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

Every Child Deserves the Joy and Freedom of Reading - gift for you!

Every Child Deserves the Joy and Freedom of Reading

With all my heart I extend to you this thank you gift! 

I truly appreciate that you are with us on our Silent Elephant “e”™ journey to ensure that EVERY CHILD experiences the JOY and FREEDOM of READING.
 
That is my passion. That is my WHY!
 
EVERY CHILD experiencing the FREEDOM and JOY of READING has been my passion, my why, for as long as I can remember, even before I realized my daughter was dyslexic. That realization just added fuel to the fire inside me.
 
I’ll say it again – EVERY CHILD DESERVES THE FREEDOM OF BEING ABLE TO READ, whether they have learning differences or not. (See my blog post It Shouldn’t Take 6 Years)

As you know, reading opens up every child’s world. It gives them the ability to explore and choose like nothing else can. It provides options. It paves their way.
 
I have had the privilege of watching student after student fly free because of Silent Elephant “e”™.  I am proud of Silent Elephant “e”™. I am even more proud of these confident and happy young people whose lives were completely changed because of Silent Elephant “e”™, such as the young 16-year-old who is starting college early. (More about her later.)
 
Now, back to your thank you gift!
 
I wanted to give you something to show how much I appreciate you for sharing my passion for EVERY CHILD HAVING THE FREEDOM OF READING.
 
My thank you gift is a PDF of Silent Elephant “e”™ ‘s  Lesson 51 - Vowel Digraph “ui” makes a long /oo/” also called Juicy Juicy.
 
I named my Silent Elephant “e”™ lessons with names that strike curiosity and interest in our students and also tells them what they will be learning. This name makes them giggle and it begins their multi-sensory process of learning “ui” and of having that knowledge at the ready for the rest of their lives when they come up against an unknown ”ui” word.
 
Juicy Juicy gives you a clear idea of how Silent Elephant “e”™ teaches a new phonics concept by activating all parts of the brain through fun whole child/whole brain activities. In Juicy Juicy these fun activities stimulate their senses as they learn that “ui” makes a long /oo/ sound.
 
Your gift includes the entire 7-page Juicy Juicy lesson beginning with your directions and their introduction using their sense of sight, smell, and taste. The lesson then continues with learning “ui” words, their meanings and using those words in sentences to develop comprehension. You will also see how we use Silent Elephant “e”™ markings to indicate phonetic concepts. This is another way multi-sensory learning is integrated throughout Silent Elephant “e”™. Each color and symbol has particular meaning which activates the parts of the brain involving symbology and color.
 
Since Juicy Juicy is a 7-page PDF please email Nina at nina.silentelephante@gmail.com to let her know where you would like her to send your thank you gift.
 
Again, THANK YOU so much for being a part of this wonderful EVERY CHILD GETTING TO LEARN TO READ journey with us! We look forward to hearing how you and your kiddos enjoyed Juicy Juicy.
 
As always, we love hearing your thoughts and answering your questions. Contact us at silentelephante@gmail.com or nina.silentelephante@gmail.com, or call me at 208-859-4406 or Nina at 208-860-3125.

It Shouldn't Take 6 Years to Learn to Decode 6th Grade Words!

It Shouldn’t Take 6 Years for a Child to be Able to Decode 6th Grade Level Reading Words!

I know you are probably thinking to yourself, “Why not? Isn’t that the way it works? A child goes to kindergarten and then 1st through 5th grade, that’s six years of instruction. It makes sense that they would be at a beginning 6th grade reading level when they start 6th grade, doesn’t it?”
 
The thing is, if a child is taught to read, write and spell the way they learn (whole body/whole brain/whole child), they learn quickly, they transfer that knowledge to prior and future learning easily and they RETAIN their learning.
 
It all has to do with teaching them the way they learn and that’s what we do with Silent Elephant “e”™. We teach the whole child; we activate their whole brain.
 
Our data shares the story; Children learning with Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”™ progress on average one full grade level their first 2 months of instruction. This amazing data isn’t based on daily Silent Elephant “e”™ instruction, it’s based on just 1½ to 2 hours instruction per week. Also, this data includes many students with multiple learning differences which makes it even more impressive.
 
