Education – The Educating Momma

The Foundational Skills Your Child Needs by the End of Kindergarten

July 28, 2020 By AudreaLeave a comment

There are many ideas on this subject and there are certainly more intelligent people than I am that have information on this. Your child is your child and your intuition is important and good enough for this too! If you feel your child is missing something, they likely are. If you think they are doing well, they likely are. But sometimes, I know it is helpful for me to have a baseline to look at. I also know that in the institution of education it can get pretty overwhelming looking at ALL the standards students are supposed to learn and master and trying to decide between curriculums if you are schooling your child yourself. This list is NOT an exhaustive list of all that should be taught or covered in kindergarten AT ALL. Instead it is simply a list of what I see as the foundational MUSTS. These are the skills that I believe are integral to the success of students later on regardless of their future plans or careers based on what I have seen in my years teaching a variety of grades.

The longer I teach, the more I feel like the basics are getting lost in all the hype of different or new educational bandwagons. In the thirteen years I have taught, I have been through the initial switch to state standards based teaching (we used to just follow a curriculum, but this shift meant a focus on standards of learning instead of just going through a book) to Common Core standards and back to state standards. I have been through a switch to standards based grading from traditional grades, then back to traditional grading, and now back to standards based grading. In an attempt to better understand student needs when students struggle has caused educators to break learning down into specific skills and sub-skills. This can be helpful when remediating a learning gap. However, I feel it is much less effective or helpful on the educating side of things. While I believe it is helpful to look at all the pieces of data from a struggling students’ assessments, I do not believe that same piecing should happen when we are planning the teaching of those skills to students.

The components of comprehension for example, I believe are best taught together as a whole instead of piece meal. Reading a classic novel and discussing the events, predicting what will come next, reviewing the characters, making moral applications to current events and ordering events is so much more effective in building learners comprehension skills. I highly recommend this approach because it also teaches children the necessity of paying attention and engaging with text. Instead often students may be taught comprehension with a lesson on main idea here and cause and effect there. This may help them, but since all of these skills are a part of comprehension I believe they are best served and more easily learned in an integrated lesson and experience. Experiences like reading rich literary texts, both fiction and non-fiction, current and classic and discussing all aspects of comprehension as you go. If we have students reading these same rich texts and talking or writing about what they are reading, I think we would be amazed at what they learn and the depths of comprehension they would achieve! This is just one example of how I believe students will benefit more from integrative education (the teaching of multiple skills/standards/topics at once) than specific standard targeted lessons. I believe integrative education naturally includes the supports (often called scaffolds in education circles) as well as a natural deepening of understanding and learning (think Bloom’s taxonomy or DOK levels). As I have learned more about how readers map words (place them in their permanent memory) based on meaning through orthographic mapping and read about educators like Marva Collins, I just feel more and more strongly that there are only a few necessary skills that children need to master and all of the other things just need to be integrated with those foundational skills. The list below is of those necessary foundational skills that a child should master in Kindergarten. I planned to make this post about what students need in all grades Kindergarten through Second Grade. However, I think I will instead post on each grade individually.

Necessary Skills from Kindergarten

Accurate and automatic ability to identify and produce rhyming words

Awareness of syllables in words

Ability to accurately and automatically manipulate sounds within words (say cat, now say cat and instead of /c/ say /b/, and the correct answer is bat, or say slump, instead of /s/ say /c/, and the correct answer is clump, or say mast, now say mast without ast, and the correct answer is /m/) – These skills and the rhyming and syllable counting are called Phonemic Awareness and you can read more about that here.

Accurate AND Automatic knowledge of all 26 letter names for both upper and lowercase letters

Accurate AND Automatic knowledge of all letter sounds for each letter

Awareness (exposure to and some knowledge of) of digraphs (ch, sh, ph, th, wh)

Accurate and Automatic knowledge of the names of all numbers 0-20

Ability to quickly and accurately (placed correctly on handwriting lined paper) write all 26 letters and numbers 0-20

Accurate and automatic counting to 100 by 1’s, 5’s and 10’s

Accurate and automatic counting to 20 by 2’s

Ability to count groups of objects up to 20

Ability to add and subtract up to 10, using manipulatives (counting bears, tokens, etc.) if necessary

Ability to cut on line to cut out shapes as small as a 1/2 sheet of paper

Extended Skills from Kindergarten

If your child is ready for more before the end of kindergarten then these are some skills your child would benefit from.

Accurate and automatic fluency with Math facts (addition and subtraction) to 20

Blending consonant vowel consonant words

Accurate and automatic counting of syllables in words (up to four syllables)

Begin writing on wide ruled notebook paper

Cutting out smaller objects

Begin writing complete sentences (focusing on capitalization at the beginning of the sentence, names and the pronoun I and including punctuation at the end of the sentence)

Again, this list is not exhaustive. Especially in regards to all the information that should be taught in kindergarten. This is instead a thoughtful consideration of all that information and a look at it with the end in mind. That end being first grade, sixth grade, high school or college. Then thinking about, what, if they had nothing else, MUST they have. This list, especially, the necessary skills list will NOT match with public school expectations. It will however match most age based ideas on reading development which tend to run about a grade slower than the expectations of state and Common Core standards. The most unique thing about education is that we are teaching unique individuals. Some children will be ready for more, even beyond the Extended Skills list above. This list is what I would use though to gauge if there is going to be a long term deficit in learning leaving kindergarten. And, if all of the necessary skills are firmly in place and some of the extended skills have been explored, your child will do well in the long run. ESPECIALLY, if for reading they are thoroughly skilled in phonemic awareness and in math if they have a really strong understanding of numbers 1-20 and the patterns within that group (1’s, 2’s, 5’s, and 10’s).

Please let me know if you find this list helpful. If your child is in public school and they have only mastered the Necessary list I would consider some tutoring because they will struggle to keep up in first grade. If you are homeschooling these skills are so important that they deserve as much time as your child needs to deeply and completely master them. Also, if you are homeschooling and are doing a grade 0 (starting school early, but not pushing things really hard) I would strongly consider using the list of necessary skills as a guideline for what to focus on. Having that firm foundation will allow them to gain other skills more quickly, thereby alleviating any deficit there may appear to be early on. Just as when you are building a house or any other building, the stronger and more accurate the foundation, the more quickly the rest of the construction will go and the higher the quality of the WHOLE thing!! That is why when you start something you should keep the end in mind. It’s also why the question, “Is my child behind?” can have different answers. It depends on what your child needs to be ready for.

Let me know if you find this list helpful! Do you have any other specific skills you would include or that you are wondering about? I would love to hear your thoughts, questions or concerns!!

Education Science of Reading

Syllabication of Words

July 14, 2020 By AudreaLeave a comment

An example of syllabicating a word with the vcv pattern

After I wrote the post about the syllable types, I realized that if that was completely new information then you might need information about how to syllabicate words. So, today I am going top talk a little bit about how to syllabicate words and the purpose of doing so. When I went through my trainings with Brainspring on syllabication they would say that the purpose of syllabication was to get close enough to pronounce the word correctly. What that meant was that breaking the word down through their syllabication processes would get you close enough to pronounce/read the word, but may not match a dictionary’s syllabication. In this post I am not going to include all of the details of their program, I am certainly not qualified to teach all that they offer. I just want to give you an overview of how to syllabicate words and the purposes it serves.

