“My brain felt so disorganized! I felt like a railroad without tracks,”

Stephen stopped in the middle of our Zoom lesson, and looked me in the eyes, “Mrs. Jones, I’ve been thinking about something I’ve been wanting to tell you for a long time. Do you know how I felt all the time before I began tutoring with you?”

I looked at him thoughtfully as he was so serious. “No,” I replied, “but I’d love for you to tell me.”

“I felt like a railroad without tracks,” he said slowly and then quickly looked away. I could tell he felt uncomfortable, and this had been hard for him to say.

My brain began to whirl trying to picture what he had experienced and what he meant. “Please tell me more.”

Slowly Stephen began explaining, “For years and years, I tried so hard to make sense of what my parents, teachers and other tutors were teaching me. I felt my brain was built for learning concepts. I felt capable of learning. I really did.

“But I also felt dumb. I watched my teachers walk away from my desk – giving up on helping me. It took too much of their time to try to help me. They had so many other children to help. They began to ignore me. I felt so alone.

“My brain felt so scattered! My brain felt so disorganized! I needed railroad tracks to guide me.”

I could feel Stephen’s profound pain – it was palpable!

He continued, “I tried so hard to do what I thought was right, but I was never right!

“I could see and hear what my friends were doing, but no matter how hard I tried, I could never get it right. I thought I was the stupidest person alive! I felt like giving up!

“I’m so glad my mom didn’t give up on me. She was aware that I was developing numerous coping mechanisms – trying to cope in school with the way teachers and other kids looked at me, trying not to feel embarrassed in front of everyone, trying to learn and always failing, trying to keep on believing in myself.

“It was the best day of my life when my mom brought me to your house for tutoring. Within just a few minutes of meeting me, you told me that I was smart! You said that I would learn! You said that I just needed to be taught a in different way. You said I needed to be taught to read, write and spell the way MY brain learned!

“After just 3 weeks of tutoring with you, I suddenly could see and hear individual sounds within words (phonemic awareness). I finally got it! Before we did the caterpillar and train games, I couldn’t figure out what I was supposed to do when teachers and my parents said, ‘Just sound it out.’ When I began to hear the individual sounds within words, I knew I was going to be able to learn to read!

“When we started using colors for phonics, I felt relief and joy too! The color that helps me the most is the purple lines between syllables! The purple lines break the words into smaller pieces and then I can use the other colors to help me see the small phonetic parts of words that the letters form.”

As I listened, I was doing my best not to be too emotional. “Oh, Stephen, I’m so grateful to be your tutor!

“Hearing your words, I am reminded of just how serious and important a teachers’ job is and I’m reminded of the huge responsibility that I have to all my students.

“I’m so thankful I’ve been able to help you learn to read, write and spell so quickly! Do you remember that in just 2 years you went from a primer to a 9th grade reading level between the ages of 8 and 10?”

“Yes, I do remember,” he said with a big smile, “and my reading continues to grow and become even faster and smoother.”

“You are an extremely intelligent person! You and your family would never have given up on you!

“I’m so proud of you! You’re awesome!”

I could see the relief and pride in his eyes. He had realized his own growth and could feel a bright future ahead.

With smiles on our faces, we did our computer high five and returned to our lesson. 

Phonemic awareness is the foundation of reading, writing and spelling. If a child doesn’t have phonemic awareness, they will struggle with reading, writing and spelling, it’s just that important.

Part 1 of Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”™ is 47 lessons in phonemic awareness. Part 2 has all the assessments you will need including a detailed phonemic awareness assessment.

When they finish Part 1, when they have phonemic awareness, their foundation of success is set and they will fly.

Contact me here, silentelephante@gmail.com! 😊

I Need You Help!

I need your help! 😊

What can I do to help you and your kids experience the joy and freedom of learning to read, write and spell using Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”™? 

What do you need from me? 

I imagine that when you look at the cost of the whole Silent Elephant “e”™ program, it might look daunting.
 However, when you break the cost down for what you are purchasing, 3 subjects for 14 years of learning, it turns out to be less than $40 a year per subject.

Further, you will use Silent Elephant “e”™ for all your children, no matter age or learning differences. With Silent Elephant “e”™, you have reading, writing and spelling for preschoolers through high schoolers. It is the only language arts program you’ll need to buy.
 
You can purchase the whole program initially, which offers you a savings, or you have the option of purchasing the parts separately.
 
Secondly, I want to say this because it’s very important to me, I wrote Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”™ after much research on how our brains learn and much personal experience with my students and my own daughter. That’s why Silent Elephant “e”™ is active, interactive, interesting, and fun in every moment of every lesson. Plus, it’s easy for you to teach with and your children will love learning with Silent Elephant “e”™. This is also why everyone teaching with Silent Elephant “e”™ has had so much success.
 
Please help me by letting me know what you need from me to help you be able to  purchase Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”™ so you and your children can experience the same joy and freedom of learning that every one of my students has experienced. 
 
