Silent Elephant “e”®-ing - It's a Thing. :)

 Silent Elephant “e”®-ing  

The more I teach with Silent Elephant “e”®, the more I’m beginning to feel like Silent Elephant “e”® is a verb. 😂

I know that sounds a little crazy, but it’s true, the more I teach with Silent Elephant “e”® the more I feel like I’m Silent Elephant “e” ®-ing. 😂😂

Let me give you a little background to where this happy, but little bit goofy, feeling is coming from.
 
“Learn – to learn” is a verb, an action word.
This means learning is an active process.
To learn, action must be happening.
 

It’s true that part of the activity or action of learning is happening in the brain unseen, but for our brain to engage in the process of learning, our senses must get involved.

Let’s look at this.
Obviously, our senses of sight and hearing are a major part of learning to read, write and spell, but actually our other senses of touch, taste and smell all have a part in our learning process. Furthermore, when ALL our senses and movement get involved, learning happens faster, is deeper and is more easily transferred into other concepts and subjects.

There’s just added power when we involve the whole-child/whole-person, all our senses, in the learning process.

Now, let’s go visit that sweet young man Xander again. (Here's the link to Xander's other email.:)

As you will remember, I shared Xander’s interaction with Silent Elephant “e”®’s Phonemic Awareness Caterpillar/Train Game that uses color and movement to identify sounds in words. There was a moment when Xander had such a firm grasp on identifying individual sounds in spoken words that he transferred his knowledge into a new way of showing his comprehension.

Remember how he jumped up and shot off to bring his toy cars in on the learning. He had mentally processed, comprehended that individual sounds make up our words and that in the game, the sounds could be represented by colored squares, or toy cars, but it didn’t change the individual sounds in the word.

Let’s look at what Xander was doing, how he was active and interacting with his knowledge, and how his senses were involved to activate his brain. Xander was:

• using his sense of hearing as he listened intently to each sound his mom said,

• using his sense of sight as he watched his mom’s mouth move as she said each sound,

• using his sense of hearing as he carefully listened to his own voice saying and identifying each sound he heard,

• using his sense of touch and movement as he slid his colored squares in place to indicate the sounds he heard, and

• using his senses of sight and hearing to decide that his game board was correct, whether his answers were indicated with colored squares or toy cars. 

True, he didn’t use his senses of smell or taste in Silent Elephant “e”®’s Phonemic Awareness Caterpillar/Train Game, but these two senses are integrated throughout Silent Elephant “e”®.

True deep learning that transfers easily and swiftly into other concepts and subjects involves ALL the senses; it involves the whole learner.

Now do you see why I giggle to myself when I find myself thinking that I am Silent Elephant “e”®-ing as I sit down at the computer to meet one of my students?

Every one of the lessons in Silent Elephant “e”® is centered around the whole child in front of me and how he/she learns.

Furthermore, Silent Elephant “e”®-ing is just plain FUN!

Contact us at silentelephante@gmail.com or nina.silentelephante@gmail.com with any questions.  

Yummy Cookie Science!!

Can you believe it?
Here we are in the midst of the holiday season and things are speeding up.

Sometimes it feels like our kiddo's learning gets pushed to the back burner at this time of the year, but it’s so important to keep their learning active. Long periods not focused on what they have learned and are learning makes it hard for them to retain the information, especially if they have dyslexia or any other learning difference.

Here are ideas centered around the fun of baking holiday cookies which takes the fun of learning into life knowledge areas as it keeps what they’ve learned active and growing.

THE SCIENCE OF COOKIES

The science of cookies is both yummy and “Wow, so that’s how cookie dough becomes cookies in the oven? I didn’t realize all of that!” 

1. This video brings all the steps happening in the oven from cookie dough to yummy cookie into view with simple explanation and art. It’s fun for every age. I enjoyed it.

2. This article adds to the info in the video. It goes into greater depth about exactly what is happening to that cookie in the oven. It gives you a lot of background info and will be perfect for your older kiddos. 

