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4 Easy Activities to Improve Reading Skills (Part 1)

August 1st, 2010

Help Your Kids Improve Reading Skills

As a parent you do have the power and ability to help your kids improve their reading skills. There are 4 easy to implement activities that each take just a few minutes a day to improve reading.
  1. Improve reading fluency in 5 minutes a day
  2. Improve spelling and learn the 8 ways we put letters together to make words
  3. Improve reading comprehension by playing a reading comprehension game
  4. Improve writing skills using specially designed graphic organizers
Today I’m going to talk about the first activity you can implement in just minutes a day.

Improve Reading Skills: Reading Fluency Training

Reading fluency training is one of the easiest activities for parents to do with their kids to improve reading skills, and it only takes 5 minutes a few times a week to make a dramatic difference. Reading fluency training works to improve reading skills whether you have LD, dyslexia, are falling through the cracks, or are even gifted. You may not realize how important reading fluency and accuracy is, so here is an example on how it impacts your reading or your child’s reading. For example, you are reading a passage and read Susan can go to the store. You finish reading the selection and go to the questions and there is a question that asks, Why couldn't Susan go to the store? You think to yourself - What…I read Susan can go to the store. This question doesn't make any sense to me. BUT, what the sentence actually said was…Susan can't go to the store. Your eyes skipped the apostrophe t…The whole meaning was lost. That is one of the things that the Five Minutes to Better Reading Skills reading fluency training program corrects. With improved reading fluency, you don’t skip or omit words or parts of words. You don’t miss out on important pieces that are critical to reading comprehension. That is why it is important to have accurate reading for reading comprehension.

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Posted in children with disabilities, dyslexia, family, homeschooling, LD, special education | 4 Comments »

Help for LD, Dyslexic, ADHD Students with Reading Skills, Writing Skills, and Spelling Skills

July 19th, 2010
Parents want to help their kids improve their skills. That is a given as far as I'm concerned. All parents want the best for their children and when learning reading, writing, or spelling is hard they often don't know where to turn. Parents often spend a small fortune seeking the help they need for their child.  I know what it is like, being a parent as well as a teacher. I can't tell you how many times I've purchased materials that haven't worked. That is what I keep in mind when I design materials to use with my struggling (LD, dyslexic, ADHD, or gifted) students - whether they are in 1st grade, 5th grade, 8th grade, high school, or even adult students. I want to create materials that will work, that will improve their reading skills, writing skills, and spelling skills and be affordable at the same time. It truly is one of my passions. Each reading, writing, and spelling product is developed out of the needs of my students and is tested with them to be sure they work. We look at ease of usage and the results the reading, writing, and spelling materials produce. But, I don't want you to take my word for it. After all, I created the materials, although I am truly inspired when I create them, so I can't take total credit at all! What I would like to do is to share what Donna Morello has to say about our program here - our Awaken the Scholar Within Program where I coach you on how to help your children yourself and provide you with the reading, writing, and spelling materials to do so. Because I walk you through the materials - the program, holding your hand so to speak, they work. You are no longer alone just buying something and hoping it will work. With our Awaken the Scholar Within Program you have the opportunity to ask me your questions twice a week. You have every avenue of support available to you. Do yourself a favor and listen in to hear what Donna Morello and Janet Landerholm have to say. Donna Morello Janet Landerholm Awaken Your Scholar Within Today! Give our international office a call today: 530-888-0351

Posted in ADD/ADHD, children with disabilities, dyslexia, family, homeschooling, LD, parenting, reading, spelling, writing | Comments Off

The 5 Critical Steps You Need to Help Your Child Improve Their Learning Skills

July 15th, 2010
For those of you that missed last Wednesday night's call ... I wanted to pass this along as soon as I could.
Here is the link where you can go to listen to the Mid-Summer Activities to Improve Your Child's Skills Teleseminar.
You will want to listen over the next 3 days as it may not be available after that.
You will hear:
  1. Case Studies
  2. A current client talk about her daughter and how this method has changed their lives.
On the call you will learn:
  1. Why children and adults struggle with learning
  2. The Cone of Learning
  3. The 5 critical steps you need to help your child improve their skills
  4. The 6 activities you can do right now to help them improve their skills and still have fun.
Especially for parents wanting to help their:
  1. Struggling learners
  2. Reluctant learners
  3. Learners that take a long time to complete their work
  4. Learners that are 'falling through the cracks'
  5. LD, Dyslexic, ADHD learners
  6. Gifted learners
These activities work with kids of all ages - and even adults, too! Improve reading skills, writing skills, spelling skills, and math skills in minutes a day.
Listen before the recording is taken down!
Bonnie Terry, M. Ed., BCET

