Blog
Balanced Literacy vs. Bottom-Up Methods: Which is Better?
When they are given nonsensical methods that do not work for them, they remain shut-down and discouraged.
On the Inference Road : “Reading Between the Lines”
There is a great deal of emphasis these days on “decoding” development, but there is another side to the coin, often overlooked. It is the side that involves the child’s understanding of what she has read. “Comprehension” is very difficult to teach well and is...
Beating Back the Kryptonite (#word problems)
Last week we talked about “marginally ready” children, the ones falling just under the radar screen, who have just enough skill to get themselves in the “average range,” but who limp along every year with many unresolved issues. For marginally ready kids, there are...
The “Marginally Ready” Child
Just after Labor Day I did some purging of books and papers (not easy for me). I know that common wisdom is to throw out old books, particularly in your field, because, “How relevant can that old stuff be and it’s all on the internet anyway,” says everyone. Well, I...
“Task Analysis:” Going Old School (Once Again)
There are a number of old school concepts in education that I don’t hear much about any more that I think still apply. “Task analysis” is one of them. Years ago as part my special education course work task analysis was frequently mentioned. (OK, it was many years...
Reading Remediation – One Ingredient for Success
“It is essential to begin a remedial program at a level, and with specific tasks that are easy enough so that successful performance is virtually certain.” (Harris & Sipay, 1980) That quote was from nearly 40 years ago! I’ve lately had to mine some...
Start of the New School Year Blues
I know you’re feeling it – that little twinge that is starting to form with the end of summer and the start of the school year. You’ve had a bit of a welcomed respite from some of the school anxiety and worries. You know, the stream of stuff running through Worry...
Tales From the #Dyslexia Front: “Hey, Nerby”
The scars stay with you. This week while explaining to a dad and his high school age daughter the difficulty that she was having reading complex words and how there might be some associated embarrassment, the dad was brought back to a painful memory from his...
A Little Dose of Patience (“Vitamin P”)
"Vitamin P" A five year old boy I evaluated recently, Ari, seemed very sweet, although perhaps a little on the shy and a awkward side. After I tested Ari, when I told his mom my largely positive impressions of her son, one of the things she was very concerned about...
The Decade of Dyslexia
Every decade has a new emphasis. In the mid 1970's "learning disability" was a scalding hot term. Following the 1970s, ADHD was the topic of the decade. This was followed by autism (or children "on the spectrum”). We are now in the decade of "dyslexia." Not very...
Direct Instruction?
A mom called this week to talk to me about the school district offering a computer program (“Orton-Gillingham based, was the claim) that was providing “direct instruction.” The mom questioned whether the program was "direct instruction," as the school was telling her...