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As the school year draws to a close, I advise parents to reflect on their child’s year by looking, listening and acting…the end of the year is a great time to take stalk and make a plan. Look: at your child’s school work samples-is it legible, how was the spelling, what scores is he/she consistently achieving, how are his/her grades-any areas where the grades/score dipped? How did my child do last year, compare teacher comments-are there any echoing themes?  How does the arc of learning look for your child-are their reading scores consistently building, dipping? How is their reading comprehension-read with them-can they restate the main points of a text? Are they fumbling over sight words? Are math foundational skills building in addition, subtraction, multiplication, division? Do they need assistance to complete homework? Is this an area of frustration?   How is your child feeling about him/herself, how is his/her self-esteem? If so, then… Listen:  Talk to your child-ask him/her how she felt about the year-what things were fun, what things felt challenging; what things does he/she need to work on; what are their general feelings about school; are they struggling with attendance; anxiety around school performance; in what areas; how can this be supported at home and at school; how can things be different next year?  Read with them, engage in math activities with them, bring history alive with them and gauge academic, engagement skills.  Are they overwhelmed; are there areas of need? If so, then… Act: Schedule an end of the year teacher meeting or an SST (student study team meeting) to develop a plan of action for the summer; for the upcoming school year and if need be, find outside support utilizing evidence-based curriculums and methodologies. My Learning Farm www.mylearningfarm.com  offers academic support utilizing evidence-based curriculums and methodologies in reading, writing, spelling, math in a space where students feel nurtured, valued, safe.

This bill threatens the flexibility and diversity of educational services we can provide, potentially eliminating many high quality enrichment programs. Please support opposing AB 84 on Wednesday, April 30 at noon at the state capitol Education Committee hearing. To review the full Assembly Bill, visit this website: https://ct35.capitoltrack.com/public/25/report/bill?id=ng4obT3E86AItaK1sZP+DEmudZhdGy46mxyF65SS+BQepfzWXTNqQ1jg3hj9eOkQoNnPXlxiSUSBgGNxPib9R4SRlD5BK091jnV+OZ1f8m8=

I often hear   parents   talk   about  sight words , rainbow words , Dolch list words   and   how   their   child is really  working through   them…but  let’s talk about what they are and why they are  important for  readers.  I like to call   them  high-frequency words ; these are   words that often do not  fit into  typical English spelling and  syllabication patterns and often  must be  memorized or  recognized by sight .  These words  account for up to  75% of the words  written on a  page of  text; these words occur with   high  frequency!  See the words that have been highlighted. If students do not know these words with automaticity, they will struggle to read fluently, accurately comprehend written passages and struggle with writing and spelling these words.  At My Learning Farm we use several techniques, methodologies and curriculums to BOOST high-frequency word knowledge, retention, spelling and understanding.  The High Frequency Word Project is stellar as well as Structured Word Inquiry both approach high-frequency words with purpose, intentionality and provide students with practice, practical application and understanding from an etymological foundation.  For more information about the importance of high-frequency words, please visit www.mylearningfarm.com  and schedule a consultation today!

If I could go back in time and sit with myself as the first grade mom who KNEW my child was struggling; this is my advice.  It is the SAME advice I give to all of the families I advocate for and the families who I work with in reading, writing, spelling, math—EDUCATE yourself!!!!! But where do I start? READ, LEARN, KNOW YOUR RIGHTS and LOVE & SUPPORT your child! READ Overcoming Dyslexia by Dr. Sally Shaywitz, Center of Creativity and Dyslexia, Yale University. The Gillingham Manual by Anna Gillingham and Bessie Stillman Dyslexia and Spelling by Dr. Kelli Sandman-Hurley Special Education Law by Peter & Pamela Wright All About IEPs by Peter & Pamela Wright All About Tests and Assessments by Peter & Pamela Wright From Emotions to Advocacy by Peter & Pamela Wright LEARN Join the International Dyslexia Association Join NorCal Dyslexia Association International Dyslexia Association’s Structured Literacy: An Introductory Guide Dyslexia Training Institute Course: Introduction to Structured Literacy and the Orton-Gillingham Approach Dyslexia Training Institute Course: Defining Dyslexia KNOW YOUR RIGHTS Parent Education Training Center Courses on Special Education, Learning Disabilities, IEPs/504 plans, Advocacy LOVE/SUPPORT YOUR CHILD By educating yourself your child will THRIVE, by supporting your child and understanding what dyslexia is and how to remediate it your child will THRIVE, by advocating for your child, your child will THRIVE! Please reach out to My Learning Farm for SUPPORT www.mylearningfarm.com

Today’s farm class visitor was Jack, whom I’ve had the pleasure of knowing for 8 years and supporting him through 4-H, who now runs his own hay business.  He shared his knowledge of hay and entrepreneurship with the kids today-thank you Jack! Find out more about My Learning Farm www.mylearningfarm.com