Now add this, our Silent Elephant “e”™  students advanced 4.25 grade levels with 6 months of instruction! That’s advancing over 4 grade levels in just 6 months.
Silent Elephant “e”™ learners experience such rapid growth at first, because Silent Elephant “e”™ Part 1 begins reading instruction where it needs to begin, with phonemic awareness.
Phonemic awareness is the ability to hear the individual sounds within words and is the foundation of learning to read for every child.
On average with Silent Elephant “e”™ children master phonemic awareness in only 3 months.
 
While they are having fun mastering phonemic awareness, you begin teaching them their first phonics lessons in Part 3 – short vowels and the suffix -s. They quickly become excited as they realize they are beginning to know how reading works and are learning to read, write and spell.  

I can’t even begin to tell you how many children who were struggling with reading at the end of kindergarten, first grade, second grade or third grade blossomed within only a month of Silent Elephant “e”™ phonemic awareness and phonics instruction.
 
Both they and their parents expressed their amazement at how fast they were learning, especially if they had been struggling.
 
A parent of a little boy that struggled through kindergarten and just began tutoring with me on June 20th, 2022, sent me this email last night, “’Marcus’ has made so much progress this summer, and I have learned a lot too!”
 
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!”
 
A 9th grader said after just 5 times of tutoring, “I never knew what rhyme was! I never heard individual sounds in words before!”
 
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?”

That little kindergarten boy is now hearing individual sounds in words. He is connecting sounds to letter names and shapes. He is beginning to spell two and three letter words. He is beginning to learn the Fry List of words using the word cards he is making. He is happy, excited and so proud of himself. I hardly recognize him as the little boy I met in June! He’s ready to soar with his classmates this fall!
 
It took that newly confident 3rd grader 3 months to go from Primer to a 3.2 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! Now she’s starting college at 16½ years old.
 
That struggling, scared 9th grader who is now a oh-so confident junior in college majoring in neurology at just 20 years old took 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.
 
That profoundly dyslexic first grader who began tutoring with me halfway through her 1st grade year was frustrated at a mid-kindergarten reading level. Within 6 months she 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!
 
Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”™ isn’t just for those with learning differences, it’s for ALL learners like the sweet, little girl who began with me in July of 2020. She doesn’t have any learning differences. Her mom asked me to tutor her because she was worried about what her daughter’s kindergarten year would like on-line. This bubbly, bright little girl began tutoring with me twice a week for just 30 minutes as she was so young. She didn’t have phonemic awareness and wasn’t reading on a PrePrimer level. She did know most letter names and sounds. Within 7 months, she was at a 1st grade reading level although she was still in kindergarten. In July of 2021 she was at a 4th grade reading level getting ready to enter 1st grade, and within 2 years, she was decoding words at a 6th grade reading level and comprehending at a 4th grade level. Right now, she’s getting ready for 2nd grade.
 
So, you see, when we teach children the way that is best for them to learn and the way they love to learn with Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”™, it DOESN’T take 6 years for them to be
reading at a 6th grade reading level, even if they have learning differences.
😊
 
If you have questions and/or want more information about Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”™, feel free to contact us.
Linda Katherine Smith-Jones                            Nina Henson

It's Time to Celebrate!!

Ending the summer with their skills strong and growing

 The other day I watched my dog River make muddy footprints on the sidewalk as we walked home in the evening and thought of the animal booklets your kiddos might be making. 😊 Do you have any photos of leaf prints or animal footprints to share?

Summer is so active, and it gives us many fun opportunities to strengthen and build their growing reading, writing and spelling skills with whole child/whole brain activities. Are you ready for another set of ideas? 

1. Study the world wherever you are, on vacation or at home. Explore their world for anything and everything that begins with or has phonetic concepts such as:

·       a particular sound that your children have previously studied

·       a particular consonant sound

·       a particular short vowel sound

·       a particular consonant digraph sound

·       a particular consonant blend sound

·       a particular long vowel sound

Have them draw and write about their finds and then have them learn more by exploring their finds on the internet for further reading, writing, spelling and drawing fun. This searching activity can be especially fun while gazing out car windows on long car rides.
 

2. Create outdoor art, outdoor paintings and/or sculptures.

Have them name their pieces and write descriptions about their motivation behind each piece. Explore different artists you or they enjoy, learning about the motivation behind their work.
 