3. Practicing reading and phonics – 
   When your dough is becoming cookies in the oven, you could use the above article for reading and phonics instruction. Have your kiddos mark the vowels, digraphs, blends and syllables, then read the article. 

4. The science - 
   Comparing and contrasting the information on the video with the article sets their new science knowledge more firmly in their brains. 

5. The next exploration into cooking science could be, “How does it get from raw ground beef to a hamburger on my bun?” or “How does is get from raw turkey to something we can’t WAIT to enjoy.” This exploration opens so much more science. 😊

  We’ve done science and reading, let’s take cookie baking into math. 

1. This recipe gives you both the standard and metric measurements for making the cookies.  

2. This opens wonderful discussions and comparisons between the two. 

Now let’s think Social Studies -
This recipe also opens comparison of cultures and countries. It’s from Great Britain, and the cookies are referred to both as biscuits and cookies for both countries. This opens the doors for learning about another culture, another country and how their customs are different from ours even though they are English speaking.

Have fun with these three. It’s been fun finding them for you.
I can’t wait to hear about your experiences. Feel free to send photos.

Enjoy your children’s bright-eyed eagerness as you make memories this Holiday season.

Contact me here with any questions and to share your holiday ideas. :)

I Taught It. They did it. Why Don't They Know It Now?!?

 I taught it. They did it. Where did it go?

The Solution is Easier and More Fun than You Imagined :)

Why don’t they know it?
I taught them. 
We did it.
They seemed to get it then, but now, it’s gone. 
I’ll have to teach it again.

What’s up with this?

This is not uncommon and it’s definitely more common with students who have learning differences. You teach it and at that moment they seem to understand it. Later, it’s like they’ve never heard of the concept.

There’s actually a very simple reason for this: not all parts of their brain were activated in their initial introduction and learning of the concept.

Since all parts of their brain were not activated, they did not connect the new concept to their prior knowledge, nor did they imagine how it connects to future concepts. They are left with disjointed information that their brain tends to let go of to not feel confused.

This is why they give you that blank look when you return to the concept.

And, of course, this is frustrating for YOU and THEM.

For you, it’s frustrating because they don’t seem to be learning or progressing, of course, you’re worried.

For them, it’s frustrating because they don’t understand why they don’t remember anything (or very little) of the concept. Add to that, their feeling of disappointing you.

Let’s talk about this. Let’s talk about activating all parts of their brain. It’s easy! It’s fun! It will change everything.

Their learning it the first time, even as a dyslexic, is about total immersion and total engagement with a concept. When they are totally immersed in a concept, they easily connect it to all prior learning and can imagine how it will connect to future concepts.

In other words, they learn it. They own the concept. The next time it comes up in their studies, they will be able to tell you all about it and how it connects to all their studies. The problem of them not “remembering” is solved!

Now let’s talk about what “total immersion and total engagement” with a concept means and what it looks like.

A simple way to think about immersion with a concept, especially a vague concept like phonics, is to ask ourselves, “How many ways can we use our 5 senses, our body, and our voice to learn a new concept? We can draw, color, act, make and build things, play with puppets, sing, dance, imagine and share our thoughts. How can we immerse our whole self into the new concept, so they really understand it and use it in all their other learning?”

When their whole self is immersed in learning a concept, all parts of their brain are immersed as well, and therefore all parts of their brain will be active. For dyslexics, who have parts of their brains that are not easily activated to learn, this immersive engagement does the trick.

Immersing your child in every vague phonics concept to successfully learn to read, write and spell is why every single concept and every activity within every single concept in Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”™ immerses their whole brain, their whole self in the learning.

They taste, listen, draw, color, explain, restate, clarify, connect, feel, share, smell and question every moment of their learning of a concept. In this total immersion they quickly and easily learn the new concept, connect it with the old, and understand how it connects to new learning that is on the way. 

They’re happy. They have fun. Their whole self is immersed in their learning. They are eager for more.

