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Parents often ask me, “What can I do at home to help?” Maybe reading practice is becoming frustrating. Spelling rules aren't sticking. Math needs to be seen and touched before it makes sense. Or maybe you're homeschooling and simply looking for fresh, meaningful ways to reinforce the skills you're already teaching. That’s exactly why I created the Printable & Teaching Resources at My Learning Farm! These resources are designed to give parents, homeschool families, and educators practical tools they can actually USE with children. You'll find materials to support reading, spelling, vocabulary, writing and more, with an emphasis on making learning clear, engaging, hands-on, and multisensory. 🌻 Many of these resources grow directly out of the work I do with students at My Learning Farm. When I find a way to explain a concept that helps a child finally say, “Oh! I get it!”, that is the kind of learning I want to help families bring home. Because extra practice doesn't have to mean another boring worksheet. It can mean building words, spotting patterns, practicing a skill through a game, using visuals to make an abstract math concept concrete, or giving a child another way to understand something that just hasn't clicked yet. And you don't have to spend hours doing it! Sometimes 10–15 minutes of purposeful, targeted practice can be much more valuable than piling on more work. 🌱 Where Can You Find the Resources? It's easy! Visit My Learning Farm and look at the toolbar across the top of the website. Click “Printable & Teaching Resources” to start exploring. Visit My Learning Farm Whether you're a homeschool parent, supporting a child after school, or simply looking for another way to help your learner build skills and confidence, take a peek! You might just find the resource that helps something finally click. ❤️ Grow skills. Grow confidence. Grow a love of learning. 🌱📚🐓

At My Learning Farm, we believe it is important to celebrate and support the hardworking young people who are helping agriculture continue to grow. One of those remarkable young people is Julia Marino. Julia has been involved in 4-H since she was five years old. Now a sophomore at Lincoln High School, she is an active member of the school’s FFA program. Over the years, Julia has raised and worked with goats, steers, alpacas, chickens, and many other animals. If it involves livestock, chances are Julia has done it! I have known Julia since she was seven years old, and I cannot think of a more deserving young woman to support. She has been showing goats and steers for seven years, developing valuable skills, confidence, and a deep understanding of the responsibility that comes with raising animals. This year, Julia is bringing a replacement Boer goat to the Gold Country Fair. A replacement goat is raised with the potential to become part of a future breeding herd, although it may also be raised as a market animal. Looking to add a new friend to your farm? Through this project, Julia is gaining hands-on knowledge about animal care, breeding, livestock management, and the agricultural industry. “My favorite part of agriculture is working with livestock and learning the responsibility that comes with caring for animals,” Julia shared. “Agriculture plays a very important role in my life, and I want to continue being involved in the agriculture industry in the future.” Julia plans to attend Cal Poly and study agricultural business. “I hope to build my experiences in agriculture and eventually pursue a career in the industry.” Young people like Julia are the future of agriculture. Their livestock projects teach responsibility, perseverance, financial management, problem-solving, and compassion. Behind every animal brought into the show ring are months of early mornings, long evenings, daily feedings, training, cleaning, and care. This is why My Learning Farm proudly invests in youth agriculture. When we sponsor or purchase from a young person at the fair, we are supporting far more than one livestock project. We are encouraging a young person’s education, confidence, goals, and future. If you are considering purchasing an animal or sponsoring a hardworking youth, please join us at the Gold Country Fair Junior Livestock Auction on Saturday, September 12, at 9:00 a.m. in Auburn. Come support Julia and the many dedicated young people who are planting seeds for the future of agriculture—one animal, one project, and one dream at a time.