3. Plan ahead - As the summer begins to wind down, plan a “gallery opening” of all their summer studies, booklets, and art projects. Make this a special time to be proud of their work and their growth. Have them create invitations and invite family, friends and neighbors for a fun picnic/potluck and “gallery” stroll. You’ll love watching their proud faces as they share their projects and learning with those who care about them.

This summer we send out four other whole child/whole brain summer activity emails with lots of fun and active whole child/whole brain activities that keeps their skills growing and strong. These are fun activities any time of the year, not just in the summer. 😊
Here are the links to the other four: 
It’s Summer – Whole Child/Whole Brain Ways to Keep Spelling Skills Strong
Keeping Skills Sharp During the Summer – It’s Important!
Having Fun While Keeping Their Skills Strong
Prints! Leaf, Foot, and Maybe Hand 
 
If you have questions about teaching whole child/whole brain or how Silent Elephant “e”™ truly is fun, effective and different, feel free to contact us here and go to silentelephante.com.

Keep a song in your heart!

Prints! Leaf, Foot, and Maybe Hand

Remember our main objective?
To keep their skills strong and growing in FUN and ACTIVE ways!

I’m pretty sure you and your kiddos are still in the process of writing and developing their skits or plays. Do you have any fun photos to share of the process?

What about photos from vacation adventures? I would love to see your photos and hear about how their skills stayed strong even when they were on vacation 😊.

Do you have other activities that have kept their skills active and growing that you would like to share with everyone? Send them to silentelephante@gmail.com and we’ll get them out for others to enjoy.
 
I have traveled back to Idaho for the months of July, August and most of September. Idaho’s dry climate is so different from Seattle’s that I always have to readjust to the weather. Thank goodness for air conditioning!
 
I do get to do three of my favorite activities when I’m in Idaho – working in our yard, having lunch with friends I haven’t seen in 9 months and huckleberry picking. I’m hoping the huckleberry crop is a big one, as I’m eager to get in the mountains and very eager for huckleberry apple pie. 
 
Would you like a few more fun and engaging ideas? 😊 

1. Study your own back yard—plants.

• Explore the plants in your yard or in your neighborhood in books and on the Internet.

• What do these plants need to thrive?

• Which plants are "friends", and which don't like to be around each other? There's a good deal of fun information out there about how plants communicate and how they help each other.

• Which plants are native to your climate, and which have been brought in?

• Write and draw a “How to Care For” booklet that includes the plants in your yard or in your neighborhood. Include what they need to thrive, how large they grow and who are their "friends".

• Explore YouTube for “how to” videos demonstrating how to make leaf prints, so your kiddos can include beautiful leaf prints in their “How to Care For” booklet.

 2. Study your own back yard—animals.

• Write and draw a booklet exploring the animals that are native to your environment, wild and domestic. Include where these animals live and what they need to thrive. Also include their friends. :)

• Get a book about animal footprints and/or research them on the Internet. Yesterday morning I saw racoon footprints! I love their little “fingers”. I’m including a photo.

• Include drawings of footprints in their animal booklet. Or, if you are lucky to see footprints like I was, include photos in their booklet.

• It’s also fun to extend this exploration into learning about their own fingerprints and how they are like no one else’s. 😊 They can include their hand or fingerprints in their booklet. They could also include all the handprints of those in your family and compare them.

3. Review the previous year’s reading, writing and spelling skills.

• If Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”™ was their reading program last year, review the skills they learned and analyze with them how those skills have made their summer explorations easier.

• If they didn’t learn with Silent Elephant “e”™ last year, do the same reviewing and analysis of the skills they learned and how their skills have grown through the summer.

HAVE FUN WITH THESE NEW IDEAS!  LEARNING WITH FUN IS IMPORTANT!
Fun is an integral part of Silent Elephant “e”™!
 

If you missed the last three emails with summer fun ideas, here are the links to the blog posts: 

• It's Summer - Whole Child/Whole Brain Ways to Keep Spelling Skills Strong

• Keeping Skills Sharp During the Summer - It's Important!

