What is Happening in Our Creative Dyslexic's Brain When They Are Learning to Read

As a tutor of dyslexic children, I’m often asked by the parents of my students, “What exactly is dyslexia?”

First, I reply, “Dyslexia is a language processing difference in the brain.” I also like to share Dr. Sally Shaywitz’s definition, “Dyslexia is defined as an unexpected difficulty in learning to read.”

I explain that the “unexpected difficulty in learning to read” is probably how they’re feeling about their child. They know their child is bright, clever, understands things and learns quickly, but for some not understandable reason, reading is very difficult for their child, if not impossible.

They often nod because they do know that feeling.  Their next question usually is, “What is happening in their child’s dyslexic brain when they are trying to read?”

I’ve been studying dyslexia research for almost 4 decades. I feel the real breakthroughs in research in how the brain learns to read began with Stanislas Dehaene’s first book How We Learn published in 2001. Then Sally Shaywitz’s book Overcoming Dyslexia followed in 2003. Her findings were so exciting to me and others. Using fMRI’s, she was able to prove there is a difference in how the dyslexic brain functions from the non-dyslexic brain when trying to read.

There’s still so much we need to learn about our brains, but more and more research is being done every day, and our knowledge of how the dyslexic brain processes information is continually growing. Again, this is so exciting.

Here’s what we do know now and what I share with my parents.

The first step in reading is for the reader to look at and focus on printed letters and words. The eyes send the letters and words off to the brain as energy messages. Messages from the left eye are sent to the right hemisphere of the brain while messages from the right eye are sent to the left hemisphere of the brain.

The visual symbols of individual letters, letter groupings (root words, prefixes, suffixes, blends, consonant digraphs, vowel digraphs/phonograms), and letters forming whole words will be recognized and stored in the “word box area” in the left hemisphere of the brain. Instant recognition of all the letters, letter groupings and whole words is necessary for a person to achieve fluency and automaticity in reading.

The visual messages that are originally sent to the right hemisphere, must be immediately sent through the corpus callosum (a thick bundle of nerves that connects the two hemispheres of the brain) to the “word box area” in the left hemisphere for the brain to quickly and accurately decode the words.

(Please see our previous blog post here on how the brain learns.)

For a dyslexic, these processes don’t always run so smoothly. Often, the transfer of visual messages from the right side to the left side of the brain may not be done efficiently. The dyslexic brain may then attempt to recognize the letters, letter groupings and whole words in the right hemisphere, but that’s not really it’s function and this is best done and more effectively achieved in the “word box area” in the left hemisphere.

The dyslexic brain may also begin sending messages to other locations within the right and/or left hemispheres in search of help in processing the information more quickly. Unfortunately, this leads to further delays in fluency because of the time it takes to send the information and the fact that the other locations are not as efficient at recognizing letters and words as the “word box area”.

Probably you, just as parents of the kiddos I teach, are beginning to picture what is happening in their dyslexic child’s brain.

You may be visualizing how if the “word box area” isn’t able to immediately process the letters and words and isn’t immediately receiving help from the right hemisphere, their brain begins sending messages to other parts of the brain that might be helpful, sort of like rabbits running haphazardly through tunnels in a rabbit warren. 😊

Like my parents, I know you are also feeling just how frustrating this would feel to a bright young learner who understands so many things so easily and yet is completely mystified, and sometimes totally stopped, when trying to read.

Now I know you can probably guess the next question I’m asked – “How will Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”® help my child learn to read, write and spell when nothing else has?”

Let’s start at the beginning here. Silent Elephant “e”® is based on research of Dr. Sally Shaywitz, Orton/Gillingham, Lindamood Bell, Louisa Cook Moats, Pleasant T Rowland, International Dyslexic Association and many others.

This research includes my own personal research with my students for thirty-six years teaching in the classroom. I wanted and NEEDED to know how ALL my students were learning, what they were learning and how what I was doing helped them or didn’t help them.

To this end, after I taught a lesson, I asked, “What did I do that helped you learn, what did I do that confused you, what could I do differently to help you even more?” I took careful notes. I repeated the same questions a day later, a week later, and a month later. I took careful notes each time.

I modified my instruction to meet the needs of each of my students. It was always my intent to do better and help EVERY child learn quickly and easily.

When I wrote Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”®, I reflected on all the knowledge I had gained from my students and all the research on teaching of reading, writing and spelling and dyslexia.

Silent Elephant “e”® is a comprehensive reading program based in the science of reading and all the latest research in and about the dyslexic learner.

Silent Elephant “e”® teaches ALL learners the way they learn to read, write and spell best! For our dyslexic learners, Silent Elephant “e”®, teaches them the only way they CAN learn to read, write and spell easily and quickly.

Silent Elephant “e”® provides total immersion in a precisely organized, multi-sensory phonemic awareness and phonics program using visual stimulation, auditory stimulation, and kinesthetic stimulation—in other words, using “the whole body”—to learn. 