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Posted in auditory processing, children with disabilities, dyslexia, family, homeschooling, parenting, phonics, reading, Uncategorized | Comments Off

Mid Summer Training – What You Can Do to Prepare Your Kids for School

July 9th, 2010
Mid Summer Training – What You Can Do to Prepare Your Kids for School I Can Hardly Believe It? Check it out... The FREE Live Teleseminar is filling up fast – Only 100 68 52 Spots left! Reserve your spot now. Mid-Summer Training Call I have had so many calls from parents recently, wondering how to help their child between now and when school starts back up. They realize it’s not too late to give their child a boost, but they also want to be sure they have an enjoyable rest of the summer. So, I decided to have a teleseminar where I will present information on summer activities to help your child's skills improve as well as activities rich in experiences and family time. I'm hosting a FREE Live Teleseminar on Wednesday July 14th at 8 pm Eastern, 7 pm Central, 6 pm Mountain, and 5 pm Pacific. Upon registering you will receive a FREE Handbook on the 5 things you can do to help your child over the summer. Those that attend live will receive a surprise FREE gift. Searching for Mid-Summer Activities to Improve Your Child's Skills and Still Have Fun? FREE Live Teleseminar on Wednesday June 2nd at at 8 pm EST, 7 pm CST, 6 pm MST, and 5 pm PST. Space is limited. You can attend via phone or via internet! Reserve your Teleseminar line now at: Title: Mid-Summer Activities to Improve Your Child’s Skills and Still Have Fun Time: Wednesday, July 14th at 5:00pm Pacific Listening method: Phone + Web Simulcast To attend, visit: Mid-Summer Training Call LD Specialist and Board Certified Educational Therapist Bonnie Terry, M. Ed., is answering your questions about summer activities to help your child improve their skills. The teleseminar will be recorded; if you can't attend, you'll be able to listen later. Plus special surprise bonus just for registering! Those that attend live will receive another surprise FREE gift. Mid-Summer Training Call

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Posted in children with disabilities, dyslexia, family, homeschooling, LD, Learning Disabilities/Learning Difficulties, parenting, special education, speech & language | Comments Off

Searching for Mid-Summer Activities to Improve Your Child's Learning Skills and Still Have Fun?

July 8th, 2010
It’s the almost middle of Summer Vacation and as you know, it is the perfect time to give your child a boost in their learning skills, but you still want to have fun… Join Bonnie Terry’s call and find out what you can do in just 20 minutes a day to boost your child’s reading, writing, and math skills and have fun at the same time. I'm hosting a FREE Live Teleseminar on Wednesday July 14th at 8 pm Eastern, 7 pm Central, 6 pm Mountain, and 5 pm Pacific. Upon registering you will receive a FREE Handbook on the 5 steps you can take to help your child over the summer even if they have a learning problem, LD, dyslexia. The activities and steps are for all age students - kindergarten through adults. Those that attend the Live Teleseminar will also receive a surprise FREE gift. And, of course, if you can’t make it live on the call, you will get access to the recording! Mid-Summer Training Call FREE Live Teleseminar on Wednesday July 14th at 8 pm Eastern, 7 pm Central, 6 pm Mountain, and 5 pm Pacific. Space is limited. You can attend via phone or via internet! Reserve your space for the Teleseminar now at: Title: Searching for Summer Activities to Improve Your Child’s Learning Skills and Still Have Fun? Time: Wednesday, July 14th at 5pm Pacific, 6 pm Mountain, 7 pm Central, 8 pm Eastern. Listening method: Phone + Web Simulcast To register, visit: Mid-Summer Training Call Learn About: 1. How to improve your child's reading, writing, and math skills in just 20 minutes a day 2. 5 steps you can take to help your child 3. Activities to do at home, in the yard, or in your neighborhood Bonnie Terry, M. Ed., BCET

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Posted in ADD/ADHD, auditory processing, children with disabilities, dyslexia, family, Games, homeschooling, LD, Learning Disabilities/Learning Difficulties, parenting, reading, special education, speech & language, Uncategorized | Comments Off