• Having Fun While Keeping Their Skills Strong

If you have further questions about summer activities that keep their skills growing, or wondering about how Silent Elephant “e”™ supports your teaching and their learning, contact us HERE or email us at silentelephante@gmail.com.

Having Fun While Keeping Their Skills Strong

Having fun while keeping their skills strong!

What fun new books have your children discovered? Have they found a new book series with the same main characters? Are they identifying with those main characters?
 

Please take a moment to drop me an email (silentelephante@gmail.com) about your favorite new books and the fun summer programs or activities that you and they have been enjoying.  Let’s share ideas and help each other.
 
Here are a few more fun activities that keep their skills strong:

1. Skits or plays use every one of their skills in reading, writing and spelling.

• Write skits or plays together. As you are writing a skit or a play with them, discuss characters, character development and setting to help them create believable characters and action. Have them write out the script either by hand or on a computer.

• Next do auditions for the parts, this is ALWAYS fun. Film the tryouts, watch each other and have fun positively critiquing.

• Together create scenery by researching the environment needed for the play or skit.

• During practice, help them memorize their parts and make their portrayal believable.

• Have them design invitations for the performance and send them out via hand-written cards, emails or texts.

• HAVE FUN AT THE BIG EVENT—performing for family, friends and neighbors.

• Lastly, review the performance with them by asking questions that encourage them to stretch their creativity as they think about their next play or skit.

1. Reviewing what they studied last year in science and social studies is important and can be really fun.

• Explore each subject further to extend their learning using the Internet, books, magazines, and your local library.

• Write, draw, and/or paint about how this new information and knowledge has changed their thoughts or ideas about their previously studied subjects.

• This expanded focus on subjects from last school year will keep their knowledge fresh and prepare them for the coming year.

1. Explore locations that your children might want to visit and locations that are on your bucket list.

• Research where you might want to go on the Internet and at your local library.

• Together draw, paint, or build projects that portray these places in art form. For instance, if Paris is a place you dream about, how can you build a model of the Eifel Tower or Notre Dame?

• Write about what you learned in your exploration that either excites you even more to travel to these places or has you thinking about taking it off your bucket list. This makes for good discussion. 😊

• Share your projects with other members of your family who might want to join you on your adventure.

 The main point is to HAVE FUN and to KEEP THEIR SKILLS GROWING!
 

If you have further questions about summer activities, feel free to contact us. Also check out these blog posts at silentelephante.com, Ten Fun Spelling Activities and Summer's Here, Keeping Those Skills Active and Strong for more ideas. 
Again, send us any other fun activities you've found successful, and we will get them out to everyone.
Have questions? Contact us here.

Keep a song in your heart!

Keeping Skills Sharp During the Summer - It's Important!

It’s Summer - YAY!

 Sometimes when the warm weather arrives, it can bring a feeling of
“It’s summer! The kids need a break from reading.”

But the truth is, nothing could be further from the truth—especially for your young (or older) one who is in any way iffy in their reading, writing and spelling skills or has any learning difference such as dyslexia.
 
It’s true that you and they may enjoy a break from the “normal” routines, but taking a break from practicing the skills they have accomplished thus far isn’t a great idea.

In fact, and I know you know this, it’s very important for you to read to your children and have them read to you every day all year long. 😊 And, especially important if they have a learning difference like dyslexia or are struggling in any way.
 
Taking a long break from their reading, writing and spelling skills can cause them to lose ground they worked so hard to achieve. And worse, this sense of loss causes their confidence to take a large dip when they try to get back into the swing and realize they aren’t as good as they were.
 
This dip is one they don’t need to experience and one that is easy to avoid.

Here are some beginning ideas to change up reading, writing and spelling for the summer. We'll be sending others out as the summer goes along. We have some great summer ideas planned for you. 😊
 
With your kids, make a plan for reading, writing and spelling for the summer!

• Check out summer reading programs at the local library and bookstores.

• Make a list of books you and they would like to read.

• Write and draw about the books you/they enjoy by sharing what interested you/them in the book, your/their impressions of the book and author, and how the book sparked new interests to explore.

• Make a list of subjects you and they are interested in exploring. Write about why these subjects caught your/their attention. Then discuss why you and they are interested in learning more about them.