What if spelling instruction didn't always begin with a rule to memorize? What if, instead, we handed a child a word and said, “Let's investigate!” 🔎 That is one of the things I love about Structured Word Inquiry (SWI). Rather than treating English spelling as a collection of confusing rules and endless exceptions, Structured Word Inquiry invites students to investigate how words work, what they mean, where they came from, and why they are spelled the way they are. For kids who have spent years thinking they are “bad at spelling” or that English simply doesn't make sense, this can be a wonderful shift. Words become something to explore rather than something to fear or memorize. 🔎 What Is Structured Word Inquiry? Structured Word Inquiry is an approach to studying written words by investigating several interconnected parts of our language: morphology (the meaningful parts of words), phonology (the sounds of our language), etymology (the history and origins of words), and orthography (the conventions and structures of our written language). Instead of simply telling a student how to spell a word, we begin asking questions. What does this word mean? What is its base? Does it have a prefix or suffix? What other words belong to its family? What sounds do we hear? Why might it be spelled this way? Suddenly, spelling becomes a puzzle to solve instead of a list to memorize. 🌳 Take the Word Sign A child might reasonably look at the word sign and ask, “Why is there a G? I can't hear it!” Instead of answering, “That's just one of those weird English words,” we can investigate its relatives: sign, signal, signature, signify. Now that seemingly mysterious g isn't so mysterious anymore. We can hear it pronounced in related members of the same morphological family, and the shared spelling helps us see the relationship between the words. With one little investigation, we are working on spelling, pronunciation, vocabulary, morphology, and meaning all at the same time. That is the beauty of word inquiry. 🌱 One Word Can Grow an Entire Vocabulary Garden Imagine investigating a word family connected to struct, from Latin struere, meaning “to build” or “to arrange.” We might discover structure, construct, construction, instruct, instruction, instructor, reconstruct, and destruction. Instead of learning each of these as an isolated vocabulary word, students begin seeing connections. They notice recurring bases, prefixes, and suffixes. They explore how adding or changing a meaningful element changes the meaning of the entire word. And that knowledge travels! When a child encounters an unfamiliar word later, they have another tool for figuring it out. They can begin thinking, “I recognize that base,” or “I know what that prefix means.” That's much more powerful than memorizing one vocabulary definition for Friday's test. 🧠 How Can This Help Reading, Spelling & Vocabulary? The broader research on morphological instruction is encouraging. Systematic reviews and meta-analyses have found benefits across areas that include morphological awareness, vocabulary, spelling, word reading, and reading comprehension, including benefits for students experiencing literacy difficulties. Structured Word Inquiry brings morphology into a larger investigation of how meaning, spelling, pronunciation, and word history interact. When children learn to recognize meaningful word parts, they aren't simply learning how to spell today's word. They are developing knowledge that can help them make sense of whole families of words. 📚 And What About Comprehension? Vocabulary and comprehension are deeply connected. It is difficult to understand what we read when too many of the words on the page are unfamiliar. Word investigation gives us opportunities to dig deeply into meaning. A student isn't simply memorizing that reconstruct means “build again.” They can investigate re + construct and connect construct to construction, constructive, and reconstruction. The goal is to create a richer network of word knowledge that students can bring with them into their reading and writing. 🔤 It Isn't Phonics OR Morphology This is especially important for parents to understand. Structured Word Inquiry does not mean that children don't need phonics. Beginning and struggling readers still benefit from explicit instruction connecting speech sounds with letters and spelling patterns. But English spelling represents more than sound alone. Words also carry meaning and history. At My Learning Farm, we can explicitly teach phonemic awareness and phonics while also helping students notice meaningful word parts, word families, spelling conventions, and—when useful—the history behind a word. These approaches can work together. 💡 Why I Love It for Students Who Learn Differently One of my favorite things about Structured Word Inquiry is right there in the name: inquiry. I don't have to be the person standing at a whiteboard handing a child every answer. Instead, the student gets to become a word detective. 🔎 We might begin with a question, make a hypothesis, build a word family, look for evidence, and test our thinking. Sometimes the student notices something before I do—and that's GOOD! For a child who has spent years being corrected for spelling mistakes, imagine the difference between hearing: ❌ “Nope. That's wrong. Remember the rule.” and 🌱 “Interesting! Let's figure out why this word is spelled that way.” That changes the feeling of the lesson. Learning becomes collaborative, individualized, curious, and FUN. 👩‍🏫 Student-Led Doesn't Mean Unstructured Inquiry doesn't mean guessing or expecting a child to discover everything independently. The teacher is still very much teaching. We guide the investigation, select developmentally appropriate words, introduce necessary concepts, ask purposeful questions, and help students evaluate the evidence they discover. But the child has an active role in the learning. Their questions matter. Their observations matter. Their hypotheses matter. And because every learner brings different knowledge, interests, strengths, and questions to the table, word investigations can be beautifully individualized. 🚜 Bringing Structured Word Inquiry to My Learning Farm I am excited to incorporate my training in Structured Word Inquiry into literacy instruction at My Learning Farm as another research-informed tool for helping students understand our written language. It fits beautifully with something I believe deeply about teaching: Children deserve to understand the WHY. Instead of “Just memorize this,” we can say, “Let's investigate it.” 🔎 Instead of “English is weird,” we can say, “Let's see if we can figure out why.” 🧩 We can find a word's relatives. 🌳 We can listen to its sounds. 👂 We can explore its meaningful parts. 🔤 We can investigate its history. 📚 And we can discover what all of that tells us about its spelling and meaning. Most importantly, we can have FUN doing it. 🌻 Growing Curious, Confident Word Detectives Structured Word Inquiry can turn a spelling lesson into a word investigation, a vocabulary lesson into a family tree, and a confusing word into a fascinating discovery. At My Learning Farm, my goal isn't simply to help children spell more words correctly. I want students to become curious, capable learners who have tools for figuring things out. Because sometimes the best learning begins with three little words: “Let's find out.” 🌱🔎📚 If your child struggles with reading, spelling, vocabulary, or written language, My Learning Farm provides individualized academic instruction using evidence-based and research-informed approaches designed to build skills, understanding, curiosity, and confidence.

