• A classroom scene where students are joyfully participating in the Phonics Time Cheer, with the teacher holding up a phonics sound card. The children are moving, smiling, and fully engaged in the activity, creating a lively and interactive learning environment.

    Get Your Class Cheering: Phonics Time Cheer

    Phonics Time Cheer: A Fun Way to Learn Sounds! Looking for an exciting way to introduce a new phonics sound or concept? Say hello to the Phonics Time cheer! Getting Started: First, I started this little routine with my small groups. Then, it was such a hit that I brought it into the whole classroom. […]

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  • A family at home, with parents guiding their young child as they navigate responsibilities, symbolizing the use of a behavior consequence chart to teach values like kindness and responsibility.

    Behavior Consequences for Kids: A Practical Guide for Parent

    Raising kids is no joke. We all want to be the most effective parents possible, making sure our children grow up with a sense of emotional and physical safety, strong connections, clear boundaries, and plenty of patience. But there’s one area of parenting that often leaves us scratching our heads—how do we instill values or […]

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  • Teacher demonstrating the five pillars of reading instruction: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension, with students engaged in various classroom activities.

    The 5 Pillars of Reading Instruction: A Teacher’s Guide

    As teachers, we know that reading is foundational to all students’ success. Being able to read literally impacts every single subject area. But with so many approaches out there, let’s focus on the five essential pillars of reading instruction. One framework that helps explain the interconnections of the Five Pillars of Reading is Scarborough’s Rope. […]

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  • Preschool child playing with magnetic letters to learn the alphabet and letter recognition.

    5 Simple Tips to Get Your Child Ready for Reading

    Are You Interested in Raising a Reader? Every caregiver dreams of raising a confident reader. But when it comes to getting your preschooler on the path to reading, it can feel like a mystery. How do you turn their curiosity into a love for letters, sounds, and eventually, books? In this post, I’ll share five […]

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  • How to Raise Responsible Kids. A mother and father guiding their young child as they take steps on their own, symbolizing the gradual shift from parental control to child independence.

    How to Raise Responsible Kids: A Step-by-Step Guide for Parents

    One of the biggest goals we have as parents is to raise our children to be successful, responsible adults. But let’s be honest—this doesn’t happen overnight. It requires us to gradually give up some control, allowing our children to gain more freedom and responsibility. Easier said than done, right? Thankfully, Timothy Smith created a Countdown […]

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  • Diagram of the Reading Rope showing the strands of word recognition and language comprehension intertwined to represent the process of reading.

    What is the Reading Rope & How Does It Apply to Me?

    Introduction to the Reading Rope My first exposure to the Reading Rope was at a workshop where we were supposed to “build it” with pipe cleaners. Did a bunch of teachers act like kids and not follow the directions? YES! Did it help me understand the Reading Rope? Well… no. It wasn’t until I learned […]

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