read, write and spell using Silent Elephant “e”® , and have so much fun doing it.

So here it is, the WHOLE enchilada!I would love to know how helpful this video is for you. Please send your thoughts by return email.

And as always, contact me with questions at silentelephante@gmail.com or Nina at nina.silentelephante@gmail.com.

Silent Elephant “e”®-ing - It's a Thing. :)

 Silent Elephant “e”®-ing  

The more I teach with Silent Elephant “e”®, the more I’m beginning to feel like Silent Elephant “e”® is a verb. 😂

I know that sounds a little crazy, but it’s true, the more I teach with Silent Elephant “e”® the more I feel like I’m Silent Elephant “e” ®-ing. 😂😂

Let me give you a little background to where this happy, but little bit goofy, feeling is coming from.
 
“Learn – to learn” is a verb, an action word.
This means learning is an active process.
To learn, action must be happening.
 

It’s true that part of the activity or action of learning is happening in the brain unseen, but for our brain to engage in the process of learning, our senses must get involved.

Let’s look at this.
Obviously, our senses of sight and hearing are a major part of learning to read, write and spell, but actually our other senses of touch, taste and smell all have a part in our learning process. Furthermore, when ALL our senses and movement get involved, learning happens faster, is deeper and is more easily transferred into other concepts and subjects.

There’s just added power when we involve the whole-child/whole-person, all our senses, in the learning process.

Now, let’s go visit that sweet young man Xander again. (Here's the link to Xander's other email.:)

As you will remember, I shared Xander’s interaction with Silent Elephant “e”®’s Phonemic Awareness Caterpillar/Train Game that uses color and movement to identify sounds in words. There was a moment when Xander had such a firm grasp on identifying individual sounds in spoken words that he transferred his knowledge into a new way of showing his comprehension.

Remember how he jumped up and shot off to bring his toy cars in on the learning. He had mentally processed, comprehended that individual sounds make up our words and that in the game, the sounds could be represented by colored squares, or toy cars, but it didn’t change the individual sounds in the word.

Let’s look at what Xander was doing, how he was active and interacting with his knowledge, and how his senses were involved to activate his brain. Xander was:

• using his sense of hearing as he listened intently to each sound his mom said,

• using his sense of sight as he watched his mom’s mouth move as she said each sound,

• using his sense of hearing as he carefully listened to his own voice saying and identifying each sound he heard,

• using his sense of touch and movement as he slid his colored squares in place to indicate the sounds he heard, and

• using his senses of sight and hearing to decide that his game board was correct, whether his answers were indicated with colored squares or toy cars. 

True, he didn’t use his senses of smell or taste in Silent Elephant “e”®’s Phonemic Awareness Caterpillar/Train Game, but these two senses are integrated throughout Silent Elephant “e”®.

True deep learning that transfers easily and swiftly into other concepts and subjects involves ALL the senses; it involves the whole learner.

Now do you see why I giggle to myself when I find myself thinking that I am Silent Elephant “e”®-ing as I sit down at the computer to meet one of my students?

Every one of the lessons in Silent Elephant “e”® is centered around the whole child in front of me and how he/she learns.

Furthermore, Silent Elephant “e”®-ing is just plain FUN!

Contact us at silentelephante@gmail.com or nina.silentelephante@gmail.com with any questions.  

Have You Ever Had This Experience? I Bet You Have! :)

Have you ever had this experience? I bet you have!

For a couple minutes, think about when you were in school--whether your school was a public school, or you were homeschooled.

Think about a subject, concept or skill you were taught that just did not connect with you. It was something you learned, but it never had any real meaning for you or to you.

You learned it because you were taught it, and so it became an isolated fact for you that sort of floated around in a sea of other isolated facts or factoids. It had no real connection for you. You really didn’t care about it. It just floated around with all the other disconnected facts.

Then later, maybe a long time later, as you lived your life, you suddenly realized this floating subject, skill or concept was beginning to take on meaning for you. It began to “come alive” for you because of something you had or were living through that began to connect it with other subjects, other skills, or other concepts you knew about, understood fully, and had interest in.

Suddenly this isolated floating concept moved out of your sea of nebulous facts and became not just something you learned but knowledge that you could use and wanted to use.

What were some of those floating facts that became important for you?

I ask you to take this goofy little journey with me because we ALL have this sea of floating nebulous concepts and facts. Some of us have larger seas than others of us. 😊 It depends on how we were taught, how we connected what we were learning.