Paragraph Writing for Kids Using Graphic Organizers

June 11th, 2010
Paragraph writing can be daunting for kids, especially the first few times. Often teachers give an assignment to their students such as, "I want you to write a paragraph about..." Unfortunately many kids freeze up and just stare at their sheet of paper, unable to write anything. It's not that they haven't read a lot of paragraphs, but writing a paragraph is a whole other thing. Writing doesn't have to be so hard! There are easy ways to teach paragraph writing, using graphic organizers. Paragraph writing becomes as easy as putting a hamburger together. Their are a few key ideas to use with the graphic organizers and your kids will be on their way to paragraph writing with ease. Watch and see how easy paragraph writing can be. Order your graphic organizer study skills book, Ten Minutes to Better Study Skills today. Bonnie Terry, M. Ed., BCET

Posted in family, grammar, homeschooling, writing | 2 Comments »

Stop the Summer Learning Slide With Grammar Game

June 7th, 2010
Summer stretches out before you. Your kids are excited about being out of school. However, it doesn’t take too long before your kids are claiming they are bored. So, to keep your kids interested over the summer, one of the easiest things to do is to provide fun learning games for your kids. Research has shown that when kids are not involved with learning activities over the summer, their skills don’t just stay where they were at the end of the school year. Instead, your kids lose ground and retention of what they learned over the prior school year. So, one thing you can do to prevent this learning slide, is to play learning games over the summer. Here is a Review of Bonnie Terry's learning grammar game The Sentence Zone written by Lori Seaborg of http://www.FreelyEducate.com: We are having a great time learning grammar. "What?!" you say, "You're having great time in grammar class?" Why, yes. That's exactly what I meant. Thanks to The Sentence Zone, a grammar game designed by Bonnie Terry Learning, grammar can not only be bright and colorful, but as much fun as a game of Monopoly. Here is how it works, as described by Bonnie Terry: If you're looking for a fun way to improve writing and grammar skills, this game is for you! For 2 to 6 players, grades 1st and up. Rules are easily mastered. The Sentence Zone can be played at six levels - from Level 1 in which the player builds a subject and verb sentence, to Level 6 in which the player builds complex sentences with independent and dependent clauses. With over 500 color coded cards, students are sure to be unique and entertaining every time. A great reinforcing individual activity where a player keeps track of his score from day to day, trying to top his previous score, or a great group activity where competition drives creativity and learning. It took me a little while to figure out The Sentence Zone. It wasn't a game that we could play right out of the box. But after reading the directions, and realizing the many directions the game could go, we got started learning our grammar and - enjoying - it! Since enjoyment leads the way to a love of learning, The Sentence Zone is a success in our home. ____________________ So, do yourself a favor, check out The Sentence Zone and Bonnie Terry's other reading game and math game too!

Posted in English, family, Games, grammar, homeschooling, reading games, Reviews | 2 Comments »

Parents Improve Your Kid's Reading Over the Summer

June 5th, 2010
Can you as a parent really improve your child's reading fluency over the summer? Reading fluency training is one of the easiest things for parents to do to improve their child's reading and it can be done in just 5 minutes a day.  Summer is the perfect time for parents to implement a reading fluency program and make a real difference with their child's reading. Sally Shaywitz, author of Overcoming Dyslexia states, "I urge parents of dyslexic children [or any child] to make fluency training - repeated oral reading - their number one priority. Because it involves reinforcement rather than teaching a child a new concept, it is ideally suited for the home." Here is what April from http://homeschoolblogger.com has to say about Bonnie Terry's reading fluency program Five Minutes to Better Reading Skills. We received  Five Minutes To Better Reading Skills to review from Bonnie Terry Learning. I’ve been using the Five Minutes to Better Reading Skills with my 8 year old son.  He’s reading, but still lacks confidence and speed.  He loves doing the speed drills in the book!  He’d rather do that than try to read a book, actually.  It’s partly because it is instant success.  He looks at a list of short words that he can read with over 90% accuracy. Too many beginning reading books throw in harder words every now and then that discourage him. The goal of Five Minutes to Better Reading Skills is to read a list of words (from left to right)  as quickly and accurately as you can within 5 minutes.  The teacher keeps track of how many words are missed, and how many are read within the 5 minutes.  That is used to calculate the "words per minute" rate, and the student’s accuracy.  There is a helpful chart at the beginning that shows what speed different grades should be reading at, so you can judge your child’s reading ability and their progress. A student cannot move onto the next list until they have improved their speed and don’t miss more than 4 words per page. This reading drill helps them begin to "recall" their phonetic sounds more quickly and blend them together quicker.  The drill helps their brain establish better retrieval of words, which helps them read faster, which helps them stay focused on and remember what they are reading.  Reading speed increases reading comprehension.  The harder your brain has to work to actually read the words, the less your brain can remember what you read. Five Minutes to Better Reading Skills includes a spiral-bound softcover teacher’s book and a student book. The teacher uses a plastic overlay and a write-on/wipe-off marker to keep track of the student’s progress.  The books are totally reusable, non-consumable.  The teacher’s manual includes helpful charts for tracking your student’s progress.  The student book and teacher’s guide are sold for $60.00.  This is not a complete phonics program, but is phonetically based and should be used to supplement other phonics programs. He has been doing well, and we will continue mixing the reading drills in with reading practice from books to continue to improve his reading skills. __________________ So,  parents, spend five minutes a day and improve your child's reading skills. Bonnie Terry, M. Ed., BCET