First, similar to the syllable types there are syllable pattern types. There are 3 types. There are vccv (vowel, consonant, consonant, vowel), vcv (vowel, consonant, vowel), and vv (vowel, vowel). Also, before we talk about the three types, I want to mention that you will only use syllabication with multisyllabic words. You can find most of the syllable types in one syllable words as I mentioned in the Syllable Type posts, but you don’t need to syllabicate unless there are two or more syllables in a word.

The easiest way to syllabicate is to find the first 2 vowels and then you have to look between the vowels to see how many consonants are between. We will talk about the three different syllable pattern types, now.

Vowel, consonant, consonant, vowel

The first thing to do is to find the first two vowels. You need to remember that there are some times when vowels go together with another letter and count as a consonant like with qu. Also, when two vowels are together and they count as one vowel like vowel teams, ee, ea, ue, ie, oe. If there are two consonants between the vowels then the word would be divided between the two consonants. An example of this pattern would be better, bet (closed syllable) ter (r controlled syllable). Sometimes there will be three consonants between the vowels, but will always have a blend that should be treated like one consonant. This is the case for words like constrain. In this word you would actually group s, t, and r together and count it as one consonant. So the first syllable would be con (closed syllable) and the second syllable would be strain (vowel team syllable)

2. Vowel, consonant, vowel

This kind of syllable pattern has two options for where to break the word. You should always try before the consonant first. That will leave you with an open syllable as the first syllable and thereby a long vowel sound in that syllable. An example of this would be raven, ra (open syllable) and ven (closed syllable). If that pronunciation is incorrect than you should move the break to behind the consonant to provide a closed syllable and thereby a short vowel sound in that syllable. An example of this would be cabin, cab-closed syllable and in-closed syllable. That should then give you the correct pronunciation. There are only a few reasons why it might not. One is a schwa syllable type. An example of that exception is the word banana. I went over that word in this Syllable Types, Part 2 post.

3. Vowel, vowel

The last syllable pattern type is vowel, vowel. This is where there are two vowels side by side, but they are not a vowel team or a diphthong. Each vowel in this scenario is a sounded vowel and thereby fall into their own syllables. The first one would be open and thereby have a long vowel sound and the second syllable would depend on what if anything comes after the second vowel. An example of this type of syllable pattern is the word eon. The syllables break down to e (long syllable) and on (short syllable).

These are the three types of syllabication patterns. The point of doing syllabication is to help decode (read) unknown multisyllabic words. When words get this long it is no longer effective to sound out words as a whole. It becomes nearly impossible to keep all of those sounds in mind by the time you get to the end of a 7, 8 or 9 letter word. Also, as words get longer and multiple different syllable types are combined, the vowel sounds change and it is necessary to know what type of syllable you are looking at to determine which vowel sound to use.

These are the three syllable patterns to look for when syllabicating and how to divide each one. This is also some of the reasons for using syllabication in decoding. It is like learning to count by 2’s or 5’s instead of 1’s. Now you only have to read a few chunks instead of 7 or more individual sounds to decode the word. Counting by 10’s is like using roots to decode words. We will talk about that in a later post. I recommend some teaching on each of these patterns in isolation to familiarize readers with the process. But, I would teach the majority of this as “real life” unknown, multisyllabic words come up in reading.

Let me know how this information helps you. I am planning to do another post on syllabicating that shows each step of the process.

Education Faith

Building a Blogging Business

July 9, 2020July 9, 2020 By Audrea2 Comments

The original picture I was going to use for this post was a differnt one of the girls and then I thought, no Adam is a big part of why I am doing this, too. Then I was reminded that the picture needs to look like a part of a professional website/business. I’m not sire this one does,but it’s closer than the only one i have on my phone of the three of them. Then the original caption for the picture I chose was going to day THE two reasons I’m doing this and then I thought of my sister and my niece and a few more people and realized that even though the two people in this picture are two of the three most important people in my life, they are not the only ones I am doing this for. I truly do want to help people. I have friends who struggle to find the time, motivation, want to or recipes to create meals to feed their families. I have family and friends who are teaching their own children at home without degrees in education. I have friends who are teachers, but who don’t have a background in teaching students to read. I have friends and family who have children who are struggling in school and they need to help them. AND ALL of these people are why I am doing this. God called me to teach, He got me through school, He got me a job and He has taken me from second grade to kindergarten to third grade to Title 1 to Middle School! He also gifted me with an incredibly intelligent daughter who disdains reading and struggles with it to an extent that is disproportionate to her intelligence. That gift is the force that has driven me to immerse myself in ALL things reading. I already had/have a literary bent in my teaching, background and preferences. BUT, the needs of my daughter, have taken it from a natural tendency to a focused drive. I also happen to come from parents who bake and cook not just at home, but both of whom have done it as a profession. Therefore, I have acquired some knowledge in both reading and cooking that can help others who are equally passionate about helping, nourishing and caring for their families, but who may need some resources to enable them to do that more often and more easily!

That is the point of growing this blogging business. I started blogging last year as a way to creatively express myself, and maybe, just maybe, help someone along the way. But, I kept my blog quiet and just let it share itself with anyone who stumbled across it or who my sisters happened to mention it to. Then as school continued to be a struggle for my oldest for a variety of reasons, the pandemic hit and I stumbled across Alida’s, The Realistic Mama, free 7 Day Summit, I decided it was time to really work to take this blogging thing from a quiet hobby to a business. To change it from a creative outlet to a business that helps others. Alida’s 7 Day Summit helped me to realize that I do have something worth sharing, a calling that really can help people. A message to other mommas and parents that they ARE their child’s best advocate for the best possible education. A message to other mommas that they really can make nourishing food for their families. Basically, you are the momma God gave to your family and He makes NO mistakes. I used to be embarrassed to share anything about my blog, and to be transparent I really still am. BUT, what if what I write really can make things easier for someone? What if the information I share about the Science of Reading really can help a homeschool momma know that she is teaching the right things to her child, or help a momma who has a child struggling in school finally know what the problem is and have real suggestions to share with their child’s teacher? If those things are true then I absolutely need to share what I know. If the posts I write about my struggles with faith and parenting can help encourage someone else to trust God more or keep on growing into the disciple or parent they want to be, then I must share. So, for all of those reasons I am working to build my blog into a business.

And finally, yes, I am trying to make this a profitable business. If I can replace my teaching income with blogging income in order to have the opportunity to teach my daughters at home, than I want to do that. If blogging income can make it so that my husband doesn’t have to work two jobs to support our family, than I want to do that! I certainly have not figured all of this out, but I am working one it.