Love is in the air this month and really every month for me through my work at My Learning Farm. Helping kids and families succeed academically, emotionally and thrive are why I created My Learning Farm. Offering support in reading, writing, math, spelling, assessments, special education advocacy, homeschool consultations and farm classes feed my passion to build community and help kids and families. I wanted to build a spce where students felt valued, safe, supported and had fun! I called it My Learning Farm because I wanted kids to have a sense of ownership, belonging and joy and I see it everyday, especailly when students bring family and friends for a visit and show and tell them all about "their" farm. It warms my heart to see my vision take shape and with every new student and with every student who graduates (as bittersweet as it is) and moves through their world with success. If your kiddo needs support, please reach out to My Learning Farm today www.mylearningfarm.com

Thinking about starting a homeschool journey for your family or feeling lost along the way?  New! My Learning is offering homeschool consultations to help inform families of the MANY options, understand the rules of homeschooling, choosing the right homeschool charter for your family, understanding enrichment options, provide examples of what a typical day looks like, support in choosing curriculum, creating customized curriculums and much more. Schedule a consultation Today! At My Learning Farm www.mylearningfarm.com  916.215.1232

This article appeared on MSN today and it BREAKS my heart-it’s a 12 min read, but worth it, sad as it is, parents please urge state and federal education leaders to use evidence-based reading strategies to bolster reading levels in kids, to help kids find success in reading!  Generation Alpha is today’s 2-12 year olds, they have the LOWEST reading scores our nation has experienced.  Houston-we have a problem.  This problem can be solved-the government it touting their newest buzz word “the science of reading” this article goes along with my Nov blog .  We already HAVE “the science of reading”-we’ve had it for over 150 years thanks to the work of Anna Gillingham and Samuel Orton who pioneered the Orton-Gillingham method of teaching reading in a systematic, phonics-based, foundational, multi-sensory approach-this METHOD WORKS!!!!!!!! I can’t tell you the number of phone calls I get from concerned parents each week, I wish I could clone myself to be able to help every kiddo who needs Orton-Gillingham structured literacy to become proficient, enthusiastic readers!  I LOVE what I do to help kiddos in reading, writing, spelling, math and farm classes, but the kiddos are the real HEROS-they come to me twice weekly for 90-120 minutes and they work HARD for 2-3 years to master reading. My students know more about the 374+ phonics rules of the English language, digraphs, diphthongs, vowel teams, syllable patterning, SCHWA than most adults-they are my heroes and they are why I do what I do. Please contact me today if your kiddo is a struggling reader at www.mylearningfarm.com

I FIRMLY believe parents are their child’s best advocate and “mama gut” instinct  is real and should be listened to especially about when to seek private academic support for a struggling learner.  These are some signs your kiddo may need additional support to thrive: -not making progress in academic subjects; -falling assessment, test scores-though I don’t love assessments if scores and avoidance of testing sit uations occurs-this may be a sign of learning challenges; -reluctance and avoidance of academic work; -comprehension problems; -when reading aloud will substitute words; -negative talk relating to school (of course many students do this-but keep track of frequency); -negative self-talk relating to academic performance (“I’m stupid, I can’t read, I can’t do math”…) If your child is experiencing symptoms, it may mean there is an underlying issue needing to be addressed, trust your mama gut and seek support. What we know from decades of educational research is that EARLY, CONSISTENT, EVIDENCE-BASED (evidence-based means applying strategies that are proven through research and measurement to WORK) supports is KEY to improving academic skills. Please reach out to My Learning Farm for evidence-based support in reading, writing, math, spelling, assessments and farm classes (not evidence-based-just fun!) at www.mylearningfarm.com