What do you need from me?
 
Please send your thoughts and ideas to silentelephante@gmail.com
THANK YOU!  

They Said She Would Never Catch Up in Comprehension

Silent Elephant “e” Has to Disappear!

 A smile brightens my face as I recall the day “Kimberly” excitedly shared her experience of teaching her class my phonics lesson about when and why Silent Elephant “e”™ has to disappear at the end of Silent Elephant “e”™ words when you add a suffix that begins with a vowel.

She beamed as she told me, “My teacher loved the Silent Elephant “e”™ puppet! She thought it totally made sense that you couldn’t make SILENT Elephant “e” talk by putting ‘two vowels walking’ next to each other when you add a suffix that begins with a vowel!”

You might be confused, so let me give you some examples. Let’s take the word “poke”. If you want to add the suffix -s which begins with a consonant, you can just add it on to the end of the root word to make “pokes”. The consonant “s” will not make “two vowels go walking” in the word.

However, if you want to add the suffix -ed which begins with a vowel, you cannot just add it on the end of the root word as it will make “pokeed. Silent Elephant “e” has to disappear, or you’ll have “two vowels go walking” and the first vowel will have to say its name.

If you want to add the suffix -ing which begins with a vowel, you cannot just add it on the end of the root word as it will make “pokeing”. Again, if Silent Elephant “e” doesn’t disappear you’ll have “two vowels go walking” and the first vowel will have to say its name.

This sweet girl is now a 5th grader. She began tutoring with me in late October of her 3rd grade year. She was at an instructional 3rd grade reading level in word recognition but frustrated at a 1st grade reading level in comprehension.

She has dyspraxia. Dyspraxia is a chronic neurological condition where the wiring in the brain is mixed up. People with dyspraxia display different symptoms. Kimberly can easily find and remember details when she reads, but she was struggling putting the details together to make sense of sentences, paragraphs, and lengthy pieces of writing. She struggled to find the main idea in any piece of writing. The educational psychologist that diagnosed Kimberly told me that Kimberly would probably never catch up in reading comprehension.

After completing only 14 months of instruction with me using Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”™, last March during her 4th grade year, this bubbly, energetic little girl tested out at a 9th grade instructional reading level in word recognition AND comprehension using the Fleishman Oral Reading Inventory!

This is such a joyful example of the power of Silent Elephant “e”™ that teaches each child the way they learn. My heart sings knowing Kimberly is a successful reader. Her world has opened up for her.

Contact me here to explore how you can teach your kiddos with Silent Elephant “e”™ to give them the freedom of a solid reading, writing and spelling foundation that will set them up for life.

Reading and Writing Go Together - Her Essay Shares Her Solid Foundation

In my last post (here's the link), I shared my student Rachel’s success and how the deep foundation in reading, writing and spelling she received from Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”™ is showing in all parts of her life.

Her mom, Jennifer, had mentioned in her letter that Rachel had written a report on a special person as a school assignment.

I’m eager to share it with you. 

“My Special Person
By Rachel 3-3-23

My special person is my mom. Do you want to know why? (I have lots of reasons I meen lots.). I love my mom because she takes care of me when I’m sick. She gets mad when I pass the sickness along to her, but she still loves me. When I was learning to ride my bike she pushed me forward (theoreticly not physically). I remember when I was in seattle, and it was Covid, she was are teacher at home. Every day for recess we would bounce on the trampoline. I loved those days. My mom helped us move. And when I was born she quit her job just like with Rebecca (my older sister). my family went to Plymouth. I got a fever and even then, my mom took care of me. I think you can see how important my mom is to me.” 

This is delightful and an amazing story for a second grader!

As I look at her story to see how she is doing, I notice her content is relevant and flows beautifully.

There are just three spelling errors: mean, theoretically (What an amazing vocabulary word and spelling attempt! She was so close you knew exactly which word she was using.), and our.

She needed to capitalize Seattle and the beginning of one sentence, plus she needed a couple of commas for adverbial phrases. That’s another thing! She is using adverbial phrases!! Also, her use of parenthesis within her story is outstanding!
 
Plus, her handwriting is beautiful!

This is exceptional writing for an eight-year-old and it’s so fun to share this with you. 

Her story illustrates two points that Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”™ provides us all:

First, with Silent Elephant “e”™, it doesn’t take 6 years to be a successful reader on a 6th grade level. She’s in second grade writing an essay like this one!

Second (maybe the most important, as it frees our students to read and learn freely), with Silent Elephant “e”™, they achieve a SOLID, STABLE foundation in reading, writing and spelling that is theirs for the rest of their life. Rachel is now reading and comprehending above 6th grade level and her writing and spelling is above age level as well.
 
This is why I wrote Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”™ -  so ALL children and adults feel the freedom of reading and writing.

Contact me here to explore how you can teach your kiddos with Silent Elephant “e”™ to give them the freedom of a solid reading, writing and spelling foundation that will set them up for life.
Or call me here Linda Smith-Jones 208-859-4406 

Keep a song in your heart!