Lately, I have wanted to give up on all of this as often as I have wanted to work at it, more often probably! You see, just like all of the conflicting information about this virus that I hear (cases are climbing, it’s no big deal, everyone is dying, your child will be fine at school, don’t wear a mask, everyone needs a mask, etc.) I am hearing SO MUCH information about how to build this business. It isn’t really conflicting information, there is just SO MUCH information! How to make the perfect pitch, How to build your email list, How to use ads, How to build your blog. It is all really great information, but for this technology backward momma, it gets SUPER overwhelming, SUPER quickly. I am eternally grateful for my graphic designer brother for ALL of his help in setting up this website and his encouragement as I blunder my way through new things like Instagram, Link Tree and LinkedIn. Yes, I know those things aren’t new themselves, but they are new to me. I keep finding more and more applications of Paul’s words in Philippians 3:13 in my life. And this is one of them. I certainly do not consider myself as having figured out technology or these programs (I just messed up my Link Tree Account as I created it tonight), but I press forward toward using them more and more effectively. I want to use them more effectively to provide for my family and to help anyone who would benefit from any knowledge or resources I have.

Those are my current thoughts on growing this blogging business. I pray that the next time I write about this that I have more concrete information to share with you! My own version of what works, but for now I am simply sharing my struggles, thoughts and baby steps toward this goal of building a business. What are you growing on your life? How is it going? What content would you find most helpful to see more of on The Educating Momma (recipes, Reading, education, etc.)? Please share int eh comments below!

Education Science of Reading

Syllable Types, Part 2

July 2, 2020July 2, 2020 By AudreaLeave a comment

In Syllable Types, Part 1, we talked about the 6 syllable types you will find in just about any article you look up, product you look for or purchase and in any phonics program you try. Today we are going to talk about 2 more types that are not always included. Even though they are not always included they are valuable to know about. These syllable types help with understanding the pronunciation of words and some more seeming rule exceptions that actually have an explanation or another rule they are following. These two types of syllables are Diphthong Syllables and Schwa Syllables.

It was interesting to me in thinking about this post last night and as I am writing it today to realize that although, I have always been taught about these syllable types in conjunction with learning how to syllabicate (diagram syllables) multisyllabic (2 or more syllables) words. However, 6 of the 8 types will be encountered by readers in single syllable words. All the syllable types except Consonant le and Schwa Syllables can be found in single syllable words. Cat is a Closed Syllable, he is an Open Syllable, white is a Silent e Syllable, meet is a Vowel Team Syllable, mark is an R Controlled Syllable, and boil is a Diphthong Syllable.

The Consonant le syllables are sometimes called Final Stable Syllables because they come at the end of words (final) and they are their own syllable (stable syllable). Since the C-le Syllable contains it’s own vowel sound, it is it’s own syllable, but none of them form complete words. Therefore they cannot be found in single syllable words. Schwa’s are dependent for position on accented syllables within a word. Therefore, to my knowledge no single syllable words would be Schwa Syllables. However, I do know that we as American’s get lazy with our pronunciation of vowel sounds within words at times and therefore may have created some schwa single syllable words based purely on dialect instead of English rules.

Okay let’s get to the subjects of the day, Diphthong and Schwa Syllables. I will discuss both of these individually. We will talk about what they are, why they are not always included in Syllable Type lists and how they effect readers’ decoding and pronunciation skills and abilities. First up, Diphthong Syllables.

Diphthong Syllables

Diphthong Syllables are not always included in syllable lists and programs because not all programs, teachers, people, differentiate between diphthongs and vowel teams. Remember, a vowel team is technically a team of two vowels that follow the rule “when two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking’ and says it’s name’. Vowel teams therefore would only include ie, oe, ai, ee, ea, and most programs would include ay here. I don’t love that inclusion because y is not a vowel. I would personally be more likely to include ue because both letters are vowels and follow the rule for the u saying it long vowel sound and the e being silent. I am honestly not sure why programs do not include ue, unless it is because it is not common. Another possible reason may be because according to some articles I have read, the e is in words like true, is not a part of a vowel team, but an obscure use of silent e because English words don’t end in u.

Merriam Webster defines a diphthong as “linguistics : a gliding (see GLIDE entry 1 sense 4) monosyllabic speech sound (such as the vowel combination at the end of toy) that starts at or near the articulatory position for one vowel and moves to or toward the position of another”. So, a diphthong has a sound that includes two sounds blended or glided over together, but not really a blend of the two sounds the letters would make individually as in blends like bl, tr, fl, etc. Also, there are still two different sounds instead of two letters coming together to make one new sound like digraphs sh, ch, ph, th, wh. Here are the most common diphthongs I think of; oi as in oil, oy as in boy, au as in sauce, aw as in saw, ou in sound, and ow in low or cow.

One thing to keep in mind about the diphthongs oi and oy are that they make the same sound. Another thing is that oi is generally at the beginning of or in the middle of words like oil and soil. Lastly, oy is generally at the end of words like boy or enjoy (en-closed syllable, joy-diphthong syllable).

With au and aw they again make the same sound like oi and oy. This time it is au that is typically found at the beginning of or in the middle of words like audit (aud-diphthong syllable, it-closed syllable) and sauce. And aw comes generally at the end of words like saw and slaw.

Ou and ow are the same as au and aw in respect to having the same sound and the second letter determines their placement in words. Ou is found in the middle of words like found and at the beginning of words like out. Ow is found at the end of words like cow and endow (en-closed syllable, dow-diphthong syllable). The unique thing about ow is that is has two sounds. It makes it’s traditional matching sound to ou in bow (bending at the waist as a sign of respect, pride or gratitude), but also a long o sound in snow and bow. So, this is one spelling that it is important to teach children both sounds for from the beginning. That way when they come to the word b-o-w, they can use both pronunciations and context from the text to determine the correct sound to use.

The most important thing to do in regards to diphthongs and growing readers is to teach them the sound or sounds for these letter combinations so that they will start to recognize then as a sound unit instead of two separate letter sounds. One activity you can use to help your reader start to recognize these letter combinations as a single unit is after a lesson on them have them find all of that combination on a page of a book they are reading or a printed passage or in a magazine or newspaper. You can just have them find as many as they can for 1 minute, so it doesn’t become a huge laborious task. And, if you are using an authentic text (one you are reading anyway or a magazine or newspaper) instead of a decodable text (one devoted to specific letter or letter combination sounds) they may not find any. That is okay, just looking for them will help them make the connection to look for and see these letters as one letter sound unit.

The importance of knowing that diphthong’s form a syllable is that it reiterates to readers that every sounded vowel is a syllable. Syllabicating words with diphthongs in them helps readers become more fluent in recognizing these letter pairs (all of them have two letters as the root di- at the beginning of the word shows. Di- means two.) Fluently recognizing these letter combinations and being fluent in knowing their sound or sounds will greatly aid you growing reader as they encounter longer and more complex words in their reading journey.