• Before you head off on a trip, even if it’s just for the weekend, explore where you’ll be going in books and on the Internet, and write plans for what you’d like to do when you arrive. Exploring and planning practices their skills plus, it sets up positive expectation for fun.

• Make a daily plan for when you will be reading to them and they to you.

• Review my blog post “10 Fun Spelling Activities” and get out the pudding!

THE main objective–
KEEP THOSE READING, WRITING AND SPELLING SKILLS STRONG AND ACTIVE.

If you have questions about other summer activities or have some you have enjoyed and would like to share, email us at silentelephante@gmail.com or head to our Facebook group Silent Elephant "e"™, LLC Group. 
If you have questions about Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”™ there's plenty of info at silentelephante.com and, of course, you can always email us or go to here. We'd love to set up a time to visit with you. 

It's Summer - Whole Child/Whole Brain Ways to Keep Spelling Skills Strong

It's Summer - Whole Child/Whole Brain Ways to Keep Spelling Skills Strong

It's summer and everything always looks a little different in the summer, even our schooling. 

Let's look at some different multi-sensory techniques that activate the whole child, the whole brain, and will keep spelling skills strong through the summer (or any season 😊).

1. When children are writing spelling words with a regular pencil, have them write the letter(s) that are tricking them or challenging them in a bright red color. This analysis of what is tricking them takes the word and its meaning into another part of their brain enhancing their retention of the word. The red color helps stimulate visual memory. 

2. Have them practice their words with two fingers (pointer and middle) in pudding spread on a rimmed cookie sheet. As you can imagine, this is a very popular way to practice spelling words. The tactile sensations of the coldness and smoothness of the pudding plus the sweet smell activates multiple parts of the brain. (Have them wash their hands first because you know they are going to lick their fingers. 😊) 

3. Using two fingers to write their words in red aquarium sand spread out in cold water on a rimmed cookie sheet stimulates both tactile and visual parts of the brain. The tactile sensations of the sand and the cold water plus the red color of the sand activates multiple parts of the brain. 

4. Shaving cream is also fun. Like the pudding and aquarium sand the tactile sensations and the smell of writing their words in shaving cream on a cookie sheet activates multiple parts of the brain at the same time. (I buy shaving cream for this purpose at a dollar store.) 

5. Writing their spelling words in the bathtub using bathtub crayons always brings giggles. It also stimulates many parts of the brain and is, of course, just fun and oh so pretty. 

6. Take their words outside! Let them write spelling words with two fingers or using a stick in sand or mud. When your kids move outside to focus on spelling, their brain connects their learning with all environments. Spelling isn’t just a school related skill. 

7. Another tactile stimulus that helps them feel the writing of their words through their fingertips is writing them on sandpaper. Have them write the words first in bright colors and then trace them with their fingers. This activates visual parts of the brain as well.  

8. Then there is "Rainbow Writing". :) "Rainbow Writing" is writing their spelling words using multiple crayons, colored pencils or colored markers at the same time.  Kids love this and the colors activate the visual part of the brain as they form the letters of their words. 

9. Get a strong, sturdy large rectangular cardboard box about 12” x 10” x 1.5” with a lid. Line it with red duct tape. Pour two to three boxes of table salt into the box. Now, have them practice their spelling words with two fingers in the salt. This stimulates both tactile and visual memory with the roughness of the salt and the color of the box.

10. Pretend that your child’s back is a writing board and write their spelling words with two fingers on his/her back. You may need to write slowing as they will be intensely figuring out the word you are writing.  After they have figured out the word you're writing “erase” the word by gently rubbing their back. This is especially important if they are dyslexic or a struggling with spelling. “Erasing” helps their brain “let go” of what they were just intensely figuring out and get ready for a new word. 

• Writing on their back takes their words into so many parts of their brain. They must activate multiple parts of their brain that help them identify the letters in a completely different way. They are not using their sight at all. Their brain must connect the letters they have identified through the touch on their back into a word that has meaning to them and that they can identify by sight. 

• Now, switch places with them and let them write on your back. You'll both get the giggles. 

• IMPORTANT - Do this activity only after they have written the word in other tactile activities and have both a solid knowledge of the word's meaning and visual memory of the word.                                                             

Have fun “playing” with your kiddos as they keep their spelling skills strong this summer. You’ll enjoy their smiles and feelings of success!