Our very first day of My Learning Farm READS! was an absolute blast! We met new friends—both furry and human—and Stella was especially thrilled to welcome a whole new group of buddies to the farm. There is something pretty special about beginning a new class surrounded by books, animals, laughter, and kids ready for an adventure. We jumped right into Charlotte’s Web, exploring what it might really be like to live on a farm. What chores would you have? What animals would you care for? What would your days look like? We connected the story to our own experiences here at My Learning Farm and started thinking a little more deeply about the world E.B. White created. We also dove into vocabulary development with vocabulary journaling, learning new words through meaning, context, writing, and drawing. Then we began practicing how to turn our thoughts into detailed written responses—an important skill we will continue building gently throughout the class. And, of course, READS! wouldn’t be READS! without some creativity and FUN! Students made their own book bags to carry along on our reading adventure. We are only dipping our toes into everything we have planned. Over the next 11 weeks, we’ll keep reading, writing, building vocabulary, making connections, creating projects, playing games, spending time with the animals, and discovering just how much fun a great book can bring. I can already tell this is going to be a wonderful READS! adventure. Fall READS! is full, but there are currently 3 spots remaining for Spring READS!, when we’ll head into the wilderness with My Side of the Mountain! Spring registration is open here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc-If3v-Zu5WoecK2iiGYoWrXhCjeHW0g-fLfMThP-chKCjmA/viewform Here’s to books, animals, new friendships, growing confidence, and 11 more weeks of FUN at My Learning Farm! 🌱📚🐾

Today is the day! My Learning Farm READS! officially begins, and I am so excited to welcome this wonderful group of 10 students to the farm for an intentionally small-group 12 weeks of reading, writing, creating, exploring, and—most importantly—having FUN with a great book. This fall, we are diving into Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White, and I can’t think of a more perfect story for My Learning Farm. Friendship, animals, growing up, courage, kindness, farm life…it feels right at home here. READS! is a little different from a traditional book club or literature class because students don’t have to do the reading—I do! Ms. Sara reads the entire novel aloud, which makes this class a wonderful fit for reluctant readers, struggling readers, and kids who simply love listening to a great story. Students get to enjoy rich, age-appropriate literature without decoding difficulties getting in the way of comprehension, conversation, or creativity. And we do so much more than read! Throughout Charlotte’s Web, we’ll take a deep dive into vocabulary and word meanings, make connections between the story and our own lives, explore characters and themes, build critical-thinking skills, and practice writing in approachable, supportive ways. We’ll also bring the story to life through games, crafts, farm animals, hands-on activities, creative projects, and plenty of laughter. One of my favorite things about READS! is that children can experience what it feels like to be part of a community of readers—even if reading has not always felt easy for them. There is no pressure to read aloud and no expectation that everyone writes or learns in exactly the same way. We meet kids where they are, give them opportunities to participate successfully, and let their confidence grow right alongside their skills. I can't wait to see where Charlotte's Web takes us over the next 12 weeks. I have a feeling there will be plenty of webs, words, animals, projects, friendships, and farm adventures along the way. And looking ahead… Spring READS! is coming! There are still a few spots available for our Spring READS! session, when we’ll head into the wilderness with My Side of the Mountain. It will be another adventure filled with literature, vocabulary, writing, projects, creativity, nature, and hands-on learning—My Learning Farm style. Here’s to a wonderful first day of READS! and a season of helping kids discover that there is so much JOY waiting inside a great story. Happy reading from the farm!