17 Months to 6th Grade Level with Only Twice a Week Instruction!

This seems to be the season for up-dates.

In my  March 8th email, From Failure to Scoring 104% on Her Spelling Test, I had the pleasure of sharing how my student Rebecca has been acing her spelling tests plus spelling the majority of her surprise extra credit words correctly. She has been scoring 100% or above for weeks.

Her mom also shared how Rebecca clearly understands syllabification because of how Silent Elephant “e”™ taught her and that she helped her teacher with the word “temperature”.

When Rebecca graduated from Silent Elephant “e”™ she was reading on an 11th grade level and has continued to progress though she is profoundly dyslexic. She is now in the  5th grade and, as her mom shared, confident and eager. She can read anything she wants and write delightful stories.

NOW – I get to share an update on Rebecca’s sister Rachel.

Rachel is not dyslexic like her sister. She began Silent Elephant “e”™ just before entering Kindergarten. She had been in preschool for a bit, but then Covid hit. Rachel’s mom wanted her to have the same foundation that Rebecca was getting.

Rachel finished Kindergarten reading on a 4th grade level. She went on to finish first grade decoding words on a 6th grade level. She is now in the last part of her second-grade year and Jennifer, her mom, sent this wonderful update and photos.

“Rachel is doing great! She's so far advanced in her class.  Her classmates write short sentences and Rachel writes paragraphs. They are finishing up a book they are writing about animals.  Rachel chose the mountain lion. Her teacher is going to email it to me when they are finished. I can forward a copy to you.  I volunteered and helped the other students, so I saw a good comparison of her writing verses her classmates.  She also wrote a paper on her special person, me (!). 

“Rachel loves researching, science and math. Her teacher told me that they (she and the class aide) were blown away recently when Rachel started talking about Malala Yousafzai.  Rachel knows who she is because she talks to Rebecca about her and she can read the "I Am", the "Who Was?” and the “Who Is?" book series.  I'm not sure what level these books are, but definitely not 2nd grade!!” Jennifer proudly wrote.

“Rachel has read almost all the "I Survived" book series.  She absolutely loves them!!

“Rachel reads ALL the time.  We've been tracking it the last couple of weeks for a read-a-thon at school and she reads around 390 minutes a week. She really loves learning all things, but she especially loves math.  As of now, she wants to be a mathematician when she grows up.  Her teacher told me to email her when Rachel goes to Harvard! :-)

Love, Jennifer” 

Rachel is flying because she has the stable foundation in reading, writing and spelling that Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”™ provides for every learner: dyslexics, those with other learning differences, or like Rachel, no learning differences.

What Silent Elephant “e”™ did was teach Rachel the way she learns - through fun, active activities, and as her success is showing, just like with her dyslexic sister, it does not take 6 years to be reading on a 6th grade level, dyslexic or not.

Further, Rachel was reading on a 6th grade level in 17 months with just 20-25 minutes of Silent Elephant “e”™ instruction just twice a week in Kindergarten and only 25-40 minutes twice a week in first grade. She is now easily comprehending on a 6th grade level after 2.75 years.

Now, as her mom shared, second grade Rachel is free to read anything she wants and write wonderful stories about what she enjoys reading.

Just like her dyslexic sister Rebecca, Rachel feels not bound to what she can learn.

This is the freedom that Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”™ provides. It teaches children to read, write and spell the way they love to learn, and they never look back.

Contact us here to explore how you can teach your kiddos with Silent Elephant “e”™ and give them the freedom of a solid reading, writing and spelling foundation for the rest of their lives. 

Linda Smith-Jones

Imagine My Surprise As I Opened the Box

Imagine My Surprise

Imagine my surprise as I opened a package to find this beautiful quilt hidden inside.

I had no idea who had sent it and as I admired the beauty of the quilt, I searched for a card. I eagerly opened the one I found to find these wonderful words from my former student “Sean”: “Thank you for all the help you gave me. It has helped so much! Thank you for everything!” (It wasn’t too wordy, he is a 14-year-old boy 😊, but I could feel the relief and pride in his words.)

His grandma wrote, “You are an amazing woman touching so many lives—you are a God send to ‘Sean’. You were exactly what he needed!! This will make a difference for the rest of his life! We can’t thank you enough!”  

As Sean’s grandma said, he is set for life. He can relax and learn anything he wants to learn. 

It’s always both joyful and a little hard when one of my students graduates from Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”™.

Sean’s grandparents are the ones who contacted me about tutoring Sean a little over 2 years ago. They were very worried because he was struggling in school and was not progressing in reading, writing and spelling. He was way behind his age level peers and was becoming more and more frustrated and embarrassed. Sean was in 6th grade and reading independently at a 2nd grade reading level.

2 years later with Silent Elephant “e”™ under his belt, Sean graduated from me and headed off to his 8th grade classes with the knowledge that he was now reading at an instructional 9th grade reading level!