This immersion is THE WAY our dyslexic children activate their “word box area” so that their brain immediately and effectively learns to identify letters and words. This immersion is THE WAY they learn to read fluently and successfully. On top of that, it’s fun!

This total immersion is also THE WAY EVERY child learns best to learn to read, write and spell, and it’s FUN.

All children, including our dyslexics, who learn to read with Silent Elephant “e”® quickly become independent readers achieving automaticity and fluency in reading, writing and spelling. They become so confident and self-assured they don’t question that they’ll be successful.

These are the answers that help the parents of my dyslexic kiddos relax and begin to enjoy their children becoming successful, happy readers.

Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”® is a wonderful win/win/win for everyone, dyslexics, non-dyslexics AND their parents.

Contact us at silentelephante@gmail.com 

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How Our Brain Learns to Read and What this Means for Our Wonderful Dyslexics

As we keep up with the latest research in reading, writing and spelling and teaching our dyslexic students, it feels good to continue to find confirmation that Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”® has always been on the leading track teaching ALL children to read, write and spell in the way the is the best way for them to learn.

We have studied the latest research from Sally Shaywitz, one of the world’s preeminent experts in reading and dyslexia, which again supports all the processes and activities in Silent Elephant “e”®

Most recently we have enjoyed reading the book How the Brain Learns by Stanislas Dehaene. It was a fun read, though not a fast read, and one where I took many notes.

Dehaene is a cognitive neuroscientist who has done extensive research into how the brain learns to read.

Through using MRI scanning, he has watched how our brains process words and meaning, and he has observed how our brains change as we learn to read. He has also observed how a dyslexic’s brain creates and utilizes new pathways as it learns to read. His work has been an eye-opener for many educators.

Again, Dehaene’s work validates our own research and experience with the success our students have when they are taught to read, write and spell with Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”®.

I’m eager to share some of my notes from Dehaene for two reasons.

First, I think you’ll find his research interesting.

Second, I think his research is important for all of us as educators, whether homeschool, public or tutor. It’s important that we ALL know how to teach reading, writing and spelling the way the brain learns BEST.

Here are some highlights from Dehaene’s book, How the Brain Learns, that I think will be helpful.

Word processing (reading) begins in our eyes in the center of our retina.

When our brain receives what our eyes are looking at, it begins the task of decoding a word in this order of analysis:
-single letter
-bigram – pair of letters working together (blends, consonant digraphs, vowel digraphs/phonograms, vowel diphthongs)
-grapheme - written symbol of a sound
-syllable (I tell kids, “A syllable is like a “puzzle piece” of a word having only one vowel sound.”)
-morpheme - smallest meaningful unit of grammar with meaning that cannot be broken down into smaller units
-whole word
-mental dictionaries

This visual system of our brain progressively “mines” and “digs” for meaning, looking for the graphemes, syllables, prefixes, suffixes and root words in what it is seeing.

I tell my kiddos as they progress to learning prefixes, suffixes and root words, that researchers have proven that the best readers “excavate” for root words and affixes first when decoding a word. We pretend we’re miners looking for gold as we search for prefixes, suffixes, then root words!

The images that our eyes are seeing are sent as electrical energy to the part of our brain referred to as the “brain’s letterbox”, “word form box” or “visual word form area”. All our visual analysis, turning this electrical energy back into letters and words, is happening in this part of our brain which is located in the lower back left hemisphere in the temporal-occipital cortex.

As our reading ability grows, activation of our “letter box” grows and this increasing activation correlates with our accuracy and fluency and reading grade level. In other words, the more we learn the more this part of our brain can do what it does. It changes as we learn.

Amazingly, and simultaneously, our brain is converting what it’s seeing in print into sound. It’s “sounding out” the words.

When our brain has identified the letters and words, it transmits that information to 2 major sets of brain areas:
- our temporal lobe which encodes sound and
- our frontal lobe which encodes meaning.

Then, once the letter/sound recognition has been established, our brain begins to search for the meaning of not just the words, but phrases and sentences related to context. The meaning of words is found in multiple locations in the brain and every location contains a grouping of related meanings.

Now, we not only know what the word(s), phrases and sentences we are seeing are, but we know how they sound, and we know what they mean.

And this all takes place in a flash. There’s a lot going on in our magnificent brains.

OK! Now this was a particularly exciting part of Dehaene’s research!

Every person’s brain has neural circuits which can be recycled or reused for reading.

Our brain can change and adapt its structure and function! This is called neuroplasticity.

This brain’s plasticity allows anyone’s brain, INCLUDING a dyslexic’s brain, to find alternative brain pathways to use to learn to read WHEN they are taught in ways that activate their “letter box” and those pathways.

What exciting news!

We have always known that the way Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”® teaches is THE WAY ALL CHILDREN (INCLUDING DYSLEXICS) LEARN BEST because we wrote it from the research. But, knowing that their brain changes to facilitate their easy learning is so exciting. And having Dr. Dehaene actually see the changes in MRIs of both dyslexics and non-dyslexics makes it even more exciting.