2. Schwa Syllables

Schwa Syllables are syllables when the single vowel in the syllable makes a distorted sound. The sound it makes is the short u sound of /uh/. This can happen with any vowel. To be completely honest schwa’s are very complicated to explain thoroughly for me. That is because the placement of a schwa sound has to do with accented and unaccented syllables. I think that it is very valuable to teach young children about accented and unaccented syllables. I think it is less helpful to try to teach older, struggling readers. The reason behind this is that young children can learn new things easily, in most cases, and can therefore, most likely, be taught to hear the accent in words fairly easily. However, for older people like myself or my middle school students who have not been exposed to accented syllables and have not been trained from an early age to hear the accent, it can be VERY difficult to learn.

Different ways to syllabicate the word banana.

The most critical thing to teach students about the schwa syllables and schwa in general is again the sound it makes. That way growing readers have another option for when they are decoding (sounding out) unknown words and the actual vowel sound as dictated by the syllable type (open or closed) doesn’t work. For instance in the word banana, you can syllabicate it a few different ways, ban-an-a, ba-na-na, ba-nan-a. According to open and syllable types and the vowel sounds each uses (closed syllables have 1 or more consonants after the vowel and use short vowel sounds, open syllables end in a vowel and use long vowel sounds), the pronunciation of the word changes based on which syllabication you use. The first option, ban-closed, an-closed and a-open would be pronounced ban-an-ay, not how we say the word. The second option, ba-open, na-open, and na-open would be pronounced bay-nay-nay, still not how we say the word. The last option, ba-open, nan-closed, and a-open would be pronounced bay-nan-ay, our last option (and the correct one), but still not how we say the word. Insert schwa syllables and we can finally get to the correct pronunciation. Because the middle syllable is accented (said with more force) it is pronounced correctly as a closed syllable with a true short a sound. However, the unaccented first and last syllables both use the schwa sound of /uh/ for the a. Therefore, we finally get our pronunciation of the word as buh-nan-uh. And the syllables are ba-schwa syllable, nan-closed syllable, a-schwa syllable.

To review, our last two syllable types are diphthongs and schwas. These are most important in helping readers have additional sounds for decoding (sounding out) words. Both of these syllable types are important and I believe that they should be included when teaching syllable types. How deep you go beyond the sounds of the diphthongs and the schwa depends on the needs of your readers and the complexity of the texts they have progressed to.

If you have taught these syllable types to your child or class, how did it go? If you found this information helpful please like this post! Please share your thoughts and experiences below so that we can continue to learn together!

Education Parenting

5 Things to Listen for When Your Child Reads

June 25, 2020 By AudreaLeave a comment

The girls working on their AMI assignments!

I have been working with both girls on their reading and with my sister and niece on helping her become a proficient reader as well. In thinking about this journey with these precious girls, I have thought of 5 different things that parents or teachers should listen for when they listen to their readers. I know that it is vital to correct readers as they read so that they do not develop compensation strategies or learn bad or incorrect reading habits. However, if you don’t know what you are listening for or what to do when you do hear your child make mistakes then it can feel like a useless and frustrating experience. So, I have put together a few things to listen for and some possible causes and correcting strategies for those specific mistakes.

Mispronunciation of letter sounds

If your child is reading and they read an unknown word with one mispronounced sound, like reading last instead of the list, pat instead of put or sit instead of lit, then the first step would be to ask then to sound out the word. If they sounded it out to begin with, but read one of the sounds incorrectly, ask them to sound it out again. If the wrong sound is used again, ask the reader to spell the word. Then have them sound it out again. If they are still using the incorrect sound, ask them the sound of the letter they are miscueing on. If they give the correct sound have them sound out the word again. Repeat this until they use the correct sound with each letter. If they give you the wrong sound for the miscued letter, give them the correct sound and have them repeat the sound to you a few times. Then have them sound out the word again. Once they have sounded out the word correctly continue on.

If this is an extremely frustrating process for your child you might just note the miscued word and letter. Then work on it at a better time when they are fresh and are less likely to reach frustration level. Also, always note the letters that your reader miscues on, especially if it is the same letter/letters repeatedly. Then at a separate time work on the sound of that letter to increase automaticity of the sound. Often when a reader is making this kind of miscue they may know the sound the letter makes (they have accurate knowledge of the sound), but they do not have instant recall of it (they do not have automatic knowledge of the sound).

2. Word Calling

My oldest tends to start doing this when she gets tired of reading. My youngest does it when she’s reading at the upper level of her independent reading band or she is intimidated by what she is reading or her audience. Word calling is when a reader looks at the first or first couple of letters and then just calls a word from their oral vocabulary that matches that letter or beginning like saying instance for ice, or yellow for yelling, or accentuate for accident. That last one may seem unlikely for you, but I have certainly heard something similar from my oldest. She has a large oral vocabulary that far exceeds to her sight word vocabulary. If you are not sure what sight word vocabulary is, I explain it more in my post on Orthographic Mapping. So, once she’s tired of reading and sounding out words she will just sound out the first couple letters and then pull a word form her oral vocabulary and use it instead of whatever is actually written on the page. The most remarkable thing is that even with doing this and often making the mistake talked about in number 5 she manages to gain the gist of the story and typically have remarkable comprehension!

One strategy that I have seen for this is from the book Equipped for Reading Success by David Kilpatrick. He talks in it about compensation strategies struggling readers will use and he suggests sometimes having students work out words from the middle out or from the end forward. That means choosing one of the syllables from the end or middle and covering the rest of the word up and then work from that point to the rest of the word. So, if your readers was word calling the word invisible, you could have them read the consonant le syllable at the end by covering up everything but ble, then add in visi for visible and then add in the prefix to read the whole word invisible.

Another thing I work on with my girls is just telling them to reread and to always be sure to read all the way through the word. I generally use this when it is a shorter word they are word calling with, like saying bath for bird. Another thing to consider if this is happening a lot with your reader is that possibly they are feeling really taxed with the level or amount of reading they are doing in each sitting. So, you can either give them shorter passages to read or easier books for a time in order to increase their sight vocabulary before moving back to the longer or higher level passages or books. You can also just limit the amount they are reading from the same level of text, a chapter instead of the whole book, or a page instead of a chapter or trade off one sentence that you read and one sentence that they read.

3. Sounding out known words

I find that this happens sometimes when a reader gets nervous about a change in their audience or overwhelmed with the text they are reading. Sometimes, I think it also just happens by habit. If a reader has been reading a passage or book, especially if it a decodable text, and they have kept automatically reading a word that is in their sight vocabulary and then all of a sudden they try to sound it out instead, there are usually a few reasons I have noticed. One is that they are paying more attention to who is listening and worrying about their reaction than they are paying to the text or story. Another reason is that they are used to being prompted to sound words out and they revert to that habit. A third and similar reason is that the sentences or page that the student in on has several other words that the reader does have to decode (sound out) and so again they revert to that habit even on a word that they don’t have to use decoding to read.