I am so proud of him.

This exquisite quilt is a thank you from his grandmother. I am in awe of its beauty and the craftmanship and talent it shows. I barely had it out of the box before I began trying to decide which wall to hang it on so that I could see it throughout my day.  😊

With Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”™ we are changing lives. We are setting our kiddos on a new trajectory—one of success and fun.

No child should struggle to learn to read, write or spell.

Every child should have fun learning to read, write and spell.

Contact us here if you know of anyone who is struggling in reading, writing or spelling. They don’t even have to be children. 😊

Linda Smith-Jones  silentelephante@gmail.com          

From Failure to Scoring 104% on Her Spelling Test! She Understands How Phonics and Spelling Works

 Today, I get to share this wonderful update that makes my heart sing!!

It’s from Jennifer, the mom of my student Rebecca, who graduated from Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”™ 9 months ago.

These are Jennifer’s proud words:  
“All the extra hours of studying and practicing and tutoring paid off! 104%!! When Rebecca started spelling in first grade, it was so stressful for her that she took her test alone and untimed. Now Rebecca understands phonics and why words are spelled the way they are, and she tests with the class. She just did three weeks in a row with 100%, 102% and now this 104%! She gets the twenty-word spelling list to study, but the extra credit ones are a surprise on test day.

People with dyslexia CAN spell. They just need someone to teach them how and to believe they can!”

On another day, Jennifer shared an experience Rebecca had during the past week in school. Rebecca had a reading assignment to circle all the words on the paper that had 3 syllables. When she was working on it, her teacher stopped by her desk and said, “You forgot to circle ’temperature’.” Rebecca politely replied, “Temperature has 4 syllables, so I shouldn’t circle it. Every syllable has one vowel sound. You need to say it correctly to spell it correctly.” She truly has learned phonics!

Rebecca’s grandma, a retired teacher, said, “I am so grateful that Jennifer insisted that there had to be a solution and then researched until she found Mrs. Jones and Silent Elephant "e", LLC ! Rebecca is amazing !!!”

This is even more joyful news when you realize that Rebecca is profoundly dyslexic.

When she began Silent Elephant “e”™ with me as a first grader, she didn’t have any phonemic awareness and was failing in reading, writing and, as Jennifer shared above, spelling. Rebecca’s school had staffed her into special education with an IEP. To that point, nothing that had been tried had helped her learn.

School was painful for her, and Jennifer set out to find someone who understood her as a dyslexic learner and could teach her the way she learns as a dyslexic.

Skipping ahead to today, Rebecca is a completely successful 5th grader reading on an 11th grade level, writing amazing creative stories and poems, and as you saw, understands spelling because she KNOWS and UNDERSTANDS phonics because she was taught phonics the way her brain learns.

She is free to happily explore her world, and she is.
I’m so proud of her!
 
If you have a child who is struggling with reading, writing or spelling, please contact me.
If you know someone whose child is struggling, send them this email and encourage them to contact me.

No child should struggle with reading, writing or spelling.

In Jennifer’s wonderful words, “They just need someone who can teach them how and believe they can.”

With Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”™ YOU have the HOW to teach them the WAY THEY LEARN, and you are the one who loves and BELIEVES in them. 

Contact me here silentelephante@gmail.com

Keep a song in your heart!

To Her the Words Looked Like They Were Under a Magnifying Glass

Not every dyslexic learner experiences the words and letters moving around. Some do, and in those who do, they don't see it the same. Interesting. 

I’ve shared how Josie and one of my seven-year-old students opened my eyes by sharing what happens to the words and letters when they read. Since this revelation, I’m feeling even more joy in my teaching. (Here are links to the last two emails. Josie. Sweet seven-year-old) 

My meeting each and every student exactly where they are is even more astute, because I’m listening more intently, asking the right questions and teaching them how THEY learn using Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”™.  

I’m continually amazed and very pleased that Silent Elephant “e”™ alone has made such a difference in their lives and that my asking the right questions has sparked a different awareness in me, making me an even better teacher.    

A few days after my little seven-year-old student shared that the letters jump around on the page, I asked one of my ninth-grade dyslexic students to explain what she saw on a page of printed material.

I had been trying many teaching techniques to help Ahva develop smoothness (fluency). When she read aloud, she would physically tense up and her breathing became extremely labored. Her anxiety and tenseness were palpable. It contributed to her choppy reading.

I had her read sentences several times stretching out vowel sounds to give her more time to think about what the ending sound in a word was and more time to contemplate the next word in the sentence.

She unconsciously began bobbing her head slowly with every word. I had her put her hand under her chin so she could feel the bobbing.

When the bobbing subsided, we began working on phraseology. I taught her how to find prepositional phrases in sentences.

As she is in Part 14 now, I had her read the following sentence: “The lanky man in the dark blue suit was hurriedly walking toward the cashier at the counter to deposit money in his savings account.”