Another reason for our goofy journey is this:

It’s OK for some concepts to become floaters without real harm to our learning. You probably have the dates of wars floating around. 😊

BUT, it’s very detrimental for some concepts to become floaters! In fact, if some concepts become isolated facts with no connection, then other learning is halted!

Some concepts need to be taught to ALL children in ways that activate and integrate the learning immediately. Some concepts can’t wait for months or years to become a part of our children’s working knowledge.

Phonemic awareness and all phonics concepts are such concepts.

Phonics concepts can be vague and yet it is absolutely important that they are learned in a precise sequential order to ensure true learning at the time they are taught. They must be taught so the concept becomes useable knowledge immediately.

That can sound like a BIG job! 😊
It’s not as big a job as it is a process that needs to be well thought out to ensure their success.

It was one of my students who made me think of sharing this with you.  He was having a very difficult time writing words that contained new phonics concepts IF he was asked to write the word in isolation. To this day, words in isolation hold no meaning for him.

Yet, 😊, when he wrote these same words in sentences, the phonics rules he needed totally made sense to him, and he spelled the words correctly and wrote the entire sentence correctly. The words had meaning and made connections to his prior knowledge.

For ALL children, words must be connected to their prior knowledge for the words to have meaning so they can easily learn to read, write and spell.

Think about how important phonics concepts are and how ALL children need them to be taught in a systematic, sequential, progressive, sensory engaging format for them to be easily learned. Phonics concepts need to be connected to all their previous learning—RIGHT NOW, not later. They cannot join the “floating facts seas”. If one joins the sea of floaters, learning to read becomes instantly difficult.

This is why when you explore Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”™, you will find a progressive order that totally engages children in learning every concept. We just can’t have any “phonics floaters”.

Contact me to learn more about how I structured Silent Elephant “e” so every child can easily learn to read, write and spell.

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!

4 Factors to Consider when Teaching a Learner with Learning Differences

Sharing 4 Factors to Consider when Teaching a Learner with Learning Differences during the Top Picks Back to School Bash was a blast!

Here are some highlights we covered in the workshop:
When teaching a learner with learning differences, we want to consider these four factors and make sure that we are meeting all of them as we teach.

Factor 1 – Immersion and Engagement – Your learning difference learner needs to be totally immersed and totally engaged in whatever they are learning. Ask this question, “How many ways can we have fun using their five senses, their voice and their body to learn this concept and connect it to what they already know?” 

To internalize the new concept that you're teaching and connect it with all other concepts that they've learned previously they need to be totally engaged with the concept in ways they enjoy. This total engagement and immersion in the fun of learning will activate all parts of their brain and make it possible for them to easily internalize, learn new concepts, and connect the new with what they already know.

Factor 2 – Embedded - To engage all parts of the learning different brain in learning to read, write and spell you want to teach them together. In other words, you want to embed their writing and spelling into their learning to read.

What does that look like? When they are learning a new phonics concept such as /ea/, or even a short vowel sound, they learn to read, write and spell words with those phonics concepts at the same time they are learning to read them. Then they immediately begin using their new words in reading and writing sentences.

Learning writing and spelling at the same time they learn to read makes sense to their learning difference brain that does not separate reading, writing and spelling into 3 separate subjects. 😊

Factor 3 – How the curriculum is set up matter. Is it sequential, systemic, progressive and logical? Does it teach all skills and concepts simple to complex?

This is not only important for them, it’s important for you. If the curriculum you are using doesn’t move sequentially simple to complex as it progressives logically and systematically through the skills and concepts, it will be not only be frustrating to you but chances are high that they will not learn easily or readily, maybe not at all.

Factor 4 – Predictability – For your learning difference learner to learn easily and readily to read, write and spell, you want their program and the way you are teaching to be predictable to them. It is very important to the learning difference brain to NOT have to wonder about how you will be presenting new concepts and skills or about what their worksheets look like.

Their brain needs to relax into the predictable so it can focus on what’s important – the new concept and how that concept relates to everything they have already know.

There’s actually a Factor 5 – This one is also important, maybe the most important. Believing they are going to read, write and spell and have fun doing it! They need to KNOW that YOU KNOW they will learn and enjoy their learning process.

Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”™ was written around these factors which is why we are watching our students with all kinds of learning differences become completely independent readers, writers and spellers enjoying their freedom to learn new concepts in every subject.