If you have an early or struggling reader, you have probably heard the term “sight words.” You may have even been handed a long list and told, “Your child just needs to memorize these.” But here is something I wish more parents knew: Sight words are not simply a collection of strange words children have to memorize by looking at them over and over again. In fact, many of the words commonly called “sight words” follow recognizable phonics patterns. Others are partially decodable, with only one or two letters representing sounds in an unexpected way. The University of Florida Literacy Institute (UFLI) notes that many common irregular words contain only a small portion that does not follow the sound-spelling correspondences a child has learned. That is very different from telling a child, “You just have to remember it.” So, What Is a Sight Word? And What Is a High-Frequency Word? Before we talk about how to teach these words, there is an important distinction that often gets lost. High-frequency words are simply words that appear very frequently in written English. Words such as the, was, said, have, because, they, from, and could show up again and again in the books children read and the sentences they write. These words comprise approximately 75% of words in a page of written text, thus high-frequency words Because children encounter these words so often, we want them to eventually recognize them quickly and automatically. That is where the term sight word comes in. A sight word is not actually a special category of words. A sight word is any word an individual reader has stored in long-term memory well enough to recognize automatically—“by sight”—without consciously stopping to decode it. So cat can be a sight word. Jump can be a sight word. Because can become a sight word. Even photosynthesis could eventually become a sight word for a reader who encounters it frequently and has securely mapped its sounds, spelling, and meaning. This means high-frequency describes how often a word appears in our language, while sight word describes how automatically a particular reader recognizes that word. The two terms are often used interchangeably in schools, which can be confusing for parents. You may hear: “Here is your child's sight-word list. They need to memorize these words.” But what your child has most likely been given is actually a list of high-frequency words that we hope will eventually become sight words through instruction and practice. And here is the really important part: Most high-frequency words are not completely irregular. Many follow phonics patterns entirely. Others contain mostly predictable sound-spelling relationships with perhaps one unexpected part—or a spelling pattern the child simply hasn't been taught yet. Instead of asking children to memorize the entire visual shape of said, have, was, or because, we can help them investigate the word: 👂 What sounds do you hear? 🔤 Which letters represent those sounds? ❤️ Is there one part we need to learn “by heart”? 🌱 Is there a phonics pattern here you haven't learned yet? 🔎 Can the word's meaningful parts or history help explain its spelling? Our goal isn't for children to become better at memorizing flashcards. Our goal is for frequently encountered words to become permanently stored, automatically recognized words AND understand what the word means so children can devote more attention to fluency, vocabulary, and—most importantly—understanding what they read. That is how a high-frequency word becomes a sight word. Children Aren't Taking Pictures of Words This is where the science of reading becomes especially important. Strong readers aren't generally taking mental photographs of thousands of words. Instead, the brain develops connections between the sounds in a spoken word, the letters representing those sounds, the word's spelling, and its meaning. This process is called orthographic mapping. Researcher Linnea Ehri's work on orthographic mapping helps explain how readers bond a word's pronunciation, spelling, and meaning in memory. Once that connection becomes secure, the reader can recognize the word automatically. This is one reason explicit phonics and phonemic-awareness instruction matter so much. We want children learning to think: What sounds do I hear? Which letters represent those sounds? Which parts of this word follow patterns I already know? Is there a part that is unexpected? And sometimes my favorite question: WHY is this word spelled that way? Because English is not nearly as random as it sometimes appears! Take the Word Because I LOVE teaching children the history behind words, a words etymology. You may have learned the old mnemonic: Big Elephants Can Always Understand Small Elephants. It's silly—and if it helps a child remember the spelling, wonderful! But there is an even more interesting story hiding inside because. The word because developed from the Middle English phrase bi cause, essentially meaning “by cause” or “for the reason that or be-the-cause.” The cause portion of the word came into English through Old French, with roots reaching back to Latin. So rather than treating because as seven mysterious letters a child simply has to memorize, we can explore its sounds, its meaningful parts—be + cause—and its history. AND then, because is a compound word made of "be" and "cause"-cause has the vowel team au-which makes the /aw/ sound and the second sound of s /z/.---no mystery here folks! Suddenly, the spelling isn't quite so mysterious. That little bit of word history can give a child's brain another hook for remembering the word. And this is one reason understanding phonology, morphology, and etymology can be so powerful. Sometimes a word looks “irregular” only because we haven't yet learned the story behind its spelling. Try This High-Frequency Word Trick at Home 🌱 You don't need expensive materials. Grab a stack of blank index cards and turn high-frequency word practice into a multisensory word-learning activity. On the Front ✏️ Have your child write the word rather than simply handing them a printed flashcard. 