☀️ Join my email community here! One thing that drives me crazy as a literacy specialist & reading teacher is the amount of misinformation online surrounding early reading skills. There are SO many myths about early reading shared on social media, and they're harmful to parents who are not familiar with reading research or how kids learn to read. Today I'm sharing 4 of the most common myths I see about reading and WHY they aren't true. I'm also sharing my opinion on how to best teach your...

☀️ Join my email community here! Today's interview is with Elizabeth Doherty from Manhattan Speech, Language & Literacy, LLC. ​ Elizabeth founded her practice over 10 years ago with the goal of providing students knowledge and skills necessary for career success in the 21st century. With the unique perspective of both a speech-language pathologist and reading teacher, Elizabeth supports both oral and printed language, helping students gain proficiencies that translate across speaking,...

☀️ Join my email community here! Do you believe there is one perfect age for every child to learn to read? I don't. I believe every child is unique, and some children who are gifted might be ready to learn to read EARLIER than you think. We should not hold these kids back from unlocking the English phonics code! Today's episode shares a little bit more about the importance of teaching gifted kids to read early and not holding them back because of their age. I also share what I did with my own...

☀️ Join my email community here! Today's interview is with Maya Smart, author of "Reading for Our Lives: A Literacy Action Plan from Birth to Six." ​ Maya is an award-winning journalist, writer, parent educator, and literacy advocate who has served on the boards of numerous library and literacy organizations. Her goal is to help parents raise kids who thrive and promote a literacy-rich lifestyle for all, starting from infancy and continuing into childhood. Maya aims to show parents what it...

☀️ Join my email community here! Let me start by saying this...you absolutely do NOT have to teach your child to read before kindergarten. Every parent gets to make the decision that's best for their child and family. BUT...if you WANT to teach your child to read before kindergarten, I'm here to support you every step of the way. Today's video shares 5 reasons why you might want to start teaching your child to read earlier rather than waiting for them to start kindergarten. I taught my own...

☀️ Join my email community here! Today's interview is with Megan Penrod and Laura Hillesheim, the founders of Developing Readers Academy. ​ Megan and Laura met while working together as reading specialists. They saw their students struggling to read, but they didn't know the best way to help until they took the LETRS training and dove headfirst into the Science of Reading. After seeing how effective their strategies were in school, Megan and Laura decided to take what they learned online. Now...

☀️ Join my email community here! Let me ask you a question...who do you think is responsible for teaching your child to read? Is it their teacher in school? Or is it you, their parent/grandparent/caregiver at home? Today's episode dives deep into this question! I'm sharing my opinion on who I think should be responsible for teaching reading (and why I think that way), plus I'm sharing a secret about teachers you may not know. Prefer to watch this episode on YouTube? Click here to check it...

☀️ Join my email community here! Today's interview is with Kelli Fetter from Handwriting Solutions. ​ Kelli completely pivoted her occupational therapy practice to focus on kids (and adults!) who struggle with their handwriting after her daughter was diagnosed with dysgraphia and dyslexia. Kelli is a Certified Handwriting Specialist and has practiced occupational therapy for 10+ years. She has experience in pediatrics as well as specific training in learning disorders. Listen in on my...

☀️ Join my email community here! Teaching your child to read is a beautiful experience, but sometimes parents can feel frustrated and overwhelmed if their children are struggling. Instead of jumping to blame, stress, or shame, I want you to focus on the 3 Cs to help your struggling reader so you can move forward together. Keep listening to learn about the 3 Cs and how they can be applied to any situation in which your child is struggling. Prefer to watch this episode on YouTube? Click here to...

☀️ Join my email community here! Today's interview is with Christina Rothstein from Evergreen Educational Services. ​ Christina has worked professionally as a certified special education teacher in public and private school settings and has a Master’s degree in Special Education. Through her private practice in Fairfield County, Connecticut, Christina provides direct academic intervention and support services to children and adolescents. She is passionate about bridging the gap between...

☀️ Join my email community here! Today's interview is with Becca Pratt from Literacy Evolution LLC. ​ Becca has 12 years of experience in education and has devoted her professional life to exploring evidence-based approaches for teaching students to read. Over the years, she's successfully guided HUNDREDS of kids (and their parents) through these methods, witnessing the transformation of their reading abilities. Through her business, Literacy Evolution LLC, Becca has created a nurturing space...

☀️ Join my email community here! English is a complex language to learn, but we can make it easier for kids by teaching them more about the structure of English. One of these structures we can teach them is SYLLABLES. Most parents & teachers already teach kids to clap out syllables in words, but how can we go deeper on this topic? Let's teach our kids the 6 syllable types in English so they can better understand how to read and spell words. Keep listening to learn about the 6 syllable...

☀️ Join my email community here! Today's interview is with Amy Herzog from Spark Joy with Amy. ​ Amy is a credentialed elementary teacher and creative tutor extraordinaire! She has worked professionally with students in Santa Barbara County for 30 years, including a range of children from infants & toddlers with their parents, preschoolers, kindergarteners & 1st graders. She also has over 10 years experience in K-6 subbing, pre-k -10th grade tutoring, and k-6 reading & writing...