I find it most helpful to just prompt them to read the whole word at once. Or, if it is a word that has been repeated throughout the text and they have been reading it automatically from their sight vocabulary, I show them one printing of it that they read automatically and the one they just sounded out and show then that they are the same word. I will often interrupt their sounding out to show them the match, so that they do not fully revert to sounding out that word.

4. Using the wrong vowel sounds

Sometimes when a learner is reading they will use a long vowel sound when they should use a short sound or visa versa. This is generally a similar issue to using the wrong sound for one of the letters when sounding out words. You may notice this as a new problem for a reader who has never done it before after introducing long vowel sound words like Open Syllables or Silent e Syllables. Then the learner may over apply those rules and start reading CVC words they never had trouble with before with long vowels, like reading cat as cate or pick as pike. This is again a problem with having accurate knowledge of a vowel rule, but not automatic knowledge. This can best be addressed with additional practice with a blending board and going back and forth between open and closed syllables like he and hen and practice with words like can and then adding a Silent e and making the word cane. As the reader gets more practice with activities like this their knowledge grows from accurate to automatic.

5. Reading the wrong word with the correct letters

This is the hardest one for me to give suggestions on. First, let me tell you what I mean by it. This is when a reader reads left for felt. So, they have seen all the letters and are using the correct sounds for them, but they have reordered them in their brain and called the wrong word. The best hope here would be that the reader would be paying enough attention to the story or passage that they would recognize their error when the sentence no longer makes sense. Sadly, that is not always the case.

The first thing I would try when this happens is to simply stop the reader and tell them to reread the sentence that the incorrect word was in. If the reader doesn’t correct their mistake then I would ask them to tell me the meaning of the sentence and reread again. I would do this to see if that causes them to correct their misread. If it still doesn’t correct their mistake then I would have them sound out that specific word. At times I have had readers who struggle a lot with this difficulty, sound the word out correctly and still say the misread word. So, the child reading left incorrectly as felt would correctly sound out /l/ /e/ /f/ /t/ and then when blending together into the word would still say felt. I would ask them to try again a couple of times. If it still doesn’t work, I will sound out the word orally to the student and see if that causes them to hear left instead of felt. If that still doesn’t work, I will ask them to say the sounds and ask them if that makes the word felt or left. Often by this point, especially if they are listening and not looking at the word they will call the correct word. The last thing I try to do for this is to have the child tell me the word again and then spell it for me to help move them to completing their orthographic mapping of that word.

Now you have a few specific things to listen for when listening to your growing readers. And some strategies that will help you help them outgrow some of these limiting habits. Also, here are a few of my biggest take aways from working with readers:

Some accurate reading is better than a lot of inaccurate reading
Never be afraid to let readers read easier text on occasion to build confidence and alleviate compensating habits
Be sure to encourage and compliment as often as you corret
Use as many authentic reading opportunities as possible for practice, (reading to younger students, reading directions, reading a recipe, etc.)

Let me know if you have encountered any of these struggles with your readers. If you try any of these tips to help them overcome these troublesome habits, please share how it goes.

Education Faith Parenting

School This Fall

June 24, 2020June 24, 2020 By Audrea1 Comment

This is my absolute favorite first day of school picture!! Whitley was headed to First Grade, Brinley to Pre-K, and Adam to his second year in our hometown district. We were all at school (at least the same district) together! It was one of those perfect moments that you cherish and want to freeze in time. In a lot of ways I still wish it would have frozen. If it had frozen I wouldn’t be faced with all the churning emotions I am facing now! This day was the beginning of a dream come true for our family. Adam was finally a full time coach, I was working in Title I which was more aligned with my strengths in data analysis, remediation and coaching and both girls were blissfully headed to a new beginnings at the elementary school I went to and in the district both Adam and I graduated from!

However, nothing about that moment did freeze. The girls are older and facing new dimensions in their education that have me constantly working to stay ahead of them in knowing how best to teach them and help them grow. I am also constantly wondering and evaluating what kind of an education would best meet their needs and help magnify their strengths while strengthening their weaknesses. Adam has stepped away from coaching due to some differences in his faith and feelings and the direction some parts of the athletic department were going. I am now back in the classroom in the Middle School teaching remedial reading. All of these things, topped off with home and virtual schooling through the Corona Virus last spring and the uncertainties of what school will be like in the fall, have made our upcoming return a source of continued angst for me.

I loved the chance to be at home and be the girls’ teacher. There were certainly difficult days as they adjusted to my expectations and I adjusted to their needs. All that while working with my own students online. No matter how difficult the day was, I still loved the chance to be there with them. And they benefited from the chance to have that small group or individual instruction tailored to their needs. As always I want to take EVERY opportunity to recognize the AMAZING teachers my daughters have had and the TREMENDOUS heart and impact they have given and had on the girls. I will never be able to thank them for all that they have and continue to do for the girls. However, my momma’s heart tugs at me every time I think of another year of spending so little time with them and giving up the chance to help them individually and give them such specialized and strategic teaching as can only be afforded in such a low teacher/student ratio.

On top of those concerns, we have the uncertainty of what school will even look like in the fall. Will we all have to wear masks? Will the girls have school every day? Will I be teaching students in the classroom or on the computer or both. Our district is getting a new superintendent for the 2020-2021 school year. And, although, I am ecstatic about this addition to our district, she doesn’t start until July 1st and that means planning for the fall is going much slower than I would like it to. As of today I only have 6 weeks until I return to school for in-service, but I have no idea what school will look like for myself or my daughters when they return in 7 weeks.

In addition to this Adam is contemplating a return to coaching and has made some soft steps in that direction, while still pursuing some other out-of-education options. However, as with our plan for school in the fall, none of that is nailed down for him either. He was on the brink of a job offer the week our state closed down for Covid-19. That job offer still stands tentatively depending on the continued upswing of the company as we start to emerge from shut down.

All of this uncertainty and a longing to be a greater part of my daughters’ lives, education and faith have left me anxious and, quite honestly, full of dread for the upcoming start of school. BUT, God is sovereign, good and LOVE. He loves my daughters more than I do and He has a plan for our family even if we don’t know what it is or if it doesn’t seem to be one we want. So, day after day, I choose to praise Him and leave my cares at His feet. I have to do it day by day and honestly sometimes minute by minute. He is faithful, but my faith is wavering. Yet, I press on towards the upward call of Christ Jesus. I strive to remember all of this is fleeting and temporary and He will give me enough time in those fleeting moments with my babies. He will establish us in Him and that is an establishment that cannot be shaken or overcome.

These are the struggles I am facing today. What are you trusting God to be working out on your behalf? Please share so I can pray for you and your journey of faith!

Education Health Parenting

Essential Minerals are Changing our Lives!

June 16, 2020 By AudreaLeave a comment

I have heard and read a lot about natural remedies and health options. I was raised taking “sugar pill” homeopathic medicine. They weren’t really sugar pills, they were natural medicine from God’s creation and they really worked. My husband was raised in a family of nurses who are fully trained in western and synthetic medications. I believe both of these things have an important place in our lives and health. I believe that we should always seek natural first, but be willing to consider manmade or synthetic when we need them!