👂 Say the word together and identify the sounds. 🔤 Connect those sounds to the letters or letter groups representing them. ❤️ Identify the part that is unexpected—or contains a phonics pattern your child hasn't learned yet. 🎨 In one corner, have your child draw a tiny picture or symbol that represents the meaning of the word. Then practice reading the word. If your child gets stuck, uncover the little picture as a clue. As the word becomes automatic, cover the picture with your hand and see if your child can retrieve the word independently. On the Back Have your child dictate—or write—a completely ridiculous sentence containing the word. For because: “The chicken wore roller skates because she was late for school.” 🐔🛼 The sillier, the better! Now your child isn't simply staring at a flashcard and hoping the word sticks. They are interacting with its sounds, spelling, meaning, and context. Repetition Still Matters Understanding a word doesn't mean a child will automatically recognize it after seeing it once. Practice matters. Some children need only a handful of successful encounters with a word before it becomes automatic. Struggling readers may need many more exposures. That is okay. Once a word has been explicitly taught, flashcards can absolutely be useful for short, joyful, repeated practice. Read the cards, mix them up, hide them around the room, put them on the refrigerator, play matching games, or see how many your child can find in a favorite book. The important distinction is that we aren't using flashcards instead of instruction. We teach first. Then we practice. English Has More Logic Than We Sometimes Give It Credit For When a child asks me, “Why is it spelled like THAT?” I don't want my first answer to be: “Because English is weird.” Sometimes the answer is phonics. Sometimes it's morphology—the meaningful parts of words. Sometimes it's etymology—the history of where a word came from. Sometimes a spelling preserves something about a word that pronunciation has changed over hundreds of years. And yes, sometimes there really is an irregular piece we need to learn by heart. But even then, we can teach the regular parts and explicitly identify the unexpected part rather than asking a child to visually memorize the entire word. From High-Frequency Words to Sight Words 🌱 At My Learning Farm, I want students to become curious about words—not afraid of them. Instead of: “Just memorize it.” I want children thinking: “Oh! I know why that's there.” “I've seen that pattern before!” “That part means something!” “I can figure this out.” When we explicitly teach children how sounds, letters, spelling patterns, meaningful word parts, and even word history work together, we aren't simply helping them pass Friday's high-frequency word test. We're helping those high-frequency words become sight words—and helping children become readers who understand how our language works. And that understanding is something they can carry with them into every new word they meet. 🌱📚 If your child is struggling with high-frequency words, decoding, spelling, reading fluency, or building automatic word recognition, My Learning Farm provides individualized academic instruction in reading, writing, and spelling using structured, evidence-based approaches designed to help students build skills, confidence, and a stronger understanding of how words work.

Want to learn more about what’s growing at My Learning Farm? Subscribe to the newsletters and stay connected with our little learning community! By completing the Contact Me form on the My Learning Farm website, you’ll receive updates straight from the farm, including early registration opportunities, upcoming classes and events, parent tips, learning resources, homeschool support, literacy and math information, and more. The Learning Harvest- our monthly newsletters offer parents support, resources and opportunities for early registration, new classes and more! Whether your child needs a little extra academic support, learns differently, or simply loves learning in a hands-on environment, my goal is to give families practical information, encouragement, and resources they can actually use. And, of course, you’ll also get a peek at all the fun happening around the farm—from READS! and Farm Classes to animals, special events, new programs, and plenty of learning along the way. 🐴📚🌱 Come grow with us! Complete the Contact Me form at My Learning Farm and join our community. I’d love to have you along for the journey! Learn. Grow. Thrive. 🌱

Teen leaders at My learning Farm helped kids and families explore, meet the animals and discover the wonders. What an incredible day! My Learning Farm’s Open Farm Day was filled with laughter, animals, learning, new friendships, and so much FUN. We welcomed more than 50 families to the farm, and seeing children exploring, meeting the animals, creating, learning, and simply enjoying being here was such a wonderful way to kick off a new school year. Ms. Sara LOVED seeing familiar faces, meeting new families and learning about their homeschool journey. 