Yes! They still have learning differences, but they don’t struggle with reading, writing or spelling. There’s such freedom in that and it’s such a pleasure to watch their success!

If you have any questions about these 4 factors or Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”™, call (208-859-4406) or email here silentelephante@gmail.com or nina.silentelephante@gmail.com

When Should I Begin Silent Elephant "e" With My Children - - NOW!

Don’t Wait!

“When should I begin Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”™ with my children?”

My answer is, “Begin teaching your children to read, write and spell with Silent Elephant “e”™ as soon as they are 4 years old or as soon as possible after you’ve learned about my awesome Silent Elephant “e”™ program. The sooner the better! They will enjoy success and fast progress at any age!” 😊

Maybe you have a preschooler just beginning to understand how our language works or maybe you have a middle schooler and/or a junior or senior high student struggling everyday with reading, writing and spelling. Wherever they are is the right place and now is the right time to begin with Silent Elephant “e”™.

It has been my experience as an educator, that once a child is feeling insecure and struggling with reading, writing and spelling, it’s going to take quite a bit of time for them to let go of their feelings of inadequacy. And it has been my experience, that Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”™ turns them around more quickly and successfully than any other program I have ever worked with.

This is not surprising, because Silent Elephant “e”™ is written the way all people learn. Everything your child will do, every concept he/she will process and learn and connect with all other learning, is through sensory activities. Your children will become totally involved in their learning, so it works, and it works for them quickly.Silent Elephant “e”™ was written for preschoolers through adults to be the only reading, writing and spelling program children and adults need, giving their language arts journey continuity and stability -- setting them on solid footing for the rest of their lives.

When they begin their reading, writing and spelling with Silent Elephant “e”™ as a preschooler, Kindergartener or first grader, they are fresh to their learning and they connect reading, writing and spelling together the way their brain learns. Their learning makes total sense to them as they progress through phonemic awareness and phonics. The sensory activities they use to learn every concept are fun! They retain and apply their skills to decode unknown words.

Older children who have experienced struggles and frustrations with reading, writing and spelling probably have a low self-concept about their ability to learn. It will take time for them to let go of their unsure feelings (usually only about 4 to 5 weeks).  My experience with Silent Elephant “e”™ is they readily let go of their concerns about themselves and their ability to read, write and spell and then they fly! They are thrilled with their newfound ability to read and write, their new found freedom.

If your child is dyslexic or has any other learning difference, beginning Silent Elephant “e”™ as soon as possible sets their foundation in reading, writing and spelling on strong footing and guides them to become strong, capable, confident young people with a joy of learning!

It has been my experience with Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”™ that no matter how dyslexic a student is, or how much they have struggled, they become delightfully happy and successful students.

Several of my most profoundly dyslexic students are now enjoying college without struggle.

Rebecca is a wonderful example, even though she is profoundly dyslexic, she is no longer struggling in school. She is completely confident and happy. That alone is a good reason to start their Silent Elephant “e”™ journey as soon as possible. This post shares Rebecca's story.

Here are three more posts that share successes. Julie is severely dyslexic, whereas Rachel doesn't have learning differences. 17 Months to 6th Grade Level, Reading and Writing Go Together, "Sh" is a Digraph, Not a Blend. Enjoy.

So - what's the answer to the question, ““When should I begin Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”™ with my children?” 
NOW! And the sooner the better! Don’t wait! 
It doesn’t matter how old they are or what their current reading, writing and spelling skills are, they will be successful with Silent Elephant “e”™.

Contact me here!  Or 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! 😊

For the First Time Ever, She Felt Brave Enough to Read Aloud in Class (Even Science!)

For the First Time Ever, She Felt Brave Enough to Read Aloud in Class (Even Science!)

“Mrs. Jones, can I tell you what happened to me at school today?” This question came from my student Becca at the beginning of our tutoring session.

 
“Of course!” I quickly replied.
 
Becca started sharing, “My 504 Plan says I’m not supposed to be called on in class to read aloud. It makes me extremely nervous. But my science teacher called on me to read aloud today. I thought I’d try because the typing was on light blue paper. The light blue paper made it easier for me to read the words.”
 
I asked her, “How do you feel you did reading aloud?”
 
“I think I did pretty good. I read quickly and smoothly,” she happily replied.
 