We discussed that our brains always strive for meaning. Our brains naturally break sentences into phrases: “The lanky man - in the dark blue suit - hurriedly walked - toward the cashier - at the counter - to deposit money - in his savings account.”

I taught her to focus on the questions her brain would naturally ask as it sought meaning in what she was reading:

• What about the lanky man?

• What is he wearing?

• Where did he walk?

• Where is the cashier?

• Why did he go to the bank?

• Where is he depositing his money?

 She did begin to read with more fluently, smoother, but she couldn’t read a phrase that was longer than three or four words smoothly, even though I encouraged her to try to smoothly combine two short phrases in one breath.

I would have her read each sentence several times to practice. After reading a sentence several times, she ultimately read it smoothly as if in conversation.

However, I was still concerned that she needed multiple repetitions of a sentence to reach conversational fluency.

Thinking of Josie, I asked this awesome, conscientious ninth grader to explain what she saw on a page of printed material.

She explained that she could see a space of about 1.5 to 2 inches clearly and all around that space of clarity everything was distorted and stretched!

I sat stunned!

I asked her, “Is that why you only read three or four words smoothly and then have a long break before the next three or four words, and after practicing the sentence several times you appear to read it smoothly, because you have it memorized?”

She smiled at me a little shyly, and said, “Yes. Now you understand.”
Wow!
Ahva’s brain focuses on printed materials in a hyper focused way, much like a magnifying glass, where the center is super clear, but the periphery is distorted.     

I sat admiring this young woman for her tenacity and positive mindset. I was in awe. I shared with her how Josie and my seven-year old saw print. I could see the relief on her face when she realized I understood and that she wasn’t alone seeing words differently. She was relieved there was help.

Here is Ahva’s story in her own words:  
“Before I first came to tutoring with Linda, I just avoided ever reading on my own or in front of people. If I ever did read, within an hour I would get dizzy and have to stop. It was hard for me.

I would panic if I were called on to read in class. I’d feel sad about it afterwards and think I was just dumb or not trying hard enough.

I would try to read. It felt like the words were always moving depending on where I looked on the page.

Due to that, I would start to read and get two or three words read and get stuck on each group of 3 words that followed.

Now that I’ve been working with Linda, I have improved hugely. I can now get through sentences without freezing. My head hurting when reading has almost completely gone away. I am now willing to read in front of people!

I am VERY happy with where I am now in reading, and I am very thankful for having Linda help me through it! Not to mention she is a very good and kind woman whom I am very happy to call my friend!”
Ahva, 14 years old
This is amazing. I am so proud of her for being able to share her story with us!

Even though I wrote Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”™ to teach dyslexic learners the way they learn, I’m still happily amazed at how the strategies and activities written into every component of every lesson also takes care of the letters and words moving and shifting. 

Silent Elephant “e”™ does the trick because of continual engagement of every part of their brain, in every SINGLE thing they do throughout EVERY lesson. It’s sort of magic. But really, Silent Elephant “e”™ teaches them the way THEY learn.

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

And last, your child (children) may not be struggling to learn to read, but you may know someone who is, please share this blog post. 

Contact us here - silentelephante@gmail.com Linda Smith-Jones 208-859-4406

Silent Elephant “e” Stops the Words and Letters From Jumping Around

In my last email (link here), Josie’s shared with us how she used to struggle with learning to read, write and spell and how differently she learns now because of Silent Elephant “e”™.

What a change from the shy, introverted, frightened of failure young girl I met to the beautifully confident and self-assured high school student she is today. Her life turned a complete 360.
 
Josie’s revelation about how the letters and words used to jumble up for her when she was reading and how the activities and strategies in Silent Elephant “e”™ stopped them from doing that made me so much more aware.
 
As I am teaching, I’m listening to my students for greater understanding. I’m listening more carefully as they share with me.
 
Just last month one of my seven-year-olds told me the letters were jumping off the page when she was trying to read!
 
I stopped short! This put me in my careful listening mode.
 
In the past, before Josie wrote about her experiences, I may have just listened politely to this little one without truly understanding what she was trying to explain to me.
 
She was really asking for help.
 
She was feeling comfortable enough in our relationship to share what she thought other people would think was silly—after all, letters don’t jump off a page.
 
But they did for her. 

Now because of Josie’s brave sharing of her own journey, I approach comments like this very differently. I know I need to know more.
 
I know I must ask questions and I must ask the right questions. I have to truly understand as well as I can what is going on with my students in order to guide each of them to becoming the successful reader I know they will become!
 
I knew I needed to honor what she was experiencing, so with this little one, I began gently asking questions to help her share more of what she was seeing such as:

• Do the letters jump up towards your eyes? (“No.”)

• Do the letters jump onto empty, blank space on the paper? (“No,” she replied rather sadly. I could tell that she wished the letters did land in a blank space.)

• Do the letters land on top of other letters? (“Yes.”)

• Do the letters land on top of other words? (“Yes.”)