🐐 Learning, Animals & Lots of Smiles Throughout the day, kids had the opportunity to meet and interact with our My Learning Farm animal friends, explore the farm, enjoy crafts and activities, visit our greenhouse classroom, and get a little taste of what learning looks like here. Youth vendors made the day even more special with their handmade wares! One of my favorite parts of the day was our My Learning Farm READS! demonstration. I loved giving families a peek into how we combine great books, literacy, vocabulary, writing, creativity, and hands-on learning to help kids grow their skills while still keeping the JOY in learning. READS! demonstration was so fun-classes start next week!!!! We also had some amazing student entrepreneurs selling their handmade crafts and creations. Watching young people confidently share something they created was pretty special. At My Learning Farm, learning stretches far beyond reading, writing, spelling, and math—it is also about helping kids discover their gifts, try new things, and believe in what they can do. Seeing the farm come alive with the sounds of laughter, kids playing and enjoying the farm are my most FAVORITE! ❤️ It Took a Village Open Farm Day would not have been possible without the incredible team of nearly 20 volunteers who helped make the day run smoothly. From welcoming families and helping with activities to supervising animals, assisting children, answering questions, and jumping in wherever they were needed—THANK YOU! Your time, energy, kindness, and willingness to help meant more to me than you know. Giving kids new opportunities never gets old! And to every family who came out to visit: thank you for spending part of your day with us. I loved meeting new families, catching up with familiar faces, answering questions, and watching your children experience the farm. Free crafts with hands-on activities lead by teen volunteers was a blast. 🌱 And Now…Let’s Grow! Open Farm Day reminded me exactly why My Learning Farm exists. This little farm is about helping children grow—in skills, confidence, independence, curiosity, and joy. It is about creating a place where kids who may learn a little differently can feel successful, supported, and celebrated for exactly who they are. My heart is full after such a wonderful day. Thank you to everyone who came, volunteered, supported, shared, explored, laughed, learned, and helped make My Learning Farm Open Farm Day such a success. The animals were excited to welcome new friends. Now the animals are ready, the greenhouse classroom is waiting, and Stella and I cannot wait to welcome our students back. Here’s to another year of learning, growing, and finding a little magic along the way. 🌻🐴📚❤️ There's something so special about kids and animals.

There are moments at My Learning Farm that are harder than others. Welcoming a new student is exciting. Watching a student finally understand something that once felt impossible is pure joy. Seeing confidence begin to grow is one of the greatest gifts of this work. But then there are the goodbyes. Or, as I prefer to call them, Happy Trails. ❤️ Recently, I said Happy Trails to a student who came to My Learning Farm as one young person and left as someone wonderfully different. I had the privilege of watching her work hard, struggle, persevere, laugh, grow, and slowly begin to see more of what the people around her already saw: she is capable. My greatest wish for each student is to be confidence, have the skills to accomplish their dreams and I have NO doubts she is good to go in both areas! I spend so much time helping my students grow their wings that eventually, if I have done our job well, they are ready to use them. This student came to me as a student, but she leaves as a friend. She leaves with more confidence, more independence, and a whole world of possibilities waiting for her. I hope she knows how incredibly proud I am—not simply because of what she has accomplished academically, but because of the young woman she has become along the way. Math outside with squishy the chicken! Because My Learning Farm has never been only about reading, writing, spelling, or math. It is about growing kids. It is about helping students discover their strengths, find their confidence, and realize that learning differently never means they are less capable of doing wonderful things with their lives. I LOVE that so many of my former My Learning Farm students volunteer their time her on the farm-it makes my heart so HAPPY!!! And when the time comes for them to leave? My goodness, it can be hard. But the door to the farm doesn't really close when a student finishes working with me. They can come back. Visit. Help with classes. Say hello to the animals. Tell me what they are doing. Bring a friend. Let me cheer ridiculously loudly when something wonderful happens in their lives. Because once a student has become part of My Learning Farm, a little piece of them stays here. And they take a little piece of the farm—and of my heart—with them, too. ❤️ Nothing is better than reading with Stella the pup! So today, instead of goodbye, I am saying Happy Trails. Go do big things. Go do little things that matter. Be brave. Make mistakes. Laugh. Learn. Grow. Find your people. Find what brings you joy. And know that somewhere back at a little farm in Penryn, there is a teacher who is still cheering you on. Happy Trails, sweet girl. You will always have a place at My Learning Farm. ❤️

There are people who achieve incredible success, and then there are people who use that success to open doors for others. Dolly Parton is one of those people. The world knows Dolly for her music, songwriting, unmistakable personality, and the trail she blazed for women in country music and beyond. She built an extraordinary career on her own terms, helped bring jobs and opportunity to her beloved East Tennessee through Dollywood, and continually invested in the community that raised her. But as an educator, one part of Dolly's legacy touches my heart most: her commitment to children, education, and literacy. Dolly's passion for literacy is personal. Her father, Robert Lee Parton, could not read or write, although Dolly has often described him as one of the smartest people she knew. In 1995, she created Dolly Parton's Imagination Library in his honor. What began as a program for children in her home county in Tennessee has grown into an international literacy movement. The idea is beautifully simple: give children books. Every month, enrolled children from birth to age five receive an age-appropriate book mailed directly to their homes at no cost to their families. A child enrolled from birth can receive as many as 60 books