If you have used other multi-sensory spelling activities that you have enjoyed and found successful, please send it our way. (silentelephante@gmail.com) We'll get them out to everyone to use this summer.  
If you have questions about spelling the Silent Elephant “e”™  way, feel free to contact us.
Keep a song in your heart!

End of a School Year Celebration

End of a School Year Celebration

 Wow! Here we are at the beginning of May when our minds turn to planning what we’re doing this summer and, for many, winding school down for the year. 
 
Looking ahead like that makes this time of the year the perfect time to celebrate all the growth in learning that has happened since the leaves turned colors last fall. I strongly encourage celebrating your kiddos growth. They have done a lot of hard work that needs acknowledgment with celebration.
 
Here are a couple of ideas that will hopefully spark ideas for celebrating.
 

1. First, let’s let celebrating have no boundaries. 😊 So, get out all the art supplies - pencils, pens, paints, and notebooks. You will want to have anything they and you could possibly want to use to create works that celebrate the progress of this year.

   Yes, you get to celebrate too! You have grown this year as well and celebrating with your lovelies shares with them that they get to enjoy growing even when they are adults.
    

2. To get the mental juices flowing, begin with a fun brainstorming session to help you and your kiddos remember where they were and the path they enjoyed getting to where they are now in all their studies.

   What do I mean by brainstorming? Just start writing and/or quick drawing as fast as they can anything and everything as it comes to mind about the year. Have them share as they are recording their thoughts and you do the same. This will stimulate more memories and fun.
    

3. Take time to celebrate as you go along. Step back with them and admire yours and their brainstorming “work”. Take time to truly enjoy ALL that you’ve discovered this year.

4. You can approach Step 4 in a couple of ways.

• They can timeline their writings and drawing to share the steps from then to now. They may find more to add to the timeline.

• They can pick out projects they accomplished that demonstrates their progress at specific points in time. They may want to write and draw more about those.

It doesn’t matter how you approach it with them, the only thing that matters is continuing the feeling of celebration that is growing as they look at their own progress through the last year.

Then, decide a way to culminate their celebration. You may want to have a special time and invite family and friends to share in the fun as they share their learning of this last year. Food is always fun at these occasions. 

On this topic, I must share a fun post I ran into of a young boy celebrating his year by putting on a piano concert for all his stuffed animals. He published a pamphlet sharing the pieces he would be playing and their origins. He arranged chairs for his audience and took time to announce every piece with a little background. It was a delight to watch, in fact, I had to watch it twice. 😊
 
I hope you have fun celebrating this school year as it comes to a close. I welcome pics or videos of your celebrations. I would love to share in your joy.

Click here for information about Silent Elephant “e”™ .

Contact us at:

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

or email at silentelephante@gmail.com.

She Looked Down at Me and Said, “What Will You Do Differently?”

She Looked Down at Me and Said, “What Will You Do Differently?”

Today I want to share a story. Stories are always illuminating and fun.
 
About 6 years ago, I welcomed a sweet girl and her mom into my home to begin tutoring. It was the first time we had met, although I had visited with the mom on the phone. She had expressed deep concern about “Beth’s” lack of progress in learning to read.
 
Since I want everyone to relax when we meet, we share our favorite foods, games, hobbies, subject in school, etc. I introduce them to my service dog who’s a great icebreaker.
 
As I could feel this sweet young girl relaxing, I asked her if we could play some listening games. She very shyly agreed, so I began assessing her phonemic awareness skills.
 
She scored 90% on Silent Elephant “e”™ Phonemic Awareness Assessment Part 1, but her answers were hesitant. To continue to Part 2, Beth would have to have had 95% accuracy with quick, confident answers. I praised her and told her she was doing beautiful, which she was. She was working very hard to know the correct answers.
 
We moved to uppercase and lowercase letter names, to letter sounds and then to rhyme. We were giggling while having fun making up silly words that rhymed.
 
On the San Diego Quick Assessment, Beth scored instructional at a 1st grade level. On the Silent Elephant “e”™ oral reading inventory she scored Primer level. Beth was 10 years old and in the 5th grade. She was 4-5 years behind in reading. I could see why her mother was so worried.
 