Before, I say anything else. I want be clear about a few things. My husband is very good about wrangling my experimental nature in with the wisdom of the necessity of researching FIRST. I am not a medical expert of ANY kind. I am not recommending ANYTHING for you, I am just sharing what has made such a big difference for myself and my daughter. This information would hopefully empower you to have a conversation with your doctor or to do your own research for things that might help you improve your and your children’s well being!

Since, I love all things natural based, I have experimented a couple of times with making my own toothpaste. One of the ingredients in the recipe I use is Trace Mineral Drops. I ordered the brand recommended on the Weed ’em and Reap website that I got my toothpaste recipe from. So, we use Concentrace Trace Mineral Drops.

Since, I love learning and I love my daughters, they have been one of the things that have propelled me further and further into research on natural remedies for everything from cavities to sleep to focus to reading. Both our girls have had WAY more tooth decay (a.k.a. cavities) than I ever expected. I haven’t had a cavity yet and my husband has only had about 4. So, when our oldest had 7 at the age of 5 I started looking for natural ways to help and that led me to the toothpaste.

This same daughter also struggles with attention and focus and sleep. As, I have done more researching and reading I have read a lot about the importance of magnesium for a huge range of things in our bodies. Some of those are sleep and calm. As I read more and more about this mineral, I remembered the drops we had in the pantry for making toothpaste and I looked to see which minerals they included.

They include magnesium, chloride, sodium, potassium and sulfate, lithium and boron. The highest percentage of all of these? You guessed right! Magnesium. Since, our oldest struggles with sleep she would/will often struggle with getting tired. Tiredness for her would be manifested in extra or hyper energy, crankiness and low to absolutely no emotional control. So, after a lot of discussion AND consulting with their pediatrician, we tried giving some of these drops to the girls. We just wanted to see if they would help with any of the attention or emotional control issues our oldest was having. We gave the drops to both girls just to keep things even, and they are essential minerals so it seemed like they’d benefit anyone.

This particular brand of drops tell you on the bottle that they have a strong flavor and they’re telling the truth! So, we started with mixing a pediatric dose into a lunch box sized cup of apple sauce. It worked perfectly as long as all of the applesauce got eaten. This usually wasn’t an issue unless we forgot about it until a full breakfast had been eaten. Also, occasionally the girls got tired of eating applesauce. What we have currently settled on after trying many things from mixing with honey to diluting in water is to fill a 2 ounce cup with juice (apple juice does not work, grape and a mango mix work the best for us) and adding the drops. We have also increased the amount of drops our oldest takes from the pediatric (ages 1-3) dose to just under 1/2 a dose (she takes between 12-15 drops a day). Everyone seems to be pleased with this method and they are still able to get it down if we forget until after breakfast.

These drops have had a BIG impact on our daughter’s well being. She is better able to regulate her emotions when she has them. These and lavender oil rubbed on her feet or behind her ears also help her sleep better at night. We also use epsom salts in her baths if she seems over tired or extra keyed up. We have tried other magnesium options like gummies, but they do not have the same effect for her. When we were doing the gummies instead of the drops she had a pretty major emotional episode with no real apparent reason. But, when she has the drops those episodes become decidedly less frequent. So, for our family these drops are the only way for us to give her the magnesium she seems to need to balance her emotions, will, and abilities.

Even though the drops were working well for our daughter, I still kept learning and reading as much as I possibly could on more things that would help her or just natural things we might need in order to support our bodies to do the things God calls us to do. One thing that kept coming up when I would read about magnesium was it’s ability to help mom’s with their energy levels, quality of sleep and emotional control (it is said to help alleviate anxiety and possibly depression). So, since it had helped our daughter so much and since I was struggling a LOT with anxiety this past school year (even before Covid-19 hit!!) I decided to try taking the drops myself. We are always trying to stay on a budget and I especially have trouble using extra things that I might not “need” that will end up costing us extra money. That is why I was hesitant to try the drops at first, I wanted them to last as long as possible for the girls. For that reason, the first time I started to take them I would only take half of a dose. And, honestly it seemed to intensify my emotions, so I stopped. Then I was struggling again and reading more and more about how this specific mineral was supposed to help. I also think it was during this time also that I read a post about something Adrienne at Whole New Mom had tried once that didn’t work, but she tried again because it was supposed to and it did. Those things combined together to push me to try the drops again and commit to taking them for a month. I took a full dose every morning and they REALLY started to make a difference. The best way that I can describe it was that it felt like I was lifting my head up out of a heavy fog that I had been living under. It started to feel like there was possibility in life again and I wasn’t sad and overwhelmed all the time.

Recently, we were running low on drops and I hadn’t ordered more yet. So, I stopped taking them to make sure we didn’t run out for the girls. Since our schedules have been rather scattered since March, it took longer than usual to order, and I went awhile without them. I also managed to hurt my shoulder somehow during this time. The pain from my shoulder was going through my back and growing despite my efforts to stretch it out. The essential oils I was putting on my shoulder would help at night, but by the end of the day I was in more and more pain. The new drops came in and I had a day where I just felt awful all day. I skipped my workout in the morning and just dragged, had no energy and more and more pain in my shoulder throughout the day. That night I took a double dose of the drops and went to bed early. My pain was greatly relieved the next day and I felt like my energy was really starting to come back. I have not missed a dose since then. I even got up out of bed one night when I realized I had forgotten to take any that day.

These drops and more specifically, in my OPINION, magnesium have really made a world of difference for our family. In helping both my daughter and I regulate our emotions much better and giving us better rest. I sleep so much heavier and feel like I get much higher quality sleep when I take these drops, especially if I take them at bedtime. I have not switched to taking them at night yet, but I am certainly contemplating it. I wanted to share this with you to give you something to discuss with your doctor or for you to research for yourself if you are struggling with sleep, calm, energy or anxiety. Please do not take my word in deciding to take these drops or anything like them, use wisdom and the professionals in your life to guide your journey! Also, I want to be completely transparent. I still get tired, today in particular has been pretty rough! In addition, our daughter is still her super energetic-anti-sleep-try anything and always has a better and different way of doing things-self. BUT, this mineral must really be as important as I’ve read and these drops have really helped both of us be able to regulate life better. What minerals have you found to be essential to your well being or that of your children? Where do you find reliable information on natural options to optimize health? Please share in the comments below to help us continue learning together!

Education Science of Reading

Syllable Types, Part 1

June 16, 2020July 2, 2020 By Audrea2 Comments

According to different programs there are always 6 different syllable types, but there can be as many as 8. The six basic syllable types are Closed Syllables, Open Syllables, Silent e Syllables, R Controlled Vowel Syllables, Vowel Team Syllables and Consonant le or c-le Syllables. Other programs add Diphthong Syllables and Schwa Syllables. Today we will discuss what each of the basic 6 syllable types are and why knowing them is important to helping learners on their reading journey.