From his research, Dr. Dehaene does suggest specific recommendations about teaching reading.

One of his strongest recommendations is that all learners, whether dyslexic or not, must have explicit teaching of correspondence between letters and their sounds to be successful. In other words, they must be taught phonics. (YES! We know this. 😊)

He shares that ALL students must have phonemic awareness and phonics including morphology and vocabulary development for their brains to successfully learn to read. Yes!

Also, a strong recommendation of his is that all reading skills must be taught with patience and in a thorough, step by step meticulous design building one skill upon another with built in constant review of previous skills. Yes!! This is how ALL children will be successful.

His research, and many others, has proven that the whole language approach to teaching reading is inefficient and ineffective, especially for dyslexic students. It leaves students thinking that reading is about guess work, some people guess well, and some don’t. It leaves them without any skills.☹

AND YES!  We know this from our experience and that’s why Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”® teaches reading, writing and spelling the way it does.

It’s about their success. It’s about empowering their lives with reading, writing and spelling.
 
Keep a song in your heart!

Find us on Tiktok  @silent.elephant.e

EVERY CHILD Deserves to have FUN learning to READ, WRITE AND SPELL!

Every child deserves to learn to read and to have fun doing it!

When asked for a one word description for Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”®, the word that popped out was, “FUN!!”

The word after all these years is still FUN!

Learning to read with Silent Elephant “e”® is FUN and is meant to be FUN!

It was written with FUN as its guiding premise.

I wrote Silent Elephant “e”® on the foundation of the research of how our brains learn to read, write and spell and therefore on the best strategies to teach ALL LEARNERS reading, writing and spelling, especially dyslexic learners, or learners with other learning differences.

But, the guiding light behind all of our strategies based on the research is FUN.

When your kids are learning phonemic awareness and all the phonics concepts through active, imaginative activities that activate all parts of their brains, THEY HAVE FUN!

In Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”® every phonics concept is introduced through a FUN imaginative activity that connects that phonics concept to all prior learning and will remain with them for the rest of their life.

When they learn through fun, learning is easy and natural. They become eager for the next concept.
They feel confident and sure of themselves.

They are ready to take on any book that comes their way, which is what we all want.

We want them to experience the freedom and joy of reading and writing, and never look back. 😊

Every child deserves to learn to read and to have fun doing it!

You can get ahold of us at silentelephante@gmail. We love supporting you and your children’s success.

Let's Talk About Dyslexia!!

Let's talk about dyslexia!

Dyslexia is NOT a disability that has to cause your child to be dependent on you always reading their schoolwork to them, or on them listening to all their schoolbooks on audio.

Your dyslexic child doesn’t have to be relegated to being dependent on audio books or the constant help from others all their life.

Case in point, the profoundly dyslexic young woman who graduated with a double major in neuroscience and chemistry in 4 years, who at the age of 14 DID NOT KNOW that cat has 3 sounds. Further, she didn’t have to listen to her college science textbooks on audio. She read them! She decoded. She processed them. She KNOWS them.

Dyslexia is NOT a disability that has to stunt a child’s life and make reading, writing and spelling difficult.

At Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”®, we don’t refer to dyslexia as a disability because it really isn’t. It’s just a difference. We refer to it as a learning difference, but it really isn’t a difference to your dyslexic child.

It’s just another way some brains can process print.

It’s the way their brain does process print.

All dyslexia IS, is their brain’s way of processing printed material (reading, writing and spelling) that necessitates us as their teachers to TEACH THEM TO READ, WRITE AND SPELL THE WAY THEIR BRAIN LEARNS TO READ, WRITE AND SPELL.

It’s just that simple.

Teaching them isn’t hard.

Actually, it’s easy, and much more fun than workbooks and circle the correct word. It’s active and engaging for us and them. It’s them learning and connecting the way their brain can learn and connect reading, writing and spelling.

When we teach them the way their brain learns words and sentences and connects meaning, it all makes sense to them right away. They don’t struggle.

If they have been struggling, with Silent Elephant “e”®’s structured processes they soon begin to relax and celebrate their successes. Watching them relax makes your heart sing.

As one 10-year-old profoundly dyslexic said so softly and with wonder, “I think I’m going to be able to read now!” And, boy, did she fly. She entered college 6 years later.

In Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”®, every single phonics concept (preschool through high school) is introduced with an activity that engages their whole dyslexic brain and their 5 senses so there is not one reading concept they will not understand or miss.

The dyslexic way of learning is NOT sitting in front of a computer screen, a workbook, or a typical worksheet trying to figure out what’s there and maybe being frustrated because the letters and words won’t stop moving around.

Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”® does have worksheets, but they're specifically designed for the dyslexic student. Their dyslexic brain needs consistency as they are learning new concepts. Every Silent Elephant “e”® worksheet is in the same format and font, with only one concept presented per page. This blog post explains more about our worksheets.

Even children who experience the letters and words shifting around will find the letters and words stabilizing when we teach them the way their brain processes them. Several wonderful success stories are in these blog posts. 😊

What is the dyslexic way of learning?