When I asked her if she liked to spell words and write stories, she answered that she loved to draw pictures and her mom wrote the stories for her. I heard a sadness drift into her voice when I asked her to write some words for me. We only tried three words; she only got “the” correct.
 
We finished our assessments, and I knew we needed to begin at the beginning: Phonemic Awareness Part 1 and Short Vowels Part 3. We jumped into the phonemic awareness train game and had fun playing it together.

As we finished the game, Beth’s Mom said, “Beth, you may play with Mrs. Jones’ dog for a bit. I want to talk with Mrs. Jones in the kitchen.”
 

I was a bit surprised, but went to join her in the kitchen where she was standing with her hands on her hips and said as she backed me into the cabinet corner, “What do you think you can do differently than I have done to teach my daughter to read?”
 
Before I could answer she continued, “Beth has been in preschool, public school, tutoring with Sylvan Learning Center and other tutors, and recently I’ve begun homeschooling her part time while she also attends a public-school alternative learning program. So, what makes you think that you can teach her to read?”
 
I took a deep breath, stood straight and tall and looked up into her eyes (she’s about 6 feet tall) and said, “Let ME tell YOU about my background, how my reading program came to be, and how I KNOW she will learn to read quickly with Silent Elephant “e”™.”
 
I told her how my life changed the day I realized my daughter was dyslexic. I told her how I knew I had to be THE ONE that researched, learned and helped my daughter succeed in reading, writing and spelling.
 
I mentioned classes I had taken. I mentioned the hours I had spent learning about how our brains learn, about dyslexia, and about other learning differences. I talked about the hours I spent asking my daughter, my husband (who is also dyslexic) and all the children I taught what helped them learn and what didn’t help them learn.
 
I shared that Silent Elephant “e”™ teaches reading, writing and spelling all together, simple to complex, because our brain perceives them as the same subject, just different parts of, “words in print”.   
 
I shared how every vague phonics concept (they’re all vague) is introduced in Silent Elephant “e”™ by engaging the creative parts of the brain first and then moving to the analytical part, therefore stimulating both hemispheres to interact with the concept. I told her how the creative brain understands and stores the knowledge through the senses as we color, dance, sing, draw, perform puppetry and much more. At the same time, the analytical part of the brain is understanding the “whys” and the “rules”. I shared that when learning this way, the brain in never confused. It connects the creative with the analytical and logically fits ALL the pieces together easily.
 
Then, I finally took a deep breath and said, “You’re going to have to trust me. And just so you know, my daughter graduated Magna Cum Laude.”
 
She looked at me and said, “I’ll give you 3 months!”
 
At the end of those three months, I had to smile thinking about Beth’s mom staring down at me in my kitchen. By that time, Beth was already reading at a 3rd grade level. By the end of 8 months, she was reading at an 8th grade level - 3 years above her chronological age. And now, she’s a very successful, happy, high school student.
 
Beth learned to read, write and spell in a very short time even though she’s profoundly dyslexic, because Silent Elephant “e”™ taught her in the way our brain learns new information best: in fun and creative ways.

Have questions?

Email us at silentelephante@gmail.com or call us at:
Linda        208-859-4406                            Nina    208-860-3125

Getting Started With Silent Elephant “e”, A Mom Shares

 Getting Started With Silent Elephant “e”, A Mom Shares

In our last email, we shared notes from the video that Jennifer did for us during our vendor week with Top Picks Homeschool Curriculum Facebook group. Jennifer is the mom of two lovely girls that I tutor. Jennifer shared how completely different her daughters are as learners (one dyslexic, one not) and how successful they both are with Silent Elephant “e"™.  (Here’s the link.)

 
This week we want to share thoughts that Crystal Kroush shared in her video during our vendor week.(Here is the link.) Crystal is an experienced homeschool educator who is just beginning to use Silent Elephant “e"™ with her three kids ages 12, 10 and 4. Here are notes from her video:
 
“We’re just beginning with Silent Elephant “e"™. I have just finished assessing all the kids and am getting ready to begin.
 
“We’ve used other programs for reading, writing and spelling. The other programs have assessments, but they’re usually assessments to tell us where they are in that program.
 