"Erin, how do I know when my child is ready to start learning to read?" This is a common question I've heard from preschool and kindergarten parents. They worry about rushing their kids into reading, but they also know how important it is to work on reading skills at a young age. So how do you know when your child is ready? Instead of looking at your child as being "ready" or "not ready," I invite you to HELP your child get ready in 5 different ways. Keep listening to learn 5 ways you can...

☀️ Join my email community here! Today's interview is with Dr. Calli Studebaker, OTR/L from Confident Kids Therapy. ​ Calli earned her Doctorate in Occupational Therapy from Kettering Medical College and has worked as a home health therapist doing early intervention as well as in a private pediatric outpatient setting. She has experience working with children of various ages, diagnoses, and abilities. ​ Calli currently has a mobile therapy practice in Delaware, Ohio as well as an online...

☀️ Join my email community here: https://littleslovelearning.com/subsc... What's the deal with nonsense words? If you've never heard this term before, nonsense words are words kids are asked to read and spell that aren't real words, but they follow the same phonics pattern that kids have already been taught. For example, if a child has learned all of their letter sounds and is working on CVC words like "sun" and "dog," they should also be able to read nonsense words like "zun" and...

☀️ Join my email community here! Today's interview is with Karla Carlson from Reading Noodle. Karla is a mother of 3, a former 1st grade teacher with a Masters Degree in Education, and an entrepreneur. She believes parents have the power to make a significant impact on their child's reading success and is eager to share her knowledge and passion for reading with you! Listen in as Karla and I discuss the importance of parents working on reading skills at home, how she handles negative comments...

☀️ Join my email community here Do you know the difference between voiced and unvoiced sounds? If you're teaching your child to read and spell based on the Science of Reading, you need to understand this difference and why it matters in the first place! Keep listening to learn all about voiced and unvoiced sounds so you can teach them to your preschool, pre-k, or kindergarten child. >>> Would you rather watch this information as a video? Click...

☀️ Join my email community here! When you learned to read, you were probably taught the vowels are "A, E, I, O, U, and sometimes Y" But did you know that Y acts as a vowel WAY more often than it acts as a consonant?! It's true! Keep listening to learn all about the 4 sounds of letter Y: Consonant sound /y/ (yellow)Long vowel /i/ (my)Long vowel /e/ (candy)Short vowel /i/ (myth) I also created an easy-to-remember sentence for your child so they know when Y will spell each different sound: My...

☀️ Join my email community here! Do you know how to properly teach the pronunciation of -es at the end of plural nouns and verbs? If you're teaching your child to read based on the Science of Reading, you need to understand this important phonics rule! This rule is perfect for beginning readers and spellers (kindergarten and first grade) because it will help them read and spell more words correctly. Keep listening to learn all about adding -es to the end of a word. >>> Would you...

☀️ Join my email community here. Do you know how to properly teach the digraph NG and the blend NK? If you're teaching your child to read based on the Science of Reading, you need to understand how to read & spell these sounds, including: -ang, -ing, -ong, -ung, -ank, -ink, -onk, -unk Sometimes called "glued sounds" or "welded sounds," these sounds are important to teach your child so they can read and spell correctly. Keep listening to learn all about NG and NK. *Please Note: In words...

Do you know the difference between digraphs and blends? Digraphs are when 2 letters represent 1 sound, such as CH representing the /ch/ sound in the word "chip." Blends are when 2 or more consonants are next to each other and each retain their own sounds, such as in the word "skim" (S & K are each retaining their own sound.) There are two very tricky blends for kids to learn to read and spell: TR and DR. Keep listening to learn why these blends are so tricky and how to teach your child to...

If you're teaching your child to read at home, you might think you need fancy supplies or specialized materials like teachers have in their classrooms...but that's not true at all! All you need to teach your child is a plan, a whiteboard, and a marker. Keep listening for 5 ways you can use a whiteboard to teach your preschool, pre-k, or kindergarten little one to read at home. If you'd rather watch these activities in action, click here to watch the video! I've also linked my longer videos...

☀️ FREE End-of-the-Year Kindergarten Goals When teaching little ones to read in preschool, pre-k, and kindergarten, you need to give them plenty of time and opportunities to practice reading words that follow the phonics skills they've already learned. This means you can't hand them any children's book and ask them to read it...you need to be VERY careful to choose books that only have words they can decode on their own. That's why you need decodable books. You can learn more about decodable...

☀️ Grab my FREE Animal Alphabet here! Handwriting is a crucial skill to focus on in preschool, pre-k, and kindergarten. It's MUCH easier to teach this skill at home than for a teacher to teach this skill to a class of 20+ students. Our goal as parents should be to teach our kids the correct pencil strokes to write each letter fluently. This will help writing become more automatic as well as ensure our kids are not "drawing" letters based on their own interpretation. This episode discusses how...