It is always exciting when your baby reaches another milestone. The first smile, the first giggle and the first time they roll over – there’s nothing quite like the feeling of seeing your small child grow and learn.
In addition to presenting about BLE design at the AEC Conference 2017 in Nairobi, Stephanie and I had the opportunity to attend a mindfulness workshop by the amazing Robyn Harwood (@rsharwood1). Since this powerful experience, I’ve begun to explore how teaching mindfulness can impact my community of learners. Here are some of t
A few readers have asked for my views on the proposed Phonics Screening Check for all Year 1 students in Australia.
I’m against testing kids for testing’s sake. I know many overworked, and under-resourced teachers oppose the check for a range of reasons. For experienced teachers who have been trained in evidence-based reading instruction methods, the screener may not tell them much they don’t already know. I know that many parents are worried about yet another “high stakes test”. (Some have even referred to the test as a “mini-NAPLAN”.)
I have loved Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You? By Dr. Suess since I was a little girl and am thrilled that my son loves it too! This book is great for having fun while reading and learning -without realizing it! It is great for increasing sounds and supporting speech therapy at home. I am excited to do this book because I know most people already have it at home! If you haven’t read this book and have a child ages 0-5, I would highly recommend it! You can buy it from Amazon here.
As my daughter enters her tween years, I am constantly reminded that there is no “right” answer to most parenting questions; there are always at least two sides to every story, always choices for our children to make and multiple possible parental reactions to each decision. There are always so many opportunities to talk about empathy and growth mindset and all the other values we try to instill in our kids.
The trauma and adversity that students are carrying into classrooms are changing how educators need to address learning and academic performance. Fifty-one percent of children in public schools live in low-income households, and when poverty levels exceed 50 percent, there’s a significant drop in academic performance across all grade levels. At the same time, 25 percent of all adolescents—including 30 percent of adolescent girls—are experiencing anxiety disorders.
We told my 8-year-old daughter recently that she has dyslexia. It felt like the right time to put a name to her struggle, and her second-grade teacher thought it might be empowering. Another child in the class had recently laughed at Viv when she tried to read out loud, and we had noticed that she was beginning to get down on herself because she couldn’t read beyond the easiest of early reader books.
For many years, people thought of ADHD as a childhood issue that mostly affected boys. We now know that ADHD can persist into adulthood, and that women are just as likely to have it as men. But there can be big differences between how girls and boys experience ADHD
Three-year-olds, James and Lina, were playing together at Lina’s home. James said: "Let’s go outside, I want to play with the ball". Lina said: "No, I like playing here". James said "I am not your friend then".
Reading fluency is the ability to read accurately, quickly and expressively. Fluent readers are able to focus on reading for meaning.
For children with good reading fluency, reading becomes a natural, enjoyable and meaningful experience. Fluent reading allows children to focus on comprehension and extracting meaning – the very reason we read.
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7 Critical Warning Signs of Speech & Learning Disorders!
Early Intervention and School Readiness
Speech Clarity
Language – understanding and expression
Stuttering
Trouble Reading
Spelling 
Early Intervention and School Readiness
Speech Clarity
Language – understanding and expression’ 
Stuttering
Trouble Reading