Here's some examples of being immersed in learning how their brain works. 😊 Enjoy!
Wait! I Have A Chest of Drawers in My Head?
Yes, There's a Chest of Drawers in Your Brain
Now You're Telling Me I Have a Rabbit in My Brain??
Analogies Open the Door to Learning

Contact me here with questions! Check out our Store here.

COOKIE SCIENCE!

COOKIE SCIENCE!

Hello Friends,

Woah! Here we are in the midst of the holiday season and things are speeding up.

Sometimes it feels like our kiddo's learning can get pushed to the back burner at this time of the year, but it’s so important to keep their learning active. Long periods not focused on what they have learned and are learning makes it hard for them to retain the information, especially if they have dyslexia or any other learning difference.
 
Here are ideas centered around the fun of baking holiday cookies which takes the fun of learning into life knowledge areas as it keeps what they’ve learned active and growing.

    THE SCIENCE OF COOKIES    

The science of cookies is both yummy and “Wow, so that’s how cookie dough becomes cookies in the oven? I didn’t realize all of that!” 

1. This video brings all the steps happening in the oven from cookie dough to yummy cookie into view with simple explanation and art. It’s fun for every age. I enjoyed it.

1. This article adds to the info in the video. It goes into greater depth about exactly what is happening in the oven to that cookie. It gives you a lot of background info and will be perfect for your older kiddos.

1. Practicing reading and phonics –
   When your dough is becoming cookies in the over, you could use this article for reading and phonics instruction. Have your kiddos mark the vowels, digraphs, blends and syllables, then read the article.

1. The science -
   Comparing and contrasting the information on the video with the article sets their new science knowledge more firmly in their brains.

1. The next exploration into cooking science could be, “How does it get from raw ground beef to a hamburger on my bun?” or “How does is get from raw turkey to something we can’t WAIT to enjoy.” This exploration opens so much more science. 😊

 We’ve done science and reading, let’s take cookie baking into math. 

1. This recipe gives you both the standard and metric measurements for making the cookies.

2. This opens wonderful discussions and comparisons between the two.

Now let’s think Social Studies -
This recipe also opens comparison of cultures and countries. It’s from Great Britain, and the cookies are referred to both as biscuits and cookies for both countries. This opens the doors for learning about another culture, another country and how their customs are different from ours even though they are English speaking.
 
Have fun with these three. It’s been fun finding them for you.
I can’t wait to hear about your experiences.
 

Enjoy your children’s bright-eyed eagerness as you make memories this Holiday season. 

Contact us here with questions and thoughts. I’m eager to hear about your adventure with cookie science.

Keep a song in your heart!

Silent Elephant “e”™-ing is FUN!

Silent Elephant “e”™-ing is FUN!  

The more I teach with Silent Elephant “e”™ the more I’m beginning to feel like Silent Elephant “e”™ is a verb. 😂

I know that sounds a little crazy, but it’s true, the more I teach with Silent Elephant “e”™, the more I feel like I’m Silent Elephant “e”™-ing. 😂😂
 
Let me give you a little background to where this happy, but little bit goofy, feeling is coming from.
 
“Learn – to learn” is a verb, an action word.
This means learning is an active process.
To learn, action must be happening.

It’s true that part of the activity or action of learning is happening in the brain unseen, but for our brain to engage in the process of learning, our senses must get involved.
 
Let’s look at this.
Obviously, our senses of sight and hearing are a major part of learning to read, write and spell, but actually our other senses of touch, taste and smell all have a part in our learning process. Furthermore, when ALL our senses, and movement, get involved, learning happens faster, is deeper and is more easily transferred into other concepts and subjects.
 
There’s just added power when we involve the whole-child/whole-person, all our senses, in the learning process.

Now, let’s go visit that sweet young man Xander again. (See last email HERE)
 
As you will remember, I shared Xander’s interaction with Silent Elephant “e”™’s Phonemic Awareness Caterpillar Game that uses color and movement to identify sounds in words. There was a moment when Xander had such a firm grasp on identifying individual sounds in spoken words that he transferred his knowledge into a new way of showing his comprehension.
 