THE DYSLEXIC WAY of learning is active, because their brain can’t learn to read, write and spell unless it’s actively dynamically connecting the concepts with other learning in creative ways through their 5 senses. It can’t.

THE DYSLEXIC WAY of learning includes verbalizing and explaining – talking, sharing, teaching. Their brain processes their learning through talking about the concepts and words and explaining how they know a word is that word, how they know it’s spelled the way it is and how they know a sentence, or paragraph means what it means.

THE DYSLEXIC WAY of learning is their brain appreciating time to think, share, and explain what they are learning to read, write and spell. Their brain likes time to make connections to other learning, to understand them and enjoy them.

When we teach our dyslexic children the way their brain learns, they learn quickly and they have fun all along the way, which is also very important.

Watching them find their confidence is heart-warming.

Dyslexia is just a difference.

When we teach our dyslexic children to read, write and spell the way their brain processes print, they learn easily. They don’t struggle, they have fun and they’re set for life.

Through learning the way they learn with Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”®, 14 dyslexic students have been removed from special education because they no longer needed that support. They are free to read, write, learn and explore. 

They’re set for life!

Contact me here!

Becoming a Fluent Reader, Writer and Speller Doesn't Take 6 Years

I promise it won't take 6 years for your kids to become fluent readers, writers AND spellers, even if they're struggling right now.

I know you are probably thinking, “Why not? Isn’t that the way it works? Kindergarten through 5th grade is 6 years.”

Here’s the thing, when you teach your children to read, write and spell the way their brain learns best (active engaging activities), they learn quickly, they transfer that knowledge to prior and future learning easily and they RETAIN their learning.

With Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e® you will be teaching your children the way their brain learns best from the foundation of reading, writing and spelling (phonemic awareness) right through their high school phonics skills. You will be teaching every skill with active engaging activities that activate their whole brain. They WILL learn easily and quickly. They WILL have fun.

Here are some Silent Elephant “e® success stories 😊:
 
       A 3rd grader said to me after just 7 times of tutoring, “I know what you’re trying to teach me. There are single, separate sounds in words! I never knew that. I think I’m going to be able to learn to read now!”

It took that newly confident profoundly dyslexic 3rd grader 3 months to go from not reading at all to a 3rd grade reading level and a total of 8 months to be at a 6th grade level in comprehension and a 7th grade level in word recognition. She went from being way behind her peers to being far ahead!
 
       Just after 5 times of tutoring a struggling 9th grader said, “I never knew what rhyme was! I've never heard individual sounds in words before!”

She is profoundly dyslexic, yet it only took her 4 months to go from a 5th grade reading level to a 9th grade reading level and another 9 months to reach a college reading level while in 10th grade. She is now a college graduate.
 
        A 1st grader’s parent said to me, “I know my daughter doesn’t belong in special education. She’s truly very intelligent. Can you help her learn to read?”

The answer was, “YES, I CAN!

Within 6 months this profoundly dyslexic first grader was at a 1.8 reading level – almost caught up with her peers. Within 11 months, she was decoding words at a 6th grade reading level and within 18 months, she was comprehending at a 4th grade reading level – a grade level above her peers. To put icing on that cake, she was staffed out of special education at that time. She continued with me and within 3½ years was reading at an 11th grade level when she completed 4th grade!

         AND NO, Silent Elephant “e”® isn’t just for kids with dyslexia or other learning differences, it's for ALL YOUR KIDS!

The parents of a bubbly, bright little pre-school girl wanted her to have a solid foundation in reading, writing and spelling so they contacted me. She began tutoring twice a week for only 30 minutes at a time.

Within 7 months, she was at a 1st grade reading level although she was still in kindergarten. She entered first grade reading on a 4th grade level and in 2 years was reading on a 6th grade level

.She is confident and happy and free to read anything that catches her fancy and she is very successful in all her other subjects.

As you see, when you teach your children the way they learn best with Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”® it won’t take 6 years for them to become a confident, happy, fluent reader, writer and speller, even if they have learning differences.

When you are teaching with Silent Elephant “e”®, you’ll have fun teaching reading, writing and spelling and they will have fun learning to read, write AND spell. 😊

They will feel confident and proud, and you will feel happy.
 
If you have questions and/or want more information about how Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”® ensures the success of your children, feel free to contact us at silentelephante@gmail.com or 208-859-4406.

Keep a song in your heart!

She Was So Surprised and Then SO Happy!

This short video is such a pleasure to share.

It brings back memories of this young woman’s 14-year-old face determined to know the vowel song before she returned for tutoring because it was so “baby.” That memory is immediately followed by one of hearing her laughter on the phone 6 years later as she shared how that very song spontaneously popped into her mind to help her identify vowel sounds in a scientific word. It makes me smile every time I think of it.

It makes me proud of Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”®.

The young woman mentioned in this video in profoundly dyslexic and because of Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”® she graduated with a double major, neuro-science and biology, in four years. She did not struggle even though she is profoundly dyslexic.

