Your daughter races through the final chapter of her book, eyes dancing with excitement. She can’t wait to tell you what happened to her favorite character. But before she can share the story, you hand her the reading log. Watch the light dim in her eyes as she sighs and reaches for a pencil: another […]
Your second grader just read an entire chapter book by herself. She’s so proud, and honestly, you are too. All those evenings practicing letter sounds, sounding out words, and celebrating small victories have paid off. She can read now. Really read. So you put away the picture books. Bedtime stories become bedtime reading time, where […]
You’ve just finished a meeting at school. The words “IEP” and “504” were tossed around multiple times. Everyone seemed to assume you understood the difference. You nodded along, but inside you’re thinking: What exactly is the difference? Which one does my struggling reader actually need? You’re not alone in this confusion. These acronyms sound like […]
Your child worked so hard to master those tricky vowel teams last month. You celebrated together when they finally got it. But this week, you noticed them struggling with the same patterns. Did they forget everything? Are you back at square one? Take heart. This is completely normal. Reading skills require constant reinforcement to stick. […]
Your child is reading aloud. They come to the word “house” and say “home.” Do you stop them immediately? Wait until the end of the sentence? Ignore it completely? You want to help, but you also don’t want to interrupt the flow or make reading feel like constant criticism. Error correction is one of the […]
Your child is writing a story about their stuffed animal. They pause, pencil hovering over the paper. “Mom, is it ‘stuf’ or ‘stuff’?” You might wonder the same thing. Why do some words double their final letters while others don’t? Welcome to the wonderful world of the Floss Rule—one of English spelling’s most reliable patterns. […]
Your child sounds out a word: “b-oy… boy!” Then they encounter “boil” and pause. “Is that b-oy-l?” They’re puzzled because these letter combinations look similar but behave differently. You want to help, but diphthongs can feel confusing even to adults. Here’s the good news: Diphthongs follow predictable patterns. Once your child understands how they work, […]
The teacher’s email arrives: “We’d like to discuss moving your child to Tier 2 interventions.” Your heart races. What does that mean? Is your child failing? Are they being held back? Should you worry? Take a deep breath. Response to Intervention isn’t a label or a punishment. It’s actually a framework designed to help your […]
Your child sounds out each word carefully. They decode beautifully. But when they reach the end of the sentence, they can’t tell you what it said. They go back and read it again. Then again. The frustration builds. This isn’t about intelligence or effort. Your child is working incredibly hard. What you’re seeing is working […]
Your child stares at the word “jumping” for what feels like forever. They sound out each letter correctly—/j/ /u/ /m/ /p/ /i/ /ng/—but by the time they blend it together, they’ve forgotten the beginning of the sentence. Reading homework that should take 15 minutes stretches into an hour. They’re trying hard, but everything just takes… […]