Remember how he jumped up and shot off to bring his toy cars in on the learning. He had mentally processed, comprehended, that individual sounds make up our words and that in this game, the sounds could be represented by colored squares, or toy cars, but it didn’t change the individual sounds in the word.
 
Let’s look at what Xander was doing, how he was active and interacting with his knowledge, and how his senses were involved to activate his brain. Xander was:

• using his sense of hearing as he listened intently to each sound his mom said.

• using his sense of sight as he watched his mom’s mouth move as she said each sound.

• using his sense of hearing as he carefully listened to his own voice saying and identifying each sound he heard.

• using his sense of touch, and movement, as he slid his colored squares in place to indicate the sounds he heard, and

• using his senses of sight and hearing to decide that his game board was correct, whether his answers were indicated with colored squares or toy cars.

True, he didn’t use his senses of smell or taste in Silent Elephant “e”™’s Phonemic Awareness Caterpillar Game, but these two senses are also integrated throughout Silent Elephant “e”™. True deep learning that transfers easily and swiftly into other concepts and subjects involves ALL the senses; It involves the whole learner.
 
Now do you see why I giggle to myself when I find myself thinking that I am Silent Elephant “e”™ -ing as I sit down at the computer to meet one of my students? Every one of the lessons in Silent Elephant “e”™ is centered around the whole-child in front of me and how they learn.
 
Furthermore, Silent Elephant ”e”™-ing is just plain FUN!  Cont
 
Gentle reminder - 25% off on Silent Elephant ”e”™ Parts 1-14, click HERE.

Contact us at:

Linda Katherine Smith-Jones 208-859-4406 Nina Henson 208-860-3125

Developing Thinking Skills in Our Children— One of Our Most Important Jobs

Developing Thinking Skills in Our Children—

One of Our Most Important Jobs  

Thinking—remembering information, understanding it, applying it, analyzing it, synthesizing it, evaluating it and creating new ideas with it—is a natural part of being human.  

Developing and strengthening these natural thinking skills of our students is an important part of Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”. 

In fact, developing and strengthening thinking skills is an important part of our “jobs” as parents, teachers and grandparents.  

As parents, teachers and grandparents we always want to stimulate the thinking of those we love to explore their world near and far. We constantly want to be helping them understand their world at deeper levels.  

What does it take to be ready to take on the “job” of helping our children and our students develop their thinking skills? 

The simple answer is: ASK QUESTIONS! 

We need to think of ourselves as one of the people in their lives who asks them questions—questions that cause them to reflect, think critically, and reflect on their thinking.   

We want to be one of the people in their lives who is wondering about the world with them and asking them questions about their world—questions that will stimulate awareness, curiosity and deep, critical thinking.

Our questions don’t always have to have complex answers. Our intention is to stimulate awareness, curiosity and thought at whatever their age and at whatever concept development learning stage they are in.   

Since developing thinking skills is so important, Silent Elephant “e” promotes discussion of the content being studied by utilizing all thinking levels of questions. Children are asked questions to show they recall what they have read and understand what they have read. Then they are asked higher-level questions to guide them to apply their new knowledge, to analyze their new knowledge, to synthesize their new knowledge and to evaluate their new knowledge. Finally, they are asked questions to guide their thinking to create new ideas with their new knowledge. 

Let me share a little about Benjamin Bloom’s Taxonomy of thinking. Benjamin Bloom was an educational psychologist who in 1956 developed a questioning order for educators. The intent of his question order was for educators to promote thinking skills within their students beyond just remembering facts. He wanted educators to guide their students to practice their ability to apply, to analyze, to synthesize and to evaluate knowledge.   

Bloom shared that although remembering facts about what we read is important (we have to know what we read), to truly utilize a concept we are reading or learning, we need to take that information into deeper levels of thought. 

In other words, we need to think about what we are learning and think critically about our thinking about our learning. We need to analyze and evaluate how our new learning fits into everything else we know and how it changes what we already know.  

We need to analyze and evaluate in order to make sense of the new content and be able to utilize it in our lives and to create new thoughts from it.  