Tutoring with Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”® has always been so rewarding and it continues to be. Watching the face of a struggling reader begin to relax as they realize that they are going to be able to read, write AND spell never gets old.

Visiting with them after they graduate from Silent Elephant “e”® also never gets old. Hearing about their successes and how much fun they are having never gets old. Going to their college graduation parties never gets old.

It’s very rewarding.

I get so many calls requesting tutoring, and I rarely have openings. That’s how successful my Silent Elephant “e”® tutoring business is.

I could be tutoring 40 hours a week if I wanted, but that’s one of the perks of your own tutoring business, you can work it around everything else that you are doing. You can tutor as many hours as you want.

I am always looking for tutors to join us. If you have ever wondered what it would be like to have your own tutoring business, contact me. I would love to visit with you and share how easy it is to start your business. It’s easier than you might think.

When you start your tutoring business with Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”®  you will have everything you need to be successful.
You will have:

1. Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”®, a complete reading, writing and spelling curriculum for any age student, especially struggling or dyslexic students, preschool through high school, and all the materials needed.

2. Training available in teaching with Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”® that includes how to set up your business.

3. Our support as you get started and all along your way. We are passionate educators with knowledge of how children (and adults) learn, we will be there to answer all your questions.

 If you’ve ever wanted to have a business that truly makes a difference in a child's (or adult's) life, contact one of us today! silentelephante@gmail.com    silentelephante.com  nina.silentelephante@gmail.com

You will be happy you do. Being a part of the success of a child is not only a gift to them, but to yourself. It’s an amazing feeling, you will feel pride in them and yourself. 
 
Keep a song in your heart!

Let See What You Get - Fun for You and Your Kids

Today I want to share Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”® in depth so that you really KNOW what you are getting when you choose Silent Elephant “e”® as your reading, writing and spelling curriculum . 😊

Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”®  is your COMPLETE reading, writing AND spelling curriculum pre-school through high school skills.

It’s your WHOLE curriculum, 14 years of reading, writing AND spelling skills – preschool through high school.

(If you prefer, click here to explore Silent Elephant “e”® or zip over and explore each part of Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e” here  Afterpay is available. You can also purchase on Amazon here, or search Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”. ) 

With Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”®  as your reading, writing and spelling curriculum you’ll have everything all your kids need preschool through high school skills, especially if they have learning differences like dyslexia. That’s all 14 years of curriculum.

With Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”®  you can relax and breathe deep knowing you won’t have to think about which reading, writing or spelling curriculum to use ever again.

Let’s explore it.
 

Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”® Part 1 is Phonemic Awareness which is the foundation of ALL reading, writing and spelling success.

Without a solid base of phonemic awareness, your child will struggle with all three, reading, writing and spelling, for the rest of their life. Silent Elephant “e”®’s phonemic awareness ensures that your child will have a solid understanding of how language works and they will be ready for phonics and to read, write and spell

Phonics concepts begin in Part 3 Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”®. Every phonics concept begins with an imaginative creative activity that is the foundation of that concept for the rest of Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”®, and their life. These activities include puppetry, song, art, acting, drawing, color, symbols, writing, using their 5 senses in their learning and many other activities.

Each of these creative activities activates all parts of their brain which is important for every one of your children as they’re learning to read, write and spell, but especially important for your dyslexics or other learning difference children.
 

Silent Elephant “e”® also has 44 colored educational posters that are an integral part of each phonics concept. The poster activities are one of the ways that Silent Elephant “e”® ensures each phonics concept is processed in all parts of their brain. This is especially important for your dyslexic child, and is a powerful tool for every one of your children. When they have drawn the poster that explains the phonics concept, their brain will pull up that image for them when they come up to an unknown word that has that phonics concept.
 

There are 4 other components that we have created to support you as your children learn to read, write and spell with Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”®. 

1. Extra added fun is our picture book My Awesome Grandma. It is a book that leaves their imagination wondering. :) It introduces consonant digraphs and goes with Parts 4-14.

2. Just for you, we recorded over 100 Instructional Videos that take you lesson by lesson through all of Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”®. If you’re not sure how to teach a lesson, you have the video at your fingertips.

3. Knowing you might want added support, we offer a 9 hour on-line Personal Training - our Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”® class for homeschool parents, tutors and teachers is very helpful.  You’ll notice the price goes down depending on how many people attend the class.

4. Our blog silentelephante.com/blog has way over 100 posts to support you as you teach your children.  

Please keep this in mind - one of the most important things for us is for you to know that with Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”®  you will ALWAYS have OUR support to answer all your questions about Silent Elephant “e”®, about teaching reading, about teaching in general and about teaching dyslexics and other learning differences.

Your children’s success is very importance to us.
You, and your children, having fun as they learn to read, write and spell is also very important to us. 

Email us at silentelephante@gmail.com or nina.silentelephante@gmail.com with your questions.

Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”® is Different

In this video, Crystal, one of our homeschool moms, shares how Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”® is different.  She didn't use Silent Elephant “e”® with her older kids and she's definitely noticing the difference in how her younger one is understanding phonics in both reading and spelling. 

Enjoy, and shoot your questions to us at silentelephante@gmail.com.

Linda

Let's Do That Again!!! It's SO Easy!

Let's do that again!!

In this YouTube Short, this happy little one easily spells new words because she is learning about digraphs with the magic hat (which she loves, BTW) and she learned her short vowels through song.
She's proud and eager for more.

Enjoy! :)

Learn more at silentelephante.com, and there is a ton of info on reading, writing and spelling and dyslexia on the blog, silentelephante.com/blog.

Contact me at silentelephante@gmail.com. I would love to visit with you. 

It's So Hard to Turn Them Away

I heard the stress and the sadness in her voice as she said,
“OK, please put me on your list.”

It’s that time of year!
School is coming to an end for the year and many parents are worried and concerned about their struggling kids. They’re reaching out for help, and they call.

I get so many calls requesting tutoring, and I rarely have openings, that’s how successful my tutoring business is.

If you have ever wondered about tutoring, contact me.
Starting your own tutoring business is easier than you might think and with Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”® you can start your business for under $2500.

With Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”®  you will have everything you need for a successful tutoring business.
You will have:

• Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”®, a complete reading, writing and spelling curriculum for any age student, especially struggling or dyslexic students, preschool through high school, and all the materials needed.

• Training available in teaching with Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”® and how to set up your business.

• Our support as you get started and all along your way.

Contact me! silentelephante@gmail.com   silentelephante.com

BTW, I just attended a college graduation party for one of my students. I am so proud of her. Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”®  changed her life. She doesn’t struggle even though she is profoundly dyslexic. What a gift Silent Elephant “e”®  is!

Becoming a Silent Elephant "e" Tutor is Easy and Very Rewarding

Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e” ® Parts 1-14 and the Educational Posters are on sale for 25% off through May. This is everything you will need for all your children to be successful readers, writers and spellers, AND it is all you need to start you Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e” ® tutoring business. You can buy Part 1-14 individually or your can buy the packages to save money.

Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e” ® is an EASY, at home, very rewarding way to make money.

In this video I share that I have more requests for tutoring than I have available time slots.

When Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e” ® is your preschool through high school reading, writing, spelling program, you have everything you need to start your own tutoring business.

Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e” ® is all 14 years of reading, writing and spelling curriculum which means, you have everything you need to start your business and teach ALL your children. (Of course, it won't take 14 years for them to learn all the skills. It usually just takes 2-4 years.🙂)

Plus, you have us to help you get your business rolling and to support you as it grows.

Right now is the perfect time to start your Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e” ® journey as 
everything you need, Parts 1-14 and the Educational Posters are on sale through May 31st. 
Check them out here.

Contact us at silentelephante@gmail.com to explore being  a Silent Elephant “e” ® tutor. 

BIG SAVINGS SALE ON NOW!

Big Savings Sale! 

 Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”® Parts 1-14 and the Educational Posters are 25% off through May 31st.

Click here to explore each part of Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”®. The check out code is LKAV6ZT. Afterpay is available. You can also purchase on Amazon here, or search Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”.  

Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”®  is your reading, writing AND spelling curriculum pre-school through high school skills.

It’s your WHOLE curriculum, 14 years of reading, writing AND spelling skills – preschool through high school.

When Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”®  is your reading, writing and spelling curriculum you’ll have everything all your kids need preschool through high school skills even if they have learning differences like dyslexia.

You can relax and breathe deep knowing you won’t have to think about which reading, writing or spelling curriculum to use ever again.

Click here to explore each part of Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”®. The check out code is LKAV6ZT. Afterpay is available.  

In Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”® every concept begins with an imaginative creative activity that is the foundation of that concept for the rest of Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”®, and their life. These activities include puppetry, song, art, acting, drawing, color, symbols, writing, using their 5 senses in their learning and many other activities.

Each of these creative activities activates all parts of the brain which is important for every one of your children as they’re learning to read, write and spell, but especially important for your dyslexics or other learning difference child.

You can purchase Parts 1-14 individually or purchase the packages to save money. The packages include Parts 1-14, Parts 1-3, and Parts 4-14. 

Click here to explore each part of Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”®. The check out code is LKAV6ZT. Afterpay is available.   

The Educational Posters are also 25% off through May.

The posters are an integral part of each phonics concept they're learning. Throughout each phonics concept, your kids will continually refer back to the posters.

They will draw the posters ensuring the concept is processed in all parts of their brain. This is especially important for your dyslexic child, but is a powerful tool for every child. When they have drawn the poster for a concept, their brain will pull up that image when they come up to a word they don’t know that has that phonics concept.

Those are the basics, Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”® Parts 1-14 and the Educational posters 25% off through May.

Click here to explore each part of Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”®. The check out code is LKAV6ZT. Afterpay is available. You can also purchase on Amazon here, or search Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”.  