From My Learning Farm’s Monthly Blog www.mylearningfarm.com : We in America, love our “buzz” words and it seems the new buzz word around reading is the “science of reading”- people, we have been studying reading for over 150 years!!! We KNOW a lot about reading and how to teach ALL children how to read and read well and it AIN’T the “science of reading.” This new buzz word seems to stem from those in charge have now realized California is the 50th of 50 states in literacy rates-HOW SAD-so they are looking for the next buzz word to save the day!!!!!!!! Legislators and educators have been ineffectively meddling into classroom reading instruction for years with some successes, but mostly failures! Let me provide some background… 1950s-1980s: On and Off Phonics Instruction: The 1950s was a time of great technological advancements as well as giant leaps in reading instruction.  The popular Dick and Jane books of basic phonics became the method of choice and did provide foundational phonics skills. However, in the 1960s our country shifted away from phonics to the look, say, read method (later known as the whole word method) with marginal success and reduced literacy rates. Those of us squarely in our 40s learned to read with phonics instruction-learning the alphabet and phonetic alphabet, vowel sounds, diphthongs, vowel teams, digraphs and syllables to decode and read.  Guess what? We are our nation’s most proficient readers-because it WORKS!!! 1990’s-2000: Whole Word Instruction: We shifted gears in the 1990’s from a phonics-based reading instruction to whole word language acquisition.  Basically, you look at the word, memorize it and-viola! you know it.  Well, this began our nation’s nosedive off the cliff of literacy.  Whole word instruction was a massive failure for many reasons, the biggest being that students don’t learn to read by memorizing whole words, instead students learn to read by understanding phonemes and syllable types, gleaning meaning from context and instruction in decoding unknown words. 2000’s-current: Common Core: As you may remember, a group of lobbyists, textbook publishers and mucky-mucks in theoretical education helped craft Common Core across all subjects to standardize our nation’s academics.  Common Core reading instruction incorporates the science of reading, collaboration, whole word principles and jumbles them all up a an unrecognizable soup of literacy instruction.  Teachers have sadly lost the ability to tailor instruction to the students in their classrooms, instead having to tick the MANY boxes of literacy standards. Common Core didn’t fund additional teacher literacy training. What resulted was high expectations without phonics instruction and teacher training has left California LAST in the nation for literacy-SAD, SAD, SAD!!! Now back to the buzz word of the day the “science of reading”…“The science of reading refers to a body of research from the fields of education, cognitive psychology, developmental psychology, and neuroscience, that explains how individuals learn how to read and best practices for reading instruction” (Department of  Education).  This vague definition further explains elements within the “science of reading”-phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension. FINALLY, there it is phonemic awareness and phonics-the two MOST critical foundations of literacy!!!!! This new buzz word the “science of reading” should be squashed where it is and replaced with evidence-based literacy approaches.  Evidence-based means it derived from or informed by objective evidence— IT WORKS. We have MANY evidence-based literacy efforts; the top being Orton-Gillingham structured literacy programs!!! My hope is that moving forward our state will scrap current literacy efforts that seemed to have benefitted few and will move toward evidence-based Orton-Gillingham structured literacy to build a society of STRONG, CONFIDENT readers!!!!!! If your child is a struggling reader, please reach out to My Learning Farm at www.mylearningfarm.com

Myth: Dyslexia is rare Fact: Dyslexia affects 1 in 5 people, that’s 20% Myth: Dyslexia only affects reading Fact: Dyslexia can impact: reading -fluency, prosody, comprehension, vocabulary, writing - formation, reversals, sizing, spacing, case mixing, spelling-phonetic, omitting sounds memory -short-term, long-term, retrial math -place value, math facts, word problems, multi-step problems, formulas directionality -before, after, left, right, days of week, months of year, greater than, less than oral language skills - making up words, not remembering words, not remembering names, rapid naming skills Myth: Dyslexia is not discoverable until 4th grade or later Fact: 92% of kids with dyslexia, can be identified prior to kindergarten Myth: People with dyslexia write & read backwards Fact: People with dyslexia struggle with directionality Early intervention Myth: Dyslexia is NOT genetic Fact: Dyslexia is genetic and is neurological in origin Myth: Kids with dyslexia will outgrow it Fact: People with dyslexia will have it their entire lives, but with proper remediation, they will have tools in their toolbox to succeed Myth: Kids with dyslexia DO NOT try hard Fact: Kids with dyslexia often work harder to accomplish tasks Myth: We don’t know to to help kids with dyslexia Fact: Thanks to the work of Orton-Gillingham over 100 years ago! Myth: If you haven’t given help to a dyslexic student by 5th grade-it’s too late! Fact:Early intervention is key, but people with dyslexia can seek evidence-based help ANYTIME! If you are affected by dyslexia, please reach out to My Learning Farm at www.mylearningfarm.com

Structured Word Inquiry (SWI) is a student-led methodology that uses an investigative process to help build spelling skills. It delves into how words are connected through history (etymology), structure (morphology) and parts (orthography: bases, affixes, vowels, morphemes and more). Through this process students discover the meaning of words, affixes, word parts, word families through examining the history of words and their spelling.  SWI focuses on understanding patterns are steeped in meaning.  SWI is a structured approach to learn vocabulary and improve spelling within context. All too many times, I’ve seen spelling taught as memorizing word lists that are made of similar word patterns without giving students any instruction into why these patterns exist and what they mean.  What typically results from spelling taught this way is short-term memorization and no real understanding of spelling within the English language. SWI helps students make connections, ask questions, form hypothesis, learn the history of the English language, create word families, understand and apply affixes in a student-led process to improve spelling and vocabulary within the English language. My Learning Farm applies the SWI methodology across several spelling frameworks. If your child is a struggling speller, please reach out to My Learning Farm at www.mylearningfarm.com