• What is it like to see letters jumping on top of other letters and other words? (“It’s very hard to tell exactly what letters or words I am supposed to look at. It’s very messy.”)

I knew she was feeling very frustrated with trying to read, but sharing her frustration with me about the letters jumping around was helping her relax a little.
         
I suddenly remembered my dyslexic daughter telling me when she was little that tall letters slid across the lines to hook up to other words. She said tall letters from the next word would slide over to the word she was trying to read, so she would often add those sounds to the word she was reading. When she pronounced the word wrongly out loud, she realized it was incorrect because it was out of context. She would then struggle to correct it.
 
I have always sensed my daughter’s and my struggling students’ frustration. I have always known of their pain and sense of helplessness.

But now, I am so pleased that I can truly offer them hope, because I know from Josie’s experience that Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”™ is helping many children. (Here's the link to Josie.)
 
When I think about what Josie shared, I’m excited because I KNOW that my young seven-year-old will soon no longer experience the letters jumping off the page. She will soon be reading fluently and feeling confident.
 
I also realize, happily, that Silent Elephant “e”™ has probably helped many of my students who never mentioned the letters and words moving but experienced them stopping as they learned to read with Silent Elephant “e”™.
 
This is a wonderful realization and a happy understanding to share.
 
Silent Elephant “e”™ is the answer! Silent Elephant “e”™ is here to help. It stops the movement and jumbling of letters and words that some dyslexic learners experience when they try to read. It sets their life on a success path.
 
This is such a good feeling - there’s a path to success laid out ahead for them. It’s fun, it’s engaging, they love it – it’s Silent Elephant “e”™!

If your child has ever quietly mentioned letters or words moving around, contact us. We will set up a path of success.

If your child is dyslexic, contact us. Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”™ was written to ensure that dyslexic learners learn to read. It teaches them the way they learn by activating all parts of their brain with fun and engaging activities throughout every lesson.

AND, even if your child is not dyslexic, they will also love learning to read with Silent Elephant “e”™. They will fly! (This little kindergartener never looked back. Here's the link to her story.)
 
Click here to explore our website. Click here to email us for information.

Not So Much a Teachable Moment - Happy Holidays

Not So Much a Teachable Moment

Greetings this Holiday Season!

For me, pretty much every moment can be turned into, or already is, a teachable moment. It’s just the way I am, I LOVE teaching which makes it extremely easy for me to see almost everything as a teachable moment.
 
Though I realize the holidays are a dynamic time filled with teachable moments, I realize that when I have all my family around me opening presents, setting the table, cooking together, sitting down to enjoy our dinner, I’m not so much in a “teachable moment” mood.
 
I’m in a “I’m in love with all of them” mood. I love them.
I love spending time thinking about them and how wonderful and individual each of them is and how fun we are all together. For me, even in the middle of the hubbub, it’s a time of loving. It’s all about loving my family.
 
Now that I think about it, maybe that loving is a teaching moment – maybe that loving is me teaching me to relax and just love and enjoy them all and the wonderful gift they are in my life.
 
This is what I wish for you this Holiday Season – for YOU to find time in all the busy to realize how much you love your family and friends and enjoy that feeling of loving.
 
The best to all of you and yours!

Contact us at

silentelephante@gmail.com                               nina.silentelephante@gmail.com

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!

Why Syllables are NOT a Mystery to Silent Elephant “e”™ Readers

Why Syllables are NOT a Mystery to Silent Elephant “e”™ Readers

Is the skill of dividing words into syllables a mystery to you? Do you really understand why dividing words into syllables is important?
 
This is for sure, it’s not mysterious to children learning to read with Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”™.
 
When they reach Part 13, Level 1, they are typically at an instructional 6th grade reading level and have mastered the phonics rules for one syllable words.
 
They’re ready to dive into Parts 13 and 14. There they will learn how to divide multisyllabic words into syllables and learn why understanding how to divide words into syllables is important to their reading success.
 
In Parts 13 and 14 children become totally immersed in their learning of the 8 syllable rules because they are taught them using fun, whole body, multi-sensory activities that engage all their senses and multiple parts of their brain.
 
As they progress through Parts 13 and 14, they begin each day’s lesson by sharing all the syllable rules they’ve learned up to that point. At the end of Part 14, they easily and successfully share all 8 rules, how they use them and why.
 
Their knowledge of all 8 rules is tucked firmly “under their belt” ready to “move into action” whenever they need them. They are confident and clear about all syllable rules and easily begin to decode any new multisyllabic word they come upon.
 
At the end of Part 14, Level 1, children will be able to read any genre they’d like to read and apply their skills for dividing words into syllables to decode unknown words. Their reading vocabulary will continue to grow and grow, as will their reading ability level!
 

For you and your young learners, here’s the list of the 8 rules with clues that Silent Elephant “e”™ uses to support their fast progress in learning the rules and using them successful in their reading.
Rule 1: Every syllable has one vowel sound.
Clue: Rule #1 begins with “Every".