When you are exploring the store you will notice 3 other items we have created to support you as you teach reading, writing and spelling with Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”®. 

1. The picture book My Awesome Grandma is a book that leaves their imagination wondering. :) It introduces consonant digraphs and goes with Parts 4-14.

2. We recorded over 100 Instructional Videos that take you lesson by lesson through all of Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”®. If you’re not sure how to teach a lesson, you have the video at your fingertips.

3. We offer a 9 hour on-line Personal Training - our Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”® class for homeschool parents, tutors and teachers is very helpful.  You’ll see the price goes down depending on how many people attend the class.

Click here to explore each part of Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”®. The check out code is LKAV6ZT. Afterpay is available. You can also purchase on Amazon here, or search Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”.  

Again, this sale ends on May 31st which gives you time to explore Silent Elephant “e”®, and get any questions answered.  Email us at silentelephante@gmail.com or nina.silentelephante@gmail.com

Making a Difference in a Young Person's Life - It's a Wonderful Feeling!

As a Silent Elephant “e”® tutor, we truly make a difference, whether our student is 6 years old, 14, or 30, their lives will be forever different.

Here’s a heart-warming example of one of our tutors and her 10-year-old student.

After just five one-half hour tutoring sessions they had reached Lesson 4D in Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”®, Part 1 Phonemic Awareness.

The shy young girl looked at her tutor and softly said, “I think I have figured out what you are trying to teach me.”

“What have you figured out?”  her tutor softly asked.

“I have figured out that words have sounds in them,” she hesitatingly began. “I can hear sounds in words now. I see the different colors on the squares, and I have figured out that the different colors mean different sounds. When I touch the squares one at a time, I can hear one sound at a time in my head. I think that is what you are trying to teach me.”

“That is exactly what I have been teaching you! You explained it so clearly. I could not have done any better.”

Her shy smile and twinkling eyes said it all—she was so proud of herself! Doors were opening for her; she was hearing the sounds in words. She was beginning to have phonemic awareness, the foundation of all reading, writing, and spelling.

“I think I am going to be able to learn to read now,” she quietly proclaimed.

Her tutor sat quietly with her and together they felt the power of that moment. She knew she was going to be able to read.  The confusion and struggle she had experienced for years trying to read, trying to make sense of printed letters and not hearing individual sounds, was beginning to slip away behind her.

She was going to be able to read and she felt it.

With Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”®, the joy and love of reading and writing is open to her for the rest of her life!

As a Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”® tutor, you are a part of their joy and their success. They will never forget you.

Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”® Parts 1-14 and the Educational Posters are now 25% off until May 31st at midnight. The check out code is LKAV6ZT. We have Afterpay available.

Contact us a silentelephante@gmail.com or nina.silentelephante@gmail.com

Exactly What DOES Silent Elephant "e" Teach?

Let's answer this question that came in, “Just exactly what does Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”®  teach?”

I’ve always wanted to say, “The WHOLE enchilada!”, but I always answer, “Everything a preschooler to college age learner needs to know to become a successful, competent, confident reader, writer, and speller.”

I do realize that this doesn’t really tell you anything about how Silent Elephant “e”®  teaches and how your children WILL learn with Silent Elephant “e”® .

I did this video to answer this question for a homeschool group. I think you'll find it very informative.

It's not a short video with tidbits of info. Instead, it’s chocked full of information about Silent Elephant “e”® : phonemic awareness, phonics, how it works, why it works, and why it’s easy for you to teach with and easy for your kids to learn with. :)

When you finish watching this video, you'll have solid knowledge about Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”® , how it's different, how you can teach multiple ages at the same time, and WHY your children will so quickly learn to read, write and spell using Silent Elephant “e”® , and have so much fun doing it.

So here it is, the WHOLE enchilada!I would love to know how helpful this video is for you. Please send your thoughts by return email.

And as always, contact me with questions at silentelephante@gmail.com or Nina at nina.silentelephante@gmail.com.

It Doesn't Have To Take 6 Years for Them to be Reading on a 6th Grade Level

Today I’d like to share more of my experiences with Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”® and continue my thoughts on why I am realizing it shouldn’t take 6 years for a child to be able to decode 6th grade reading words.

Over the last 12 years that I have taught reading, writing and spelling with Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”®  it’s been my experience that children master phonemic awareness and learn all the phonics rules and are able to apply the phonics rules to fluently decode 6th grade words by the end of their 2nd grade year - about 8 years old. In other words, it takes about 2 years to achieve reading 6th grade words.

Further, Silent Elephant “e”®  was written so this goal can be achieved with only 2 hours of instruction per week. Again, that’s what my data is showing because I only meet with my students for 2 hours a week. Of course, if they spend an hour per day learning with Silent Elephant “e”® , they will be decoding words at a 6th grade level even sooner.

Why would this be true? Why is this my experience over and over?

Well, they learn so easily and quickly because they are learning the way they learn best, through whole child/whole brain, multi-sensory activities and processes that stimulate all parts of their brain for both learning and retaining what they have learned. These whole child/whole brain, multi-sensory activities and processes are embedded into every moment of their instruction in Silent Elephant “e”®.  My experience and data share the results.

