Online High School Classes Can be Hard for Dyslexic Students I recently got an email from a grandparent who is raising a student with dyslexia. The student wanted to homeschool. The grandmother felt a need for the support of an online high school. She asked for my advice and this is what I told her. […]
Alfie Kohn Loves Research! Alfie Kohn (@alfiekohn) has a gift for analyzing research and pulling out practical applications for educators and parents. I’ve been impressed with every book of his I’ve read, so I came to The Homework Myth: Why our kids get too much of a bad thing with high expectations. It didn’t disappoint. […]
Sold a Story is important I’ve just finished listening to all six episodes of Emily Hanford’s masterful podcast, Sold a Story. Should educators and concerned parents listen? Yes. Should they take it as gospel truth? No! Keep reading… Children have been harmed! Hanford is a talented and courageous journalist. I am grateful to her for […]
My classroom experiment I was happily teaching yearbook, newspaper and photography classes at a medium-sized high school. Then my principal asked me to teach a special English class that had been mandated by the state. It was a high-stakes class for seniors who had twice failed the state graduation test and now had to pass […]
Dr. Sam is a Wonderful Reading Teacher Resource Thanks to Dr. Sam Bommarito, I was alerted to an incredibly important 2022 paper on reading — full citation included at the end of this blog. One reason I blog is to read research papers and simplify them for those who need the info but don’t have […]
Judge this book by its cover, not by its fonts Opening How Tony Learned to Read: Growing Up Dyslexic, by Tony and Judy Fishel, was a bit of a shock. I was confronted with some paragraphs in large print Comic Sans. It was stunning since I expected another sober case study by a dyslexia researcher. […]
Celebrate School Choice, Including Public School It seems obvious that children, parents, and communities need a variety of educational choices. After all, children and families encounter different needs at different times. Real choice means an opportunity for any child to be unschooled, homeschooled, or attend a private school, traditional public school, or charter school. Trash […]
What’s the Best School Choice? As an educational consultant and tutor, I assist parents in deciding how to provide their children’s education. I ask questions that help the parents define their goals, the children’s goals, the specific needs of their children, and numerous other concerns. Then I help them review the options that are open […]
Expanded Edition Dyslexia Tool Kit Expanded Edition: What to do when phonics isn’t enough, published April 2021, replaces the first edition and costs less! The book is available on Amazon as an ebook or paperback. Dyslexia Tool Kit Expanded Edition includes three new chapters. The new version also answers questions posed by readers of the […]
Wishes Aren’t Enough Students with dyslexia are often wildly creative and productive. They learn with joy and energy. They amaze their teachers and parents. But they can’t do this if they are forced to focus on nothing but their difficulty with written language. Too often, students with dyslexia miss out on the things they do […]