before kindergarten. Today, hundreds of millions of books have been gifted to children through the program. Think about what those books represent. They are opportunities to sit together and read. To hear new words. To ask questions. To laugh over a silly story. To build vocabulary, background knowledge, imagination, and a love of books. Most importantly, they help children begin to see themselves as readers. And Dolly's commitment to education extends beyond books. Through the Dollywood Foundation, she has supported scholarships and programs designed to encourage young people to stay in school and pursue their dreams. Again and again, she has taken what she earned and built opportunities for others. I love that. Because a book is an opportunity. Education is an opportunity. And having someone believe in you can be an opportunity that changes everything. Dolly also reminds us of something I hope every child at My Learning Farm eventually discovers: your gifts don't have to look like anyone else's. Dolly certainly didn't build her life by trying to blend in. She dreamed big, worked incredibly hard, stayed connected to where she came from, and paved her own way. In doing so, she helped make the road wider for women and generations coming behind her. That is the kind of success I want our children to understand. Success isn't only about what you accomplish. It is also about what you do with what you have been given. So, Dolly, thank you. Thank you for understanding that literacy can change the trajectory of a child's life. Thank you for putting books into millions of little hands. Thank you for investing in education and your community. Thank you for showing women that we can work hard, build something meaningful, lead with strength and kindness, and keep our hearts firmly planted in the communities we love. Your mission feels especially close to my heart because, in my own little corner of the world at My Learning Farm, that is what I hope to do too: help children read, help them learn, help them discover their gifts, build their confidence, and remind them that they are capable of so much. So I'll happily keep working 9 to 5—and probably a few hours on either side of that—to further the cause. ❤️📚 One reader at a time. One child at a time. One family at a time. Helping children find their gifts, believe in themselves, and read their way into a world of possibilities. Thank you, Dolly. 🌻📚❤️

The backpacks are still new. The pencils are still sharp. The school year has barely begun—and yet, you can already see it. Your child is exhausted after school. Homework is taking far longer than it should. Reading is becoming a battle again. Writing assignments bring frustration. Math feels overwhelming. Maybe your child received intervention last year, and you had hoped a summer of growing and maturing would make this year different. Instead, you are beginning to see those familiar signs of struggle. You do not have to wait until things get worse to start asking questions. Start With Your Child’s Teacher Your child's teacher is a wonderful first place to begin because you need to understand what the school day looks like when you aren't there. Approach the conversation as a partnership rather than going in looking for a particular answer. You might simply say, “I'm noticing that school already seems really difficult for my child at home. What are you seeing in the classroom?” Ask questions. Is your child completing work within the allotted time? How does their reading compare with classroom expectations? What does writing look like independently? Are they struggling to get started or stay focused? Are math concepts sticking? Does the teacher notice avoidance, frustration, fatigue, or a lack of confidence? Sometimes what we see at home is very different from what teachers see at school—and both pieces of information matter. Look for Patterns, Not Just One Hard Day Every child has difficult days. What we are looking for is a pattern of struggle. Maybe homework regularly takes hours. Perhaps your child cannot complete classwork in the expected amount of time. Reading progress has stalled despite intervention. Spelling and written expression remain significantly difficult. Math concepts don't seem to stick. Your child may be working incredibly hard but making very little meaningful progress. And sometimes the biggest clue isn't on a worksheet at all. It is the child who says, “I'm stupid.” “I hate reading.” “I'm just bad at math.” A drop in confidence matters, too. When You Have Enough Information, You Can Ask for More Help If concerns continue, parents have options. For a child enrolled in a public school, a parent can make a written request for an evaluation for special education eligibility. You do not have to know whether your child has dyslexia, dyscalculia, dysgraphia, ADHD, or another disability before asking the school to consider an evaluation. You can describe the concerns you and the teacher are seeing and request a comprehensive evaluation in all areas of suspected disability. An evaluation does not automatically mean your child will qualify for special education, and it does not commit you to accepting services. It provides information that can help the team better understand your child's strengths, needs, and whether they meet eligibility requirements. And if the special education route isn't right for your family, you still have choices. You might pursue a private evaluation, seek specialized academic instruction outside of school, explore accommodations or other school-based supports, make changes to your homeschool curriculum, or consider whether homeschooling would provide a better learning environment. The important thing is not choosing one particular path. It is choosing to act when your child is telling you—through words, behavior, schoolwork, or lack of progress—that something isn't working. Early Intervention Matters 🌱 We know that early, effective intervention