“Silent Elephant “e"™’s assessments are different. They’re comprehensive; they cover EVERYTHING you want to know about your kids’ language arts skills. They tell you their strengths AND their weaknesses. This is very important information. You want to know their weaknesses so you can fill them, and you want to build on their strengths. It’s like when you get into your car to go somewhere, you want to know where you are going and why. 😊
 
“I know as homeschoolers we teach where they are. We are more relaxed about their progress, not as concerned about how fast they are progressing, but that they are progressing. But I feel it’s also a very good idea to really know exactly what they know and don’t know, because you never know what might happen. Life might change. You might decide you want them to go to a public or to a private school and you’ll want to know they’ll be successful in that transition.
 
“So, even though my intention is to homeschool right through high school, it’s super important for me to know where they are in their skills, what their strengths are, and where they weaknesses are. I’ve already been surprised by our results.
 
“I think this is important too: since I have given them Silent Elephant “e"™’s comprehensive assessments, when I assess again with Silent Elephant “e"™, I’ll truly be able to see their growth. I’ll REALLY KNOW where their skills grew. I won’t be guessing or hoping.
 
“For my husband and I it was exciting to KNOW our kids are reading on grade level, and a bit of a relief. It was also reassuring to know exactly where their weaknesses are. Now with Silent Elephant “e"™, I feel confident I will address those weaknesses and my children, especially our 10-year-old, won’t continue feeling frustrated with certain concepts. On the flip side of that, I love the thought of building on their strengths with the multi-sensory activities of Silent Elephant “e"™. This is fun and exciting for all of us.
 
“I do have a tip for giving Silent Elephant “e”™’s comprehensive assessments.  Because they are so comprehensive, you will want to focus with only one of your kids at a time. Have the others do un-schooling activities like building with Legos or art, something that doesn’t need your immediate attention. This allows you to focus your attention on the one you are assessing. This will set all of you up for success and sidestep frustration on your part. 😊”
 
Crystal continued:
“I enjoyed watching Wendy’s video (Here's the link.) and her comment about how her kids are able to pick out library books that they can read and comprehend. I believe mine can do that too. Our kids are also avid readers and bring home dozens of books from the library each time we go. 
 
“But I do know, especially now that I have assessed, that they could be better especially in spelling and phonetic skills.
 
“I love that Silent Elephant “e"™ covers reading, writing and spelling all together as one and I love that it focuses their learning with color. Our kids really love color and are responsive to learning with color.
 
“I also loved seeing the confidence of Wendy’s kids as they shared their knowledge and work on the video. I loved the ease of it and the consistency of the rules. They knew exactly what to do because the rules are consistent, and they’ve learned them through their senses.
 
“And I also love the fun, multi-sensory approach of Silent Elephant “e"™! I have to say that we have tried some ‘workbooky’ type programs. They got the job done, but it was not very fun and there was lots of frustration. I like fun and, of course, all our kids like fun!
 
“Both my kids and I are eager to get started with Silent Elephant “e"™. 😊”
 
Here’s the link to Crystal’s video. 

 
Crystal’s last comment was very thoughtful. She encouraged utilizing my and Nina’s expertise. She appreciates our years of experience, research, and knowledge and how accessible we are to help and support. She scheduled a time with me to discuss her assessments and where and how to begin with her 3 kids who are all on very different levels. She left feeling empowered and knowledgeable, knowing how to addresses particular weaknesses and eager to begin.
 
Contact us with thoughts, questions, or to schedule a consultation.
Linda   208-859-4406                            Nina   208-860-3125  

Knowing What They Know Makes All the Difference!

Knowing What They Know Makes All the Difference!

As a sweet fifth grade girl and I began tutoring this past week on ZOOM, I heard her mom remind her, "Tell Mrs. Jones what ‘Mrs. Hartman’ told you."

 
Carol said, “Oh, yah, Mom!” Then she turned to me. “Do you know what Mrs. Hartman told me yesterday?"
 
“No,” I replied, “but I’m excited to hear!”
 
“She said I improved 69 points in my i-Ready Reading Test since the last time we took it. I made the greatest improvement of anyone in my class! I’m at a fifth grade reading level now! I’m caught up! But now, I even want to get higher!”
 
“Oh, my gosh