First let’s talk about what the syllable types are and what they mean to reading. The syllable types are simply a way of identifying the role of the vowel in each syllable and informs the reader of which vowel sound to use in each syllable. It will tell the reader if the single vowel is long or short. It also tells the reader which of two vowels are sounded if there are multiple vowels in a syllable. The last thing it tells the reader is if the sounded vowel makes a sound that is different from it’s long or short sound as in the case of c-le, r controlled, diphthong and schwa syllables. Now we will talk about what each of the basic 6 syllable types are.

Closed Syllables

The first syllable type children learn to read are closed syllables. This is because the first kind of words children are typically taught are CVC (consonant, vowel, consonant) words. These are the most basic form of closed syllables. A closed syllable is simply a syllable that ends in a consonant. A lot of people remember what a closed syllable is, by remembering that the vowel is closed in by a consonant. This syllable type always uses the short sound for the vowel in the syllable. It is a syllable with a single vowel that is followed by a consonant. Simple examples of this are am, cat, get, and hut. This rule for a closed syllable using a short vowel sound is the reason for some otherwise seemingly extra letters in words like letters. It may seem redundant to have two t’s in the word letters until you realize that the syllable break comes between the two t’s and if there was only one t then it could change the word to having a long e sound and then the pronunciation would change to match the word liters.

To review, a closed syllable is a syllable with one vowel that is followed by one or more consonants. Some more examples are in, kit, snack and the first syllable FIDdle.

2. Open Syllables

The next syllable type children are typically taught is open syllables. They are the opposite of closed syllables. In these syllables the last letter is a vowel. So, these syllables are often remembered as the vowels being open to say their names (long sounds). Remember you can use whatever terms you would like to use to help your individual learner or learners remember these syllable types. But, be careful to call things by their proper names as often as possible (long sound instead of a vowel saying it’s name) to help your learner progress faster and have fewer “new” things to learn. I discuss this idea more thoroughly in my post on Silent e.

3. The third syllable type we will discuss is Silent e Syllables.

Silent e syllables are syllables that have an e at the end of the syllable that make the other vowel in the syllable make it’s long sound as in the words make and hike. One thing that can be kind of tricky for learners when they are syllabicating with Silent e Syllables is that sometimes, when the Silent e syllable comes at the beginning or the middle of the word (when it is not at the end of a word), the e may get dropped. This depends on what comes after the Silent e Syllable. These are still Silent e Syllables even though the e is missing like the middle syllable in misTAKen, or the first syllable in LIKing.

4. R Controlled Syllables

R controlled syllables are syllables that have a vowel follwed directly by an r. Whenever a vowel is followed by an r it makes a different sound than it’s long or short sound or sounds (remember a makes two short sounds, /a/ as in cat and /o/ as in all, and u makes two long sounds /U/ as in cute and /oo/ flute). The trickiest part of r controlled vowels is that three of them make the same sound. This actually simplifies things for reading, but it complicates spelling a bit. er, ir and ur all say /er/ as in fern, bird, and urn. ar and or are easier to remember and distinguish because they generally have their own unique sounds, ar says the sound /are/ and or says the sound of the word it spells /or/. There are sometimes like in the words, word or world, when or says /er/ like er, ir and ur. But, generally, these two r controlled vowels have their own sound. Once your reader has mastered their letter names and sounds it is a good idea to start teaching them the sounds of the digraphs (two letters that come together to make a new sound) wh, ph, sh, th and ch, and the r controlled vowels along with other letter combinations that make specific sounds that are separate from their individual sounds.

5. Vowel Team Syllables

Vowel teams are two vowels that are side by side that follow the rule of, when two vowels go walking the first one does the talking and says it’s name. (Okay, I know, more cutesy stuff, I told you it’s a hard habit to break!!) There are only 6 true vowel teams, although some programs include some diphthongs (letter combinations that include vowels that make a different sound like oi, oy, aw, ow, au, and ou) in their vowel team list. The 6 true vowel teams are ai, ea, ee, ie, and oe. You will find words like said, head, and cutie that bring up either exceptions or other rules for these letter combinations. But these combinations typically follow the rule of the first vowel being long and the second vowel being silent as in mail, sea, see, pie, and toe. So, teaching your reader that these teams make one sound and that sound is the long sound of the first vowel is a reliable reading rule for them to lean on.

6. Consonant le Syllables

Consonant le Syllables are found at the end of words and I have heard them actually called final stable syllables. This syllable type falls into one of those lesser known reasons or rules for a Silent e that I mentioned in that previous post. These syllables actually have a distorted or schwa vowel sound to them. The vowel sound for all of these is a short /oo/ sound. Words like stable, wobble, fiddle, indelible have a consonant le syllable as their final syllable. This syllable type will only be found at the end of multisyllabic words as they cannot stand alone as their own word and they always occur at the end of a word. The only possible exception to these being at the end of a word would be if a suffix has been added after it or it is a compound word like stablehand.

Although, some programs include the two other syllable types of Schwa and Diphthongs and I certainly think they are worth discussing, I will save them for another post. This one covers the 6 basic syllable types and includes a lot of information to digest in one sitting. I also plan to do a post on how to syllabicate or diagram syllables within words to help your reader decode longer and more complex words.

Education

Silent e, Rules and Reasons

June 9, 2020 By Audrea3 Comments

Silent E: Teaching Kids the Whole Truth - All About Reading

Today we are talking all about silent e. I recently read an email form Children Learning to Read about 5 reasons silent or magic e is used. One of them, I think we all knew, some of the others, I knew, but don’t always or often think about, and some were completely new to me. Since all of these rules will help your child and you learn to become a stronger reader and writer/speller, I thought I would share!

You may notice me using silent e and magic e interchangeably, you may notice the same things with a vowel saying it’s name or long sound. That is because I have had years of teacher training that taught me all these cute sayings to use with young children. I am trying to get away from doing that and using the “grown up” or real terms for things now. But, it is a hard habit to break. I am trying to break it because it causes unnecessary confusion and unnecessary relearning for children. An example of this is that traditionally, children first learn that vowels only make one sound (their short sounds). Then, we teach them that vowels are actually special letters that make two sounds. This is when we tell them that vowels say their names. Later, the child has to learn that those first sounds they learned that vowels make are called short sounds. After that, they learn that vowels names are called their long sounds. Next, they have to learn that a actually has two short sounds and u has two long sounds. Are you exhausted yet!?! Imagine if you were 5 or 6! This progression is not really necessary. I have found that if we expose children to all of their learning from the beginning and only expect mastery of the part that we are focusing on, they learn much more quickly and actually have fewer things to learn. Doing it this way with vowels streamlines things very nicely for learners. Children learn from the beginning that a and u have three sounds, and that e, i and o have two sounds. As they are mastering those sounds we start calling them long and short. Once a child has mastered listing/producing all of the sounds for each of the letters, we can move on to now expecting them to learn and know which are called short and which are called long. This won’t take long because the child has been hearing this information all along. In addition, a child reaches mastery of all the sounds of the letters much more quickly and has more tools to help them read more words more quickly (even before they’ve learned all the rules).