Here are two ways of looking at the levels (stages) of thinking that Bloom shared:  

This form gives us words at every level to guide our questions. These words help us develop an understanding of our student’s stage of learning—concept development. All levels are important, as they build upon each other. We have to have knowledge and understanding of a concept before we can apply it, analyze it, synthesize it or evaluate it.

This is another way of looking at the stages of thinking. This form focuses on experiences within the stages. These questions also help us think about where the learner is now when processing the new concept. Can they recall, explain, illustrate, operate, question, defend, and/or design? 

Even after teaching many years, I refer back to my light bulb grid to make sure I am asking questions to stimulate my students’ thinking.

In my next blog post, I will share how I use questioning to stimulate deeper thinking skills as I teach. It’s so fun to watch my students begin to realize their natural abilities to contemplate what they know and are learning. Their eyes sparkle with the power of this understanding.

If you are questioning whether someone in your life is dyslexic and you’re not sure what to do, feel free to contact us.

Linda Katherine Smith-Jones                            Nina Henson

Guiding Learners to OWN Their Learning

Guiding Learners to OWN Their Learning and

Create New and Original Thoughts with Their Knowledge 

In my last blog post (Developing Thinking Skills in Our Children, One of Our Most Important Jobs), I shared that one of our important “jobs” as parents, grandparents and teachers is asking our kiddos questions using questioning strategies that promote and strengthen thinking skills. 

I shared background information about Bloom’s Taxonomy. I gave you two forms of Bloom’s Taxonomy to help guide your questioning strategies.  

Lets’ look more closely at working with Bloom’s Taxonomy when we are teaching, parenting or grandparenting.  

Every level in Bloom’s Taxonomy is important. Learners must have knowledge of a new concept and be able to recall or remember the knowledge before they can further develop their thinking skills. Knowledge is the basis of learning.  

When learners remember facts and concepts, they can begin to deeply think about their new knowledge. They understand it and begin to apply it in their thoughts and lives.  

Once they have that solid basis developed, they can analyze their new knowledge, evaluate their new knowledge and create new and original thoughts with their new knowledge.   

Being able to apply, analyze, evaluate and create are very important life skills—ones that we always want to be strengthening and promoting in our kiddos’ education and life. 

Let’s think about this: when learners are learning a new concept and they apply, analyze, evaluate and create an answer to a question, they can explain their reasoning behind their answer.  

When they can explain their reasons behind their choice, they KNOW the content fully.  

They are working far beyond comprehending what they have learned (the Knowledge/Remembering level). They actually “own” the content. They can use this content knowledge as they move forward into new concepts.  

As I teach, I model questioning at the application, analyzing and evaluating levels at all times and the children begin to use this same type of questioning during partner work.  

Examples of questions I continually ask in phonemic awareness are:

·       “Shelly, why did you decide to put 2 squares on the line?”

·       “Grace, what sound does the orange square stand for?”

·       “Josie, why did you put 2 yellow squares on just one line?”

·       “Which sound in our new word changed from our last word?”

These seem like simple questions, but I want them to think about why they did what they did—to think about their thinking. I want them to KNOW the REASON why they choose the answer they choose.  

Examples of questions I continually ask in phonics are: 

·       “Thomas, what picture did you make in your mind when you read that sentence?”

·       “What does _____ mean?” (I ask this question or partners ask each other this question for every word on the practice papers in which they are marking the sounds they hear for each phonetic part of a word. I want them to express their knowledge about each word’s meaning(s).) 

Watching their thinking and listening to their answers is great fun.

Watching their faces beam with pride and clarity as they realize that they know why they know is a never-ending pleasure.  

Whenever children read a story to me, I ask questions using Benjamin Bloom’s Taxonomy as my guide.  

I love the “light bulb” design and all of the suggested question starters to help form questions that meet our Bloom’s Taxonomy teaching level objective(s). 

As an educator, I carefully listen to my kiddos answers while taking note of their thought processes and their use of content vocabulary.  