is incredibly important, particularly in the elementary years. Kindergarten through second grade is a powerful window for building foundational reading, writing, and math skills. But I also want parents of older children to hear this clearly: it is never too late to provide better instruction. Older students can absolutely make meaningful progress with appropriate, explicit, targeted teaching. The earlier we identify a struggle, though, the sooner we can begin giving a child the instruction they need instead of allowing skill gaps and frustration to continue growing. Please Choose Evidence-Based Support When your child is struggling, it is easy to become desperate for something—anything—that promises to help. Be thoughtful about where you invest your child's time, energy, and your family's hard-earned money. Ask questions. What exactly will you be teaching? What evidence supports this approach? How will you determine where my child should begin? How will progress be measured? What will we do if my child isn't progressing? A program may be colorful, expensive, popular, or described as “brain-based” and still not be the right intervention for your child. Look for instruction supported by evidence and delivered by someone who understands your child's specific area of need. Your child's time matters. You Have Options—and You Don't Have to Figure Them Out Alone ❤️ One of the hardest parts of parenting a child who learns differently is wondering what to do next. Do I wait? Do I request an evaluation? Do we need outside academic support? Should we change curriculum? Would homeschooling be better? What should I even be asking the teacher? There may not be one perfect answer, but gathering information and starting the conversation is a powerful first step. If the school year has barely begun and your gut is already telling you that your child is struggling, listen, observe, ask questions, and begin the conversation. And if you're feeling lost about what comes next, reach out to My Learning Farm. Whether you need help understanding your child's academic struggles, exploring homeschool options, finding evidence-based academic support, or navigating the special education process, I am here to help you sort through the information and find a path forward. Sometimes the most important thing we can do for a struggling learner is simply notice early, ask the hard questions, and keep looking until we understand what they need. 🌻

There is something so exciting about the beginning of a new school year at My Learning Farm. Fresh notebooks, sharpened pencils, lessons ready to go, animals waiting for extra attention, and a whole new year of learning ahead of us! After a summer of planning and preparing, Stella and I are SO excited to welcome our students back to the farm! 🐾💛 Stella and I have worked so hard to get our classroom, the farm, the greenhouse ready for all of our friends and today is the DAY! 🌱 Ready to Grow One of my favorite things about a new school year is knowing that every student is beginning exactly where they are—and that is the perfect place to start. Some students will walk through the door ready to tackle reading. Others will be working on spelling, writing, or math. Some will be joining friends for READS!, spending their Fridays learning alongside the animals in Farm Class, or coming to the farm for individualized academic instruction. No matter why they are here, my goal is always the same: meet each child where they are, build skills step by step, celebrate progress, and help them discover just how capable they truly are. 📚 Skills, Confidence & JOY! Of course, I want to see reading become stronger. I want math concepts to click. I want spelling patterns to make sense and writing to become easier. Those academic skills matter tremendously. But there is something else I am watching for, too. I am watching for the child who begins to raise their hand without worrying about being wrong. The student who reads something that once felt impossible and suddenly realizes, “I can do this!” The child who stops dreading math because it finally makes sense. The student who starts taking risks, asking questions, laughing at mistakes, and feeling proud of how far they have come. That growth in confidence is every bit as exciting to me as the academic growth. Because learning should not just be about what a child can do on paper. I want our students to experience success, belonging, confidence, curiosity, and JOY along the way. 🌈 🐾 Stella Is Ready, Too! And, of course, I am not the only one getting ready for students! Stella is ready for another school year of very important work. 🐶💕 She will be waiting for belly rubs, sitting beside students during challenging lessons, providing a little encouragement when someone needs it, and probably hoping a snack accidentally finds its way to the floor. There is something pretty wonderful about learning with a sweet little dog nearby—and Stella takes her role at My Learning Farm very seriously. Well...mostly seriously. 😂 🌻 Here We Grow! Every school year brings new challenges, new accomplishments, new friendships, and so many opportunities to grow. Some growth happens quickly. Some takes time. And some of the most meaningful changes are the tiny ones that happen little by little until one day we look back and realize just how far a student has come. That is what I am most excited about this year. I cannot wait to cheer for the breakthroughs, celebrate the baby steps, work through the hard moments, laugh together, learn together, and watch our students grow—not only in their academic skills, but in their belief in themselves. The farm is ready. The books are ready. The pencils are sharpened. The animals are waiting. Stella and I are ready! 🐾📚🌻. Here’s to another beautiful year of learning, growing, confidence, and JOY at My Learning Farm! Welcome back, families. I am so incredibly happy you are here. 💛 🌻 Ms. Sara & Stella 🐾My Learning Farm