Back to the rules or reasons for using a silent e at the end of words in the English language. We will start with the one that we are all most familiar with:

Use a silent e at the end of a word to make the other vowel in the syllable make it’s long sound.

I say the other vowel in the syllable because this rule is used in single syllable words such as make or site, and multisyllabic words such as awake or antiquate. But, the silent e will always come at the end of the last syllable of the word, and will only affect the other vowel in that syllable. One thing that helps me keep this straight is the fact that a syllable is “a word or a part of a word with one sounded vowel”. So, even though the word make, which is one syllable, has two vowels in it, only the a is a sounded vowel. Therefore, one vowel sound in the word means one syllable in the word.

2. Use a silent e at the end of a word to make c or g say it’s soft sound.

This is another rule or reason for using a silent e that I knew, but don’t always think of. This is why there is a seemingly irrelevant e at the end of words like manage or essence. When we think of silent e’s as only having the role of the first rule, then these words do not seem to follow the rules and become some of a seemingly unending pile of exceptions in our language. BUT, when we remember the rule that a c or a g followed by an e, i or y makes it’s soft sound, then all of a sudden these “extra” e’s serve a purpose and make sense for the accurate pronunciation and spelling of these words!

This is where my knowledge of silent e’s rules and roles stopped. But the article I read from Children Learning to Read shared 3 more!

3. Use silent e to change the spelling of homophones.

Homophones are words that sound the same, but have different meanings like pair, pare and pear or bear and bare. These are the homophones I have seen and thought of the most. But there are other homophones that includes plural forms of one word and a totally different word that sounds just like the plural. These are words such as pleas (plural of a plea) and please (to make someone happy). Or another and humorous example is moos (two sounds from a cow) and moose (a large four legged animal).

4. Use a silent e because English words do not end in u or v.

This is one, I recognized once I read it and saw examples, but I did NOT know as a rule for our language! Now those rule breaking exceptions of have and give, just aren’t. I know you may be wondering, like I do, why can’t our words end in u or v, and I don’t know! But, as a child who is learning to write and spell, if I know that English words can’t and that when there a u or v as the last sound I hear in a word, I add an e, I’ll spell so many more words correctly like true and blue. AND, they won’t seem like more words in an ever mounting pile of rule breakers! I am a rule follower by nature, but I’m pretty sure even if I wasn’t, I would find these rules comforting! This is because they are like a road map, and the more of them I know the more detailed the map becomes and the easier it is to find my way! On to our last rule!

5. Every syllable has to have a vowel.

I never really thought of this one because the first thing I learned in regards to this (as a teacher, I didn’t learn anything about syllable types or this rule as a child) was the final stable syllable type of consonant le, like –cle, –dle, –fle, etc. These became syllables for me because they had a vowel sound, and I was taught to have my students circle them when we were syllabicating (diagraming the syllables in words). But, I do know, as mentioned earlier, that every syllable has to have a vowel sound. This just takes it one step further and says that it not only has to have the vowel sound, but an actual written vowel. So, even if the e doesn’t make it’s own short or long vowel sound, it is written here to represent the vowel sound in these syllables in words like stable, little, and bottle.

I hope these 5 rules help you gain a better understanding of the reading and spelling rules that really do govern our language. I hope and pray that they help you reduce your pile of exceptions. And, I hope and pray you get to share this knowledge with someone to make their reading and writing journey easier!

Did you know all of these rules? Do you know any more or different rules about silent e? What has been your most astonishing rule to learn about the English language? Please share so we can continue to learn together!

Education Faith

Progress not Perfection!

June 9, 2020 By Audrea2 Comments

This is a quote that is quickly becoming a mantra of mine. The strangest thing about that is that I don’t really even like this quote. Now, I think this is marvelous quote for others to live by and I fully support them in their journeys and think this is an excellent way to be! I am so proud of their progress and learning and ability to focus on and celebrate their growth and want to celebrate with them! But, for myself, I find it HARD to do this! I am a perfectionist and if I spend all of my time celebrating baby steps won’t I just become complacent and never reach perfection?

However, as I encounter some version of this idea in seemingly every area of my life, I am adjusting to becoming open to learning from this! I have truly seen this quote or some version of it almost everywhere. I have seen and read it from Kelsey at Hiitburn and I have seen it in Kevin Hart’s posts (who I started following at @kevinhart4real on Instagram in an effort to learn more about the systemic racism we continue to deal with in our nation (he was not using it in reference to racial issues, I believe it was in reference to his own fitness journey). I have seen a version of it from Ruth Soukup from Living Well Spending Less, and from Alida Quittschreiber at The Realistic Mama. I have even seen it in the Bible in Philippians 3: 12 when Paul says he has not yet attained perfection, but he presses on that he may lay hold of what Christ has laid hold of for him.

When I find something again and again and from some many sources I think it deserves my attention. When I see it in scripture I know it is true. I am trying to listen and to understand it more since I have seen it in all these places! Especially since I have seen it in the one place that truly counts, the Bible!

Here are some things I am taking away from this quote.

1 ~ It can mean starting again after you mess up because it is still progress if you learn something.

2 ~ It can mean taking just the next step in front of you whether it is big or small and not worrying about the whole or big picture when you’re overwhelmed.

3 ~ It can mean being kind to yourself when a baby step is all you can take.

4 ~ It means that a baby step in the right direction is better than doing nothing at all or heading in the wrong direction.

5 ~ It can mean adding things to your healthy eating or workout routine INSTEAD of taking things away.

6 ~ It can mean that a TRUE 80/20 rule really does make a positive impact.

7 ~ It means that slow and sustainable is better than fast and too rigid for long term growth and well being.

Since this quote can be seen in the God inspired Word of Him, I must have something to learn from it. And I am slowly learning that my best IS good enough. I am learning that I don’t have to know all the answers or get it ALL right ALL of the time. I am also seeing that my perfectionism is rooted in a false belief that I can get it ALL right ALL of the time on my own if I’ll just try harder or give up more or be better. The reality is I am frail, incapable and completely fallible on my own. Anything I get right or excel at is because of Jesus working in me to make me more like Him. As I keep my eyes on Him and allow Him to do His work in and through me, I will make progress toward perfection. Unfortunately, I must also realize, as it says in the Bible, that I will continue to war with my “old man” (my sin nature) until heaven. That means mess ups, failures, and falling short. My perfectionist nature HATES this. But if I can accept my frailty and lean on and learn from Christ more because of it, He will help me clean up my messes, learn from my failures and reach beyond my limitations in His strength. So, I will strive for perfection through progress. I will keep my eyes on Jesus and “the joy set before” me. I will strive to take up my cross daily and when the road is a slippery, sloppy mess instead of a straight clear path forward, I will repent, ACCEPT His grace and forgiveness and keep moving forward, “not having attained it… but striving toward” Him!

What are your thoughts on this quote? Is it a comfort or a thorn? Have you seen it work in your own life? Please share so we can learn from each other and move forward together!