As you ask questions that cause your children to think at deeper levels about their learning and their world, you are guiding them to develop the skill of approaching all subjects in their lives with thoughtful application, analysis, evaluation and an understanding that they can be creative with their new knowledge. You are strengthening their natural thinking abilities. Being able to answer questions at all levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy of comprehension develops maturity in their thinking.

In my next blog post, I’ll give you some examples of how to apply Bloom’s Taxonomy in the stories of Hansel and Gretel and Goldilocks.

If you are questioning whether someone in your life is dyslexic and you’re not sure what to do, feel free to contact us.

Linda Katherine Smith-Jones                            Nina Henson 

“Should Hansel and Gretel be Angry with Their Father?”

“Should Hansel and Gretel be Angry with Their Father?”  

In my last two blog posts, I shared Bloom’s Taxonomy of thinking and why it is important for us as teachers, parents and grandparents to be aware of how our questions are promoting and strengthening the natural thinking skills within our children. 

I am going to share a simple example of using all levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy to compare the fairy tales of Hansel and Gretel and Goldilocks. 

                              Hansel and Gretel                     Goldilocks 

Knowledge         (recall) Why did the father      (list) What 3 things did

leave the children alone in     Goldilocks touch in the

                              the woods?                                 bears’ home? 

Comprehension(explain) Why did                      (predict) How will the

                              dropping breadcrumbs           bears feel when they

                              not help the children                get home?

                              get home?                                         

Application        (apply) What would you do   (sketch) Draw three

                              if you were lost in the                pictures: Baby Bear’s

                              woods?                                        bowl, chair and bed. 

Analysis               (diagram) Draw detailed        (analyze) How come

                              pictures of the witch’s              Baby Bear can sit in his

                              house: outside and inside.      chair without breaking it?

Let’s experiment. 

Synthesis             (plan) What plan did                (relate) How are                       

                              Gretel think of in order to  Hansel’s and Gretel’s

save Hansel from being manners similar to

eaten by the witch? Goldilock’s manners?

Evaluation           (judge) How would you           (defend) Do you think

                              feel if your parents left             the bears had a right to

                              you alone in the forest to        be angry with                              

                              die?                                               Goldilocks?

The above questions are just some examples of questions I ask children about these two stories. 

I am guiding them to become critical thinkers, to use all their thinking skills, and to interact with their knowledge. I am guiding them to make the stories “their own”. I am guiding them to apply this thinking in multiple situations throughout the rest of their lives.  

Asking critical thinking questions of our children as we read with them, watch a show or movie with them and experience life with them provides us the opportunity to share our thoughts and values with our children. This is both a joyful and important part of our job as teachers, parents, and grandparents. 

In my next blog post, we’ll explore promoting and strengthening children’s thinking skills outside of “formal” education. I’ll share why my grandson exclaimed, “Grandma is EVERYWHERE!”

If you are questioning whether someone in your life is dyslexic and you’re not sure what to do, feel free to contact us.

Linda Katherine Smith-Jones                            Nina Henson

“Grandma is Everywhere!”

“Grandma is Everywhere!” 

“Your oldest grandson just exclaimed, ‘Grandma is everywhere! I can’t be anywhere, look anywhere, or do anything without Grandma there asking me questions!’” 

I had to smile when my husband shared that comment with me. I thought to myself with pride, I’m doing just exactly what I’m supposed to be doing.  

Want to know how I have the capabilities to be anywhere and everywhere? Read on! 

First, let’s remember this important fact: our time spent with our children is extremely important! In just the first three years of life they lay the foundations for comprehending the world around them. Their environment affects their lifetime of learning.  

Memory; language development; self-awareness; emotions; cause and effect; understanding past, present, future; drawing conclusions; sequencing; understanding consequences for behavior; and much, much more learning takes place from birth to 36 months. 

Still curious to find out how I can be everywhere? 

Think back for a moment to my last blog posts about Bloom’s Taxonomy and questioning strategies that help our kids develop deeper understanding of their world and what they are learning.  