Rule 2: Compound words
Clue: “Into” is one of the easiest compound words at Kindergarten and first grade level.
 
Rule 3: Twins in the middle
Clue: Think of yellow.
 
Rule 4: Prefix/Root word                                             
Clue: Think of green first and then brown.
 
Rule 5: Root word/Suffix                                              
Clue: Think of brown first and then green.
 
Rule 6: VCCV & VCCCV
Clue: Use your fingers. (First, they’ll put up 4 fingers and then wiggle one at a time to show VCCV & then they’ll use all 5 fingers to show VCCCV.)
 
Rule 7: VCV                                                                             
Clue: The hardest syllable rule!
 
Rule 8: VV                                                                      
Clue: A bit tricky in the beginning, because your brain will always want to think of “two vowels go walking” first.
 
To further support you helping your young learners, here are some clues for accenting syllables:

• The first syllable of a root/base word is accented most of the time in English. ie: mon’e tar y, vig’il ance, hon’or ar y

• Prefixes and suffixes are never accented. ie: bond’age, re turn’, green’er, im plant’

• An ending syllable in a multi-syllable word ending with a “y”, “ie”, “ey” making a long “e” sound is never accented. ie.: dad’dy, cook’ie, kid’ney

• When there are twin/double consonants in the middle of a word, the unaccented syllable has the silent twin. ie.: funny = fun’ y, account = a count’

• When the twins in the middle are “c” or “g”, the syllable with the “c” or “g” making the hard sound will be the accented syllable. ie.: ac’ cent, sug’ gest, ac’ cept

Because Silent Elephant “e” learners review and share their knowledge of the rules at the beginning of each lesson and because of the multi-sensory activities that helped them learn the rules, they’ll have ALL the rules completely mastered at the end of Part 14.
 
From that point on they are free to pick up any book and feel successful. They have their knowledge of decoding multisyllabic words to help them decode any words they come across
 
When your young learner has completed Silent Elephant “e”™ Level 1, Parts 13 and 14, they will be at least at an instructional 7th grade reading level. This means they will be able to successfully read anything at a 6th grade reading level.
 
Typically, if children don’t have dyslexia or other learning differences, getting to this 6th grade level takes less than two years. If they have learning differences, it may take longer, maybe two years or more, but my experience has been with Silent Elephant “e”™, learning differences or not, they always get there.
 
They always become successful readers who love to read.
 
This is the important point, they always get there!
 
Every single student I’ve tutored has become a successful confident happy reader AND they’ve had fun along the way. They love reading and are eager and ready to read. Most of my students began Silent Elephant “e” way below grade level and were considered to always be a non-reader. With Silent Elephant “E”™ They ALL got there!
 
That, after all, is our vision!

Every child deserves to learn to read AND have fun doing it.

In this video I share a thorough overview of Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “E”™.  

If your child is dyslexic or has other learning differences, check out these blog posts.  
Of course, contact me at silentelephante@gmail.com and visit our website at silentelephante.com and our blog.  Both have TONS of info for you on teaching reading, writing and spelling.

YAY for DATA! YAY for Their SUCCESS!

YAY for DATA! YAY for Their SUCCESS!

I have 11 YEARS worth of Silent Elephant “e”™ data. 11 years!
 
I’ve been watching Silent Elephant “e™” truly change children’s lives (and their parent’s lives!) for 11 YEARS!
 
During those years, I’ve taught preschool through high school students who were struggling to read, write and spell. Some were staffed into special education. I have also had a few students who were not struggling at all but whose parents knew about Silent Elephant “e”™ and wanted their children to have a solid foundation in reading, writing and spelling.
 
Over the years my students have included those with:

• Dyslexia

• ADD or ADHD

• Speech and Language Disorders

• English Language Learners

• Autism

• Hearing Impairments

• Down Syndrome

• Dyspraxia

• Central Auditory Processing Disorder

• Low to Extremely Low IQ

• Other Learning Differences

• Those with No Learning Differences

 
I share all their differences, because IN SPITE OF their differences, they have ALL SUCCEEDED in becoming fluent, confident readers, writers and spellers. Some needed the gift of time, to move at their own pace slowly but steadily, which is a powerful component of Silent Elephant “e”™. Others quickly moved through the entire program.
 
THE point here is – THEY ALL HAVE SUCCEEDED!
 
Regardless of having learning differences or not, THEY ALL HAVE SUCCEEDED!
 
Are you ready to be impressed by the 11 years of data, the quick, amazing progress my kiddos are making in a short amount of time?

Over the last 11 years, students learning with Silent Elephant “e”™ 1 ½ - 2 hours/week, on average:

·Advanced 1 grade level for every 2 months of instruction. (Think of this: my students are not taking a school year to advance a grade level—they’re advancing multiple grade levels in one year.)

