For some folk, these words: Speling, Spieling, Spelling, Spealing, look so similar that it’s very confusing.
Which one is the correct one?
Good spelling is vital because it allows the writer to focus on what they want to say. It frees up brain space for their ideas to flourish.
As children learn to spell, their knowledge of words improves, and this makes reading easier.
As an educator who specialised in teaching children to read, I tried lots of different methods. Some worked with some children and some worked with others but there wasn’t one that I could say was super effective.
For 3 years I ran a reading group before school which we called Early Birds for the children who needed more help with literacy. We staffed the program with parents and volunteers and every morning before school we would see up to 15 or 16 children for a twenty-minute lesson, one on one. And when we did that, we started to see the children make progress in their reading.
Can you get your struggling students to achieve 4 times the reading growth you would normally expect from 2 months of teaching?
One group of primary and early high school students did last year.
Read how in the article below, reproduced from The Science of Learning Blog.
One of the largest school systems in the USA state of Alabama achieved average reading level gains of seven months in only 35 days. Students in 17 primary schools used a systemic, research-proven approach to reading intervention that developed cognitive skills essential to reading and learning.
“We felt that helping students with skills like memory, attention, and processing would be beneficial to their learning in any subject and have a greater impact on achievement. Our data so far has supported that belief, ” says Tim Solley, Assistant Superintendent of Instruction and Academic Accountability.
Fast ForWord123 (FFW123) is a unique 3 step, evidence-based method for increasing students’ capacity to learn. It is a powerfully effective and scientifically validated method for improving learning outcomes where English is the language of instruction.
This method blends the best of education technology with empathetic support of human factors and motivation from the “reward economy”.
It builds cognitive skills essential for learning, and simultaneously improves the four components for learning-in-the-English-language: listening, reading, writing and speaking.
Scientists built & evolved FFW123 on 45 years of research
What happens if you suffer chronic brain inflammation? How does it affect you, physically, emotionally and cognitively?
And what can you do to help you recover?
Sarah Rasborsek, a young, healthy, successful woman enjoying her life, was stricken by brain inflammation. Her world was turned upside down. I met her via a Learning Success Podcast interview in February 2019, where she explained what had happened and how difficult her life had become.
Now a little over a year later, Sarah spoke to me again on another episode of the Podcast. She has made significant progress in her rehabilitation. But she explains she will be unlikely to return to how she was before the inflammation. She describes herself as a new Sarah - Sarah 2.0.
Dr Norman Doidge's best selling book , “The Brain That Changes Itself” did more than any other to change our view of the brain’s ability to “rewire”.
While Dr Doidge published it over a decade ago, it remains an easily readable, fascinating account of how we came to know that brains are “plastic”.
Scientists, educators, and parents had believed brains are “hard-wired” - our abilities are limited by the structures in our brains.
In “The Brain That Changes Itself” Dr Doidge explains how that old belief has been replaced by the knowledge of “brain plasticity" – our abilities can be changed and improved by various forms of mental exercises.
"Our results with the Fast ForWord program show overwhelming success," says Tina Morse, Grade Two Teacher.
As a teacher and a parent, Tina knows first hand the many challenges struggling learners and readers face.
After trying the Fast ForWord123 language and reading program with her son to address auditory processing and language impairment issues, she saw his reading skill level improve eight months in only three months’ time.
It was then she realized how much this neuroscience-based program could help students at her school.
Read below for a quick summary - there is a link at the end of this summary to the full case study about helping students with dyslexia and other reading challenges make rapid gains.
One-on-one tutoring plus Fast ForWord123 for struggling readers
The school uses a one-on-one tutoring system based on the Orton–Gillingham multisensory approach to reading instruction. And they also give the struggling students individualised instruction via the Fast ForWord123 program for 30 minutes a day.
If you have a child with language challenges, reading problems or learning difficulties, and you have sought help from their teacher, speech pathologist or other learning professional, you may have heard some unfamiliar terms.
Words like phonemic awareness, auditory processing, listening comprehension and working memory.
Listen to Episode 96 of The Learning Capacity Podcast for explanations of 16 common terms used in discussions about learning difficulties. Once you understand these, you should be able to have more productive discussions with your child's teacher or therapists.
Learning support teacher, Moya Gibb-Smith has used most of the well-known remedial reading programs to help her students who were struggling to learn to read.
While she said they all had merit, there was one program that stood out for her. "It was like doing it on steroids. It was just so much quicker, so much more effective".
Moya described her journey from a young "reluctant teacher" to a passionate remedial reading teacher in an episode on The Learning Capacity Podcast. Listen to the podcast, or read the transcript of her story, which includes how her husband was "going a bit blue-mouldy" on the way.