I love asking questions that stimulates their thinking at all levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy. I love asking questions no matter where we are or what we are doing. I love asking questions! 

I love seeing the excitement and joy of learning in children’s eyes! I love the surprise and pleasure that beams from their faces when they realize they understand something new with deeper understanding.  

Why did my grandson exclaim in exasperation to Grandpa, “Grandma is everywhere”? It’s all because “Once a teacher; always a teacher!” and because understanding Bloom’s Taxonomy and how to ask questions to elicit different levels of thinking is a gift we need to give to all our children.  

When we understand how to ask questions that guide our interactions with our children throughout our day, our children will think beyond what is right in front of them. We will experience that awesome feeling of watching their eyes sparkle and their faces beam, as they understand their world better. 

I’ll share some examples of me “being everywhere” that demonstrate how Bloom’s Taxonomy can play out in our day-to-day lives: 

At home: Once I cut apart a disposable diaper and put the polymers from inside the diaper into an opaque cup. Later, I asked my grandsons to come in the kitchen with me to get a drink of water. I filled the cup holding the polymers with water and then pretended to lose my balance and dump the cup over my oldest grandson’s head. Of course, he was shocked when no water spilled out onto his head and he immediately began to ask questions about where the water was since he had just watched me fill the cup. I ran with his questions (How did that happen? Where is the water? etc.). His questions led to research and more questions from me, such as, “Why is it wonderful to have polymers in diapers?” 

At the store: I ask questions that get my grandboys to think about what is around them—questions that get them exploring their surroundings, such as: “What is that thing? What does the sign say it is? (For example, an eggplant.) What shape is it? Could it be a combination of shapes? What food group is it in? Would you like to taste it? Let’s find recipes for this when we get home. Do you think we can eat it raw or should we cook it? Maybe both?”

“Maybe dip it in a dip!” exclaimed my youngest grandson. He’s always game for trying something new. 

Hiking in the mountains: Wow, that tree is growing right out of that boulder! How in the world could it do that? I thought plants needed to grow in soil.   

At home: Why does the wooden front door open into the house? Why does the screen door open out from the house? 

At school: Why do we have to walk on the right side of the hallway? 

In an auditorium: Last fall my oldest grandson and I were waiting for his seventh-grade friends’ play to begin. He was excited about what he was learning in his beginning physics class. (And I was excited about the teachable moment!) I asked him to find examples of pulleys as we looked around the auditorium. I asked him to imagine what was behind the curtain. 

I then asked him why he thought the hanging amplifiers were tilted in different directions. He looked at me not wanting to answer another question, but just as he said, “Grandma, . . . “, the curtain began to rise. I whispered, “We’ll have to talk about that later.” 

He really was “saved by the bell”! Although we never did get back to discussing that topic that evening, you’d better believe that I got him thinking about it. It was only a matter of time before he dropped by at the end of a school day and said, “Grandma, remember when we were talking about the hanging amplifiers in the auditorium at my friends’ play? Well, I’ve been thinking . . . “ 

When traveling: My husband and I asked our then 21-year-old daughter to go on a vacation with us. There was a long pause. “Okay, but . .  . “

“But what?” I asked.

“I’ll go under one condition. “

“What condition?” I queried.

“That we do not visit any museums and there are no teachable moments!”

“WHAT?????

No teachable moments!?!?

How can you have a vacation without teachable moments?” 

I now have a 3-year-old granddaughter. We are having so, so, SO much fun discovering, learning and questioning! The possibilities are endless, and the learning is exhilarating! Her eyes sparkle as she gathers each morsel of knowledge and understanding of the world around her. 

My grandchildren (and children) may not always want to answer my questions, but I always want to be asking them. It’s an important part of being a parent, grandparent and teacher.  

We are guiding those we love to be critical thinkers in all parts of their lives using all of their natural abilities of thinking. It is a wonderful gift to give our children, grandchildren and students.

If you are questioning whether someone in your life is dyslexic and you’re not sure what to do, feel free to contact us.

Linda Katherine Smith-Jones                            Nina Henson