·Advanced to their age-appropriate grade level in 4 months (some in as little as 2 ½ months). (Some of them were 2-6 years behind their grade level when they began learning with Silent Elephant “e”.)

·Advanced 4 grade levels with 6 months of instruction. (😊 Wow!)

·Mastered Part 1, Phonemic Awareness within 3 months. (In 3 months, they understood the basics of written language and were ready to fly!)

In these last 11 years, 9 of my students have successfully exited out of special education which is unheard of. All nine of them are now competent, confident students who are having a good time in school learning easily and are proud of themselves.

Also in these 11 years, I have been able to support parents and teachers in their decision to refrain from placing a child in special education because the student was being tutored using Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e™” and both the school and the parents knew the success of Silent Elephant “e”™ students.  

I’m so pleased to share all of this with you!

 
I’m so proud of all those whose lives have been touched by Silent Elephant “e”™ (students and parents) from the beautiful, profoundly dyslexic young woman who is no longer struggling and is in her junior year of college majoring in neuroscience to the sparkling little one who began second grade this fall reading on a sixth-grade level after two years of learning with Silent Elephant “e”™ beginning in her Kindergarten year.  

If you are wondering how Silent Elephant “e”™ can support your children as their (and your) comprehensive pre-school to college reading, writing, and spelling program, please email me at silentelephante@gmail.com or call me at 208-859-4406. You will love watching their success as much as I do.   

Keep a song in your heart!

OK! It Only Took 2 Years for Them to be Reading on a 6th Grade Level, Now What?

After my last blog post when I shared how my data and my experience shows that it only takes 2 years with Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”™ for kids to be reading words at a sixth-grade level, I could hear some of you wondering, “After my 8-year-old is reading 6th grade level words, what do we do in reading, writing and spelling?”

Well, the fun continues. It just shifts a little.
 
Comprehension is an integral part at every stage of learning with Silent Elephant “e”™, but once your child is decoding at an instructional 6th grade reading level, your main focus will shift to comprehension.
 
Of course, you’re never going to leave out phonics instruction totally, as children need continual review and more practice with higher level vocabulary words and sentence structure. Silent Elephant “e”™ has you covered there, too.
 
Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”™ provides you with an excellent review of all phonics rules using higher level vocabulary in Level 2, which brings your child’s word recognition skills to 9th grade reading level. Then, even higher levels of vocabulary and sentences in Level 3, brings your child’s word recognition to a 12th grade reading level readying them for college.
 
As they are learning these higher-level words they’ll always be mentally referring back to their initial whole body, multi-sensory learning of that phonetic concept. They will also continue using all the Silent Elephant “e”™ markings and colors that connect to those initial multi-sensory activities.
 
Once a child has the basics of what I call the “mechanics” of reading under their belt, they can decode anything they’d like to read.
 
Imagine the freedom your child will feel being able to phonetically read whatever he/she would like to read.
 
With Silent Elephant “e”™, little 7- and 8-year-olds can pick up a book of their choice and fluently read it. They will read smoothly and quickly! Their fluency will aid their comprehension as they won’t be focusing on decoding as much. They will focus on comprehension skills – understanding and remembering what they’ve read.
 
You, as their teacher and parent, can use Bloom’s Taxonomy to guide your questions as you discuss what they’ve read. You’ll be able to develop their accuracy and their maturity in comprehension. You’ll be able to enjoy reading and discussing wonderful books together and there are SO MANY wonderful books to read and love: picture books, chapter books, the classics.

Last week’s email shared my experience with students with learning differences whose parents had been told their child would never read. These are heartwarming stories. Their lives are changed forever. Thank you Silent Elephant “e”™! Here's the link for your convenience - It Only Takes Two Year!
 
This week let’s take a look at a couple of young ones who began learning to read with Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”™. The best way for me to introduce you to these two lovely young readers is with their blog posts. 😊
She Was Reading on a Fourth Grade Level at the End of Kindergarten
2600 Pages in One Month! She Beams With Pride
 
In far less than 2 years, these happy young readers were flying, and they are only 2 examples of the success of learning with Silent Elephant “e”™. 

Contact us here -

Linda Katherine Smith-Jones Nina Henson

It Only Takes 2 Years!!

It Only Takes 2 Years!

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 10 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 that stimulate all parts of their brain for both learning and retaining what they have learned. These whole child/whole brain, multi-sensory activities 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 them!”
 
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 stimulates 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 them 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 2 ½ 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 a low IQ.
 
When he came to me halfway through his 3rd 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 fluently reads simple to complex words, such as: so, ran, sphinx, lush, squint: words with single consonants, consonant digraphs and/or consonant blends. He knows how to read and write (spell) words with the suffixes -s, -es, -ed, and -ing. He has also mastered the first 425 words on the Fry Word List of the most common words. 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 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 6 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 middle school 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. Recently I had a fun experience with one of my 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 ago, 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.
 
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 10 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. I have many, many success stories. 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.
 

Contact us here – Linda Smith-Jones                   Nina Henson