Posted in dyslexia, family, homeschooling, phonics, reading, Reviews | Comments Off

6 Must-do Learning Games & Activities For the Summer

June 3rd, 2010
Can you do your own summer learning program? Should you do your own summer learning program? Fact: More than half of the achievement gap present in 9th grade between lower- and higher-income children can be explained by summer learning loss. Make Learning Stick with learning games and reading fluency training over the summer. There are many things you can do at home to bridge that summer learning gap.
  1. Reading Fluency using Five Minutes to Better Reading Skills…and Yes…it only takes 5 minutes to do. Sally Shawitz, author of Overcoming Dyslexia states, "I urge parents to make fluency training their number one priority."
  2. Take a weekly trip …to the zoo, a local park, the pool, the river, a local factory…and afterwards as a family write down what you did and what your favorite part was…using the fill-in-the-blank forms from Ten Minutes to Better Study Skills and create a booklet to keep for all of your weekly trips.
  3. Do some nature activities such as listening to outdoor sounds, nature rubbings, shape hike, incher hikes … again use the fill-in-the-blank forms from Ten Minutes to Better Study Skills to describe what you found or did.
  4. Activities to do at home like making puppets and putting on a puppet show. Bake cookies together, have a backwards day where you eat dinner in the morning and breakfast in the evening, do add-on-stories. Again write down your favorite things or worse things about the activity.
  5. Have a Game Night or a Game Day…choose learning games…they are fun as well as work on skills. Some great ones are The Sentence Zone (play & learn sentence building and grammar while having fun) , The Comprehension Zone (play & learn reading comprehension and listening comprehension), or the Math Zone (play & math calculation practice).
  6. Read books together…and write a review or report on it, or have a review night where you all act as book reviewers of the book you read.
Check out the books, games, and guides here: Reading Writing Math Bonnie Terry, M. Ed., BCET

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Posted in ADD/ADHD, auditory processing, CAPD, children with disabilities, dyslexia, family, Games, grammar, homeschooling, LD, parenting, reading games, writing | 2 Comments »

Searching for Summer Activities to Improve Your Child's Skills and Still Have Fun?

May 28th, 2010

Summer is quickly approaching and as you know, it is the perfect time to give your child a boost in their learning skills, but you also want to have fun…

Join Bonnie’s call and find out what you can do in just 20 minutes a day to boost your child’s reading, writing, and math skills and have fun at the same time. I'm hosting a FREE Live Teleseminar on Wednesday June 2nd at 8 pm Eastern, 7 pm Central, 6 pm Mountain, and 5 pm Pacific. Upon registering you will receive a FREE Handbook on the 5 things you can do to help your child over the summer. Those that attend the Live Teleseminar will also receive a surprise FREE gift. And, of course, if you can’t make it live on the call, you will get access to the recording! http://www.dyslexiahelpnow.com/summer-training-call/ FREE Live Teleseminar on Wednesday June 2nd at 8 pm Eastern, 7 pm Central, 6 pm Mountain, and 5 pm Pacific. Space is limited. You can attend via phone or via internet! Reserve your space for the Teleseminar now at: Title: Searching for Summer Activities to Improve Your Child’s Skills and Still Have Fun? Time: Wednesday, June 2nd at 5pm Pacific, 6 pm Mountain, 7 pm Central, 8 pm Eastern. Listening method: Phone + Web Simulcast To register, visit: http://www.dyslexiahelpnow.com/summer-training-call/ Learn: 1. How to improve your child's reading, writing, and math skills in just 20 minutes a day 2. 5 things you can do to help your child 3. Activities to do at home, in the yard, or in your neighborhood Bonnie Terry, M. Ed., BCET

Posted in children with disabilities, dyslexia, family, Games, General, homeschooling | 2 Comments »

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