I can hear some of you thinking, “But my child struggles with reading. It’s so difficult for him/her!”

If your child has a learning difference, multiple learning differences or any learning struggles, it may take longer for him/her to reach that 6th grade word recognition level.

But, you can rest assured that he/she will attain that level with Silent Elephant “e”®  faster, more steadily and with more fun than with any other reading program. This is because they will be learning using all their senses (multi-sensory) therefore connecting their learning in all parts of their brain. In the case of dyslexic learners, it activates under stimulated parts of their brain and makes learning and retention of learning much easier.

This has been my experience with Silent Elephant “e”® : it may take children longer if they have learning differences, but they get there and they have fun getting there.

Let me share an example. I have been tutoring an ELL boy for 3 years who has multiple learning differences and speech and language processing disorders (one can barely understand his English or his native tongue). He is also considered to have an extremely low IQ.

When he came to me halfway through his 4th grade year, he wasn’t reading at all. He didn’t know letter sounds or letter names. He was illiterate and basically non-verbal.

Today as I write this, he has mastered phonemic awareness and knows all letter sounds and letter names. He has mastered the 700 High Frequency Fry Word List. He fluently reads simple to complex words, such as: so, ran, sphinx, squint, certain, cage, hurry. He reads words with single consonants, consonant digraphs and consonant blends, words with hard and soft “c” and “g”, words with long vowels, and words ending with “y”. He knows how to read and write (spell) words with the suffixes -s, -es, -ed, -ing, -er, -est, and -ly . He knows when to change or not change “y” to “i” and how to change “f” or “fe” to “v” when adding a suffix. Further, he is formulating answers to high level thinking questions.

When this beautiful boy, who has a goal of becoming a police officer, first came to me, his teachers were sure that he’d never learn to read.

That thought crossed my mind from time to time also when we first began, but I knew I couldn’t give up on this sweet, hard-working boy. He certainly isn’t giving up! Like I said, I knew he WOULD take longer than 2 years because of his learning differences and his language processing difficulties, but I had faith he would get there because of my experience with Silent Elephant “e”®.  We started out very slowly and have slowly picked up speed.

He’s now reading early readers’ books. You should see the smile on his face as he shows me a book he’s read: one about veterinarians, one about astronauts, one about Ninjas, one about dinosaurs. He beams with pride! He is feeling the freedom and joy of reading.

His dad, who had been told his son would never read, says over and over to me, “You, Mrs. Jones, you are really teaching him to read!”

I humbly thank his dad and I think to myself that I’m so glad I wrote Silent Elephant “e”®.  It has been the steady, consistent, multi-sensory instruction his son needs to understand language and learn to read.

From my experience with other students, I know that now that he’s almost finished with Part 10 of Silent Elephant “e”®, his reading growth will speed up! I can’t wait, I can already see his face beaming with both pride and relief. He realizes he is succeeding. He is feeling the joy of reading.

This fall he headed off into seventh grade with more of a feeling of confidence and that he has a future than he has ever felt. He’s still not reading on grade level yet, but he knows he is moving there, however long it takes.

This young success story has not been my only student whose parents were told their child would never read. Last year, I had a fun experience with one of my then 9th grade boys admitting to me with both embarrassment and pride that he got caught red-handed reading his mom’s text messages. A year before that, he was a nonreader.

He hadn’t meant to snoop into his Mom’ phone, he just started reading, got caught up in what he was reading, didn’t even realize that he was reading so effortlessly, and didn’t even think about the fact that he really shouldn’t be reading his mom’s private messages. 😊

His mom told me later that she didn’t know whether to be excited and happy, because he was actually reading and engaged in reading or to be upset because he was reading things she hadn’t planned on him reading. In the end, she was thrilled!

He shared, “I wasn’t trying to snoop. I just started reading and I got so excited that I couldn’t quit. My mom was stunned!” He asked me immediately to give him a reading assessment to see what reading level he was on which, of course, I did. We celebrated the growth he’s made in ONLY 9 months.
In January, this now 16-year-old, 10th grade student passed his driver’s license test with 100%! He and his family went out to dinner to celebrate. He was beaming with pride when he told me!

Let me go back to where I started today, it’s been my experience with Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”®  over and over these past twelve years that when you teach children, especially struggling children, the way they learn best with whole child/whole brain, multi-sensory activities embedded into every moment of learning, it doesn’t take 6 years to be reading at a 6th grade level. The average is 2 years, and that’s the average!

Those who don’t have learning differences learn more quickly but EVERY SINGLE ONE will succeed. That’s been my experience. And I LOVE it!

Check out this blog post to enjoy a young one who flew - She Was Reading at a Fourth Grade Level at the End of Kindergarten.  There are also many more success stories here on my blog.

Follow us on TikTok @silent.elephant.e 😊.

Contact us at silentelephante@gmail.com