“That’s wonderful to hear! You’re becoming a better and better reader every day! Do you think the light blue paper helped?” I questioned.
 
“Yes. My science teacher copies our work on pastel papers – pink, light blue, mint green and lavender - so we can organize them in our folders. The pastel papers make reading easier for me. It helps the letters in paragraphs – big chunks of sentences – to stop tilting back and forth so much.”
 
That gentle statement started my brain racing, “Tell me more about the letters tilting back and forth in paragraphs.”
 
I also smiled at myself and thought, “How could I be surprised when yet another one of my dyslexic students shares with me how the letters and words on the page move around for them?”
 
Becca continued, “When I look at a paragraph - a large chunk of sentences - the whole chunk tilts and rocks back and forth from side to side until I blink and refocus. This tilting motion used to make me dizzy until I got blue light lenses in my glasses.
 
“Also, when I try to read a sentence within a paragraph, the words blur, and the letters scrunch together with no space between the words. Then I blink and the words will usually become clear and move apart. I may need to blink a few times.”
 
Becca went on softly sharing her experiences, “Often, I lose what line I’m on and what word I’m on when reading silently or aloud, so I use my finger (finger tracking) to keep my place. If I lose my place, I try to refocus. When I’m reading aloud and try to refocus, I usually accidentally read the word above the word I’m supposed to be reading. Then I must try refocusing again until I find my place.
 
She smiled gently and shared as if an afterthought, “I’ve found that if I use pastel pink and aqua pens to write answers on my school papers it’s easier for me. I can’t use black because the black answers will blend in with the black text printed on the worksheet and then I don’t know where I am.”
 
Letters and words moving as they are reading is not uncommon for dyslexic learners, but not all dyslexic learners experience this either. Further, the letters and words moving is quite individual to the dyslexic learner. Many of my dyslexic students have shared how the letters and words move for them in completely different ways. (Click here to read other blog posts that describes how some of my dyslexic learners perceive the printed word. It's very interesting.)

 In Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”™ I teach decoding words using multi-sensory activities, colors and symbols that stimulate and activate the parts of the dyslexic brain that aren’t easily activated for dyslexics. Silent Elephant “e”™’s symbols and colors have specific meanings that my students learn to help them as they decode and comprehend what they are reading. 
 
It has been my experience with my dyslexic students who have letters and words moving (even racing off the page) that the techniques they learn in Silent Elephant “e”™ begins to “control” the movement of words and letters. This makes it so much easier for them to learn to read and to read both out loud and silently. They begin to read quickly and smoothly and with great comprehension.
 
I was curious about Becca’s experience with the words and sentences moving. Had Silent Elephant “e”™ changed this for her like my other students? Was it Silent Elephant “e”™ that had helped her read aloud quickly and smoothly in class for the first time? I want her to use the tools that are helpful for her, but foremost I want her to rely on her knowledge of decoding.
 
Since she was sharing her experiences, I asked her to reflect on what she had learned with Silent Elephant “e”™ and how it helped her read smoothing and quickly.
 
A big smile spread over Becca’s face as she explained, “A while after I started tutoring with you, I began noticing  that I’m reading faster and smoother. I also don’t have to read things 5 to 8 times before I can understand what I read. I used to read something 3 or 4 times just to figure out what the words were. Then I would read it 2 to 4 more times to try to understand what I was reading. Now I just read something 2 or maybe 3 times and I feel good! I know what I’ve read!
 
“I feel that if I keep learning more with you (through Silent Elephant “e”™), I’ll be able to read something quickly and smoothly just once and completely understand what I’ve read,” she contentedly said.
 
“I totally believe that will happen,” I said.
 
“What do you think is helping you the most?” I asked.
 
Becca thought for a while and then said, “I can hear single sounds in words now (Phonemic Awareness, Part 1). Using the colors in phonics helps my brain focus on the parts of the words and keeps the letters from moving so much on the page. Spelling makes sense now too. Everything is just making so much more sense!”
 
I smiled. I could feel her joy and relaxation! “I’m so happy for you! We’ll keep working with Silent Elephant “e”™ and you’ll keep blazing along in reading!” We giggled with delight and anticipation.
 
I’ve talked several times with Becca’s mom over the last 7 months. Her mom tells me, “After just 6 hours of tutoring with you, I’m seeing so many differences in Becca. I asked her last night how she felt about tutoring. She said that she loved it.
 
Mom continued, “Hearing individual sounds in words was new for her. I never knew she couldn’t hear the individual sounds!
 
“Becca said that when you teach her, you teach in a way that makes everything make sense.”
 
When I talked to her mom last week, Mom said, “I don’t know how to explain this to you, but I’ll try. In the past, I’ve always worked with Becca on her spelling - trying to help her spell phonetically and trying to help her memorize sight words. Nothing worked.”
 
Mom continued, “I’ve tried to help her with her writing, because when she wrote, nothing really made sense. Her thoughts seemed disjointed and incomprehensible. I’d read back to her what she wrote and ask her if it made sense. She’d say, ‘No.’ But she had no ideas for how to fix her writing. I knew Becca had wonderful thoughts inside her. We could verbally discuss a story or book she’d read, but somehow Becca couldn’t get these awesome thoughts down on paper.
 
“But now, since tutoring with you,” Mom paused and emotionally told me, “Becca’s thoughts are flowing from her brain unto paper! The girl I knew that was inside is coming out for all to see! Becca’s spelling is remarkably better! Her sentences are coherent, making good sense and revealing her emotions!
 
“I just never knew how much Becca was struggling to achieve all that she did accomplish! I can never thank you enough!” Mom exclaimed.
 
“Thank you for telling me this. It means a lot to me to know that Becca is developing and advancing significantly in her reading writing and spelling. I’m so proud of her and happy for her!” I humbly said.
 

This is why I am a teacher. This is why I wrote Silent Elephant “e”™. Children need to be taught the way they learn best – the way they love to learn.
 
Here are a few general suggestions of tools that may help your dyslexic students if the letters move around when they read. These are also helpful when sending assignments to dyslexic students on the computer.

• First, use simple, clear font such as Century Gothic.

• When handwriting for them, use large clear letters

• Use larger font size

• Double space the text

• Print on light pastel colored paper

• Check into colored overlays

As Becca shared, there are tools that are very helpful to her. But what really changed Becca’s life and led her to feel brave enough to read aloud in science class was being taught to read the way HER brain learns.
 
This is what Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”™ does -
it teaches dyslexic learners the way they learn – through multi-sensory, whole child, whole brain, whole body activities throughout every single concept. Therefore, every one of my students have become successful readers and students, even in college.
 
If you are concerned about your dyslexic learner, contact me. We’ll put our heads together and come up with the best path for your young one.
 
To further learn about and to try to imagine what it is like for Becca to read print, you might wish to watch a video by Googling “What do dyslexics see in print when trying to read?” Again, I have to mention that my experience has been that they all experience it differently so this is just an example of what they could possibly be experiencing.

Contact us here -

Linda Smith-Jones silentelephante@gmail.com

Nina Henson nina.silentelephante@gmail.com

It Only Takes 2 Years!!

It Only Takes 2 Years!

Today I’d like to share more of my experiences with Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”™  and continue my thoughts on why I am realizing it shouldn’t take 6 years for a child to be able to decode 6th grade reading words.
 
Over the last 10 years that I have taught reading, writing and spelling with Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”™ it’s been my experience that children master phonemic awareness and learn all the phonics rules and are able to apply the phonics rules to fluently decode 6th grade words by the end of their 2nd grade year, about 8 years old. In other words, it takes about 2 years to achieve reading 6th grade words. 

Further, Silent Elephant “e”™ was written so this goal can be achieved with only 2 hours of instruction per week. Again, that’s what my data is showing because I only meet with my students for 2 hours a week. Of course, if they spend an hour per day learning with Silent Elephant “e”™, they will be decoding words at a 6th grade level even sooner.
 
Why would this be true? Why is this my experience over and over?
 
Well, they learn so easily and quickly because they are learning the way they learn best, through whole child/whole brain, multi-sensory activities that stimulate all parts of their brain for both learning and retaining what they have learned. These whole child/whole brain, multi-sensory activities are embedded into every moment of their instruction in Silent Elephant “e”™. My experience and data share the results.

I can hear some of you thinking, “But my child struggles with reading. It’s so difficult for them!”
 
If your child has a learning difference, multiple learning differences or any learning struggles, it may take longer for him/her to reach that 6th grade word recognition level.
 
But, you can rest assured that he/she will attain that level with Silent Elephant “e”™ faster, more steadily and with more fun than with any other reading program. This is because they will be learning using all their senses (multi-sensory) therefore connecting their learning in all parts of their brain. In the case of dyslexic learners, it activates under stimulates parts of their brain and makes learning and retention of learning much easier. 
 
This has been my experience with Silent Elephant “e”™, it may take them longer if they have learning differences, but they get there and they have fun getting there.
 
Let me share an example. I have been tutoring an ELL boy for 2 ½ years who has multiple learning differences and speech and language processing disorders (one can barely understand his English or his native tongue). He is also considered to have a low IQ.
 
When he came to me halfway through his 3rd grade year, he wasn’t reading at all. He didn’t know letter sounds or letter names. He was illiterate and basically non-verbal.
 
Today as I write this, he has mastered phonemic awareness and knows all letter sounds and letter names. He fluently reads simple to complex words, such as: so, ran, sphinx, lush, squint: words with single consonants, consonant digraphs and/or consonant blends. He knows how to read and write (spell) words with the suffixes -s, -es, -ed, and -ing. He has also mastered the first 425 words on the Fry Word List of the most common words. Further, he is formulating answers to high level thinking questions. 
 
When this beautiful boy, who has a goal of becoming a police officer, first came to me, his teachers were sure that he’d never learn to read.
 
That thought crossed my mind from time to time also when we first began, but I knew I couldn’t give up on this sweet, hard-working boy. He certainly isn’t giving up! Like I said, I knew he WOULD take longer than 2 years because of his learning differences and his language processing difficulties, but I had faith he would get there because of my experience with Silent Elephant “e”™. We started out very slowly and have slowly picked up speed. 
 
He’s now reading early readers’ books. You should see the smile on his face as he shows me a book he’s read: one about veterinarians, one about astronauts, one about dinosaurs. He beams with pride! He is feeling the freedom and joy of reading.
 
His dad, who had been told his son would never read, says over and over to me, “You, Mrs. Jones, you are really teaching him to read!”
 
I humbly thank his dad and I think to myself that I’m so glad I wrote Silent Elephant “e”™. It has been the steady, consistent, multi-sensory instruction his son needs to understand language and learn to read.
 
From my experience with other students, I know that now that he’s almost finished with Part 6 of Silent Elephant “e”™ his reading growth will speed up! I can’t wait, I can already see his face beaming with both pride and relief. He realizes he is succeeding. He is feeling the joy of reading.
 
This Fall he headed off into middle school with more of a feeling of confidence and that he has a future than he has ever felt. He’s still not reading on grade level yet, but he knows he is moving there, however long it takes.

This young success story has not been my only student whose parents were told their child would never read. Recently I had a fun experience with one of my 9th grade boys admitting to me with both embarrassment and pride that he got caught red-handed reading his mom’s text messages. A year ago, he was a nonreader.
 
He hadn’t meant to snoop into his mom’ phone, he just started reading, got caught up in what he was reading, didn’t even realize that he was reading so effortlessly, and didn’t even think about the fact that he really shouldn’t be reading his mom’s private messages. 😊
 
His mom told me later that she didn’t know whether to be excited and happy, because he was actually reading and engaged in reading or to be upset because he was reading things she hadn’t planned on him reading. In the end, she was thrilled!
 
He shared, “I wasn’t trying to snoop. I just started reading and I got so excited that I couldn’t quit. My mom was stunned!” He asked me immediately to give him a reading assessment to see what reading level he was on which, of course, I did. We celebrated the growth he’s made in ONLY 9 MONTHS.
 
Let me go back to where I started today, it’s been my experience with Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”™ over and over these past 10 years that when you teach children, especially struggling children, the way they learn best with whole child/whole brain, multi-sensory activities embedded into every moment of learning, it doesn’t take 6 years to be reading at a 6th grade level. The average is 2 years, and that’s the average!
 
Those who don’t have learning differences learn more quickly but EVERY SINGLE ONE will succeed. That’s been my experience. I have many, many success stories. And I LOVE it!
 
Check out this blog post to enjoy a young one who flew - She Was Reading at a Fourth Grade Level at the End of Kindergarten.  There are also many more success stories here on my blog.
 

Contact us here – Linda Smith-Jones                   Nina Henson

It Shouldn't Take 6 Years to Learn to Decode 6th Grade Words!

It Shouldn’t Take 6 Years for a Child to be Able to Decode 6th Grade Level Reading Words!

I know you are probably thinking to yourself, “Why not? Isn’t that the way it works? A child goes to kindergarten and then 1st through 5th grade, that’s six years of instruction. It makes sense that they would be at a beginning 6th grade reading level when they start 6th grade, doesn’t it?”
 
The thing is, if a child is taught to read, write and spell the way they learn (whole body/whole brain/whole child), they learn quickly, they transfer that knowledge to prior and future learning easily and they RETAIN their learning.
 
It all has to do with teaching them the way they learn and that’s what we do with Silent Elephant “e”™. We teach the whole child; we activate their whole brain.
 
Our data shares the story; Children learning with Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”™ progress on average one full grade level their first 2 months of instruction. This amazing data isn’t based on daily Silent Elephant “e”™ instruction, it’s based on just 1½ to 2 hours instruction per week. Also, this data includes many students with multiple learning differences which makes it even more impressive.
 
Now add this, our Silent Elephant “e”™  students advanced 4.25 grade levels with 6 months of instruction! That’s advancing over 4 grade levels in just 6 months.
Silent Elephant “e”™ learners experience such rapid growth at first, because Silent Elephant “e”™ Part 1 begins reading instruction where it needs to begin, with phonemic awareness.
Phonemic awareness is the ability to hear the individual sounds within words and is the foundation of learning to read for every child.
On average with Silent Elephant “e”™ children master phonemic awareness in only 3 months.
 
While they are having fun mastering phonemic awareness, you begin teaching them their first phonics lessons in Part 3 – short vowels and the suffix -s. They quickly become excited as they realize they are beginning to know how reading works and are learning to read, write and spell.  

I can’t even begin to tell you how many children who were struggling with reading at the end of kindergarten, first grade, second grade or third grade blossomed within only a month of Silent Elephant “e”™ phonemic awareness and phonics instruction.
 
Both they and their parents expressed their amazement at how fast they were learning, especially if they had been struggling.
 
A parent of a little boy that struggled through kindergarten and just began tutoring with me on June 20th, 2022, sent me this email last night, “’Marcus’ has made so much progress this summer, and I have learned a lot too!”
 
A 3rd grader said to me after just 7 times of tutoring, “I know what you’re trying to teach me. There are single, separate sounds in words! I never knew that. I think I’m going to be able to learn to read now!”
 
A 9th grader said after just 5 times of tutoring, “I never knew what rhyme was! I never heard individual sounds in words before!”
 
A 1st grader’s parent said to me, “I know my daughter doesn’t belong in special education. She’s truly very intelligent. Can you help her learn to read?”

That little kindergarten boy is now hearing individual sounds in words. He is connecting sounds to letter names and shapes. He is beginning to spell two and three letter words. He is beginning to learn the Fry List of words using the word cards he is making. He is happy, excited and so proud of himself. I hardly recognize him as the little boy I met in June! He’s ready to soar with his classmates this fall!
 
It took that newly confident 3rd grader 3 months to go from Primer to a 3.2 reading level and a total of 8 months to be at a 6th grade level in comprehension and a 7th grade level in word recognition. She went from being way behind her peers to being far ahead! Now she’s starting college at 16½ years old.
 
That struggling, scared 9th grader who is now a oh-so confident junior in college majoring in neurology at just 20 years old took 4 months to go from a 5th grade reading level to a 9th grade reading level and another 9 months to reach a college reading level while in 10th grade.
 
That profoundly dyslexic first grader who began tutoring with me halfway through her 1st grade year was frustrated at a mid-kindergarten reading level. Within 6 months she was at a 1.8 reading level – almost caught up with her peers. Within 11 months, she was decoding words at a 6th grade reading level and within 18 months, she was comprehending at a 4th grade reading level – a grade level above her peers. To put icing on that cake, she was staffed out of special education at that time. She continued with me and within 3½ years was reading at an 11th grade level when she completed 4th grade!
 
Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”™ isn’t just for those with learning differences, it’s for ALL learners like the sweet, little girl who began with me in July of 2020. She doesn’t have any learning differences. Her mom asked me to tutor her because she was worried about what her daughter’s kindergarten year would like on-line. This bubbly, bright little girl began tutoring with me twice a week for just 30 minutes as she was so young. She didn’t have phonemic awareness and wasn’t reading on a PrePrimer level. She did know most letter names and sounds. Within 7 months, she was at a 1st grade reading level although she was still in kindergarten. In July of 2021 she was at a 4th grade reading level getting ready to enter 1st grade, and within 2 years, she was decoding words at a 6th grade reading level and comprehending at a 4th grade level. Right now, she’s getting ready for 2nd grade.
 
So, you see, when we teach children the way that is best for them to learn and the way they love to learn with Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”™, it DOESN’T take 6 years for them to be
reading at a 6th grade reading level, even if they have learning differences.
😊
 
If you have questions and/or want more information about Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”™, feel free to contact us.
Linda Katherine Smith-Jones                            Nina Henson

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

Silent Elephant “e”™-ing is FUN!

Silent Elephant “e”™-ing is FUN!  

The more I teach with Silent Elephant “e”™ the more I’m beginning to feel like Silent Elephant “e”™ is a verb. 😂

I know that sounds a little crazy, but it’s true, the more I teach with Silent Elephant “e”™, the more I feel like I’m Silent Elephant “e”™-ing. 😂😂
 
Let me give you a little background to where this happy, but little bit goofy, feeling is coming from.
 
“Learn – to learn” is a verb, an action word.
This means learning is an active process.
To learn, action must be happening.

It’s true that part of the activity or action of learning is happening in the brain unseen, but for our brain to engage in the process of learning, our senses must get involved.
 
Let’s look at this.
Obviously, our senses of sight and hearing are a major part of learning to read, write and spell, but actually our other senses of touch, taste and smell all have a part in our learning process. Furthermore, when ALL our senses, and movement, get involved, learning happens faster, is deeper and is more easily transferred into other concepts and subjects.
 
There’s just added power when we involve the whole-child/whole-person, all our senses, in the learning process.

Now, let’s go visit that sweet young man Xander again. (See last email HERE)
 
As you will remember, I shared Xander’s interaction with Silent Elephant “e”™’s Phonemic Awareness Caterpillar Game that uses color and movement to identify sounds in words. There was a moment when Xander had such a firm grasp on identifying individual sounds in spoken words that he transferred his knowledge into a new way of showing his comprehension.
 
Remember how he jumped up and shot off to bring his toy cars in on the learning. He had mentally processed, comprehended, that individual sounds make up our words and that in this game, the sounds could be represented by colored squares, or toy cars, but it didn’t change the individual sounds in the word.
 
Let’s look at what Xander was doing, how he was active and interacting with his knowledge, and how his senses were involved to activate his brain. Xander was:

• using his sense of hearing as he listened intently to each sound his mom said.

• using his sense of sight as he watched his mom’s mouth move as she said each sound.

• using his sense of hearing as he carefully listened to his own voice saying and identifying each sound he heard.

• using his sense of touch, and movement, as he slid his colored squares in place to indicate the sounds he heard, and

• using his senses of sight and hearing to decide that his game board was correct, whether his answers were indicated with colored squares or toy cars.

True, he didn’t use his senses of smell or taste in Silent Elephant “e”™’s Phonemic Awareness Caterpillar Game, but these two senses are also integrated throughout Silent Elephant “e”™. True deep learning that transfers easily and swiftly into other concepts and subjects involves ALL the senses; It involves the whole learner.
 
Now do you see why I giggle to myself when I find myself thinking that I am Silent Elephant “e”™ -ing as I sit down at the computer to meet one of my students? Every one of the lessons in Silent Elephant “e”™ is centered around the whole-child in front of me and how they learn.
 
Furthermore, Silent Elephant ”e”™-ing is just plain FUN!  Cont
 
Gentle reminder - 25% off on Silent Elephant ”e”™ Parts 1-14, click HERE.

Contact us at:

Linda Katherine Smith-Jones 208-859-4406 Nina Henson 208-860-3125

Teaching Multiple Levels at the Same Time Made Easy

Teaching Multiple Levels at the Same Time Made Easy

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

It was a 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 Game and the colored squares. He listened intently as his mom said the sounds in “fan”, 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!
 
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. You and your children will enjoy success using these: 

1. 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.

• 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.)

As continual assessment is a built-in integral part of Silent Elephant “e”™, Wendy KNOWS when each of her children have mastered a concept and she knows if she needs to reteach a concept before moving on.  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.

As always, check out more info at silentelephante.com, email us at silentelephante@gmail.com

or call us -
Linda    208-859-4406                   Nina    208-860-3125

LOOK WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU ASK QUESTIONS! You write a reading program for ALL children!

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!

Linda Katherine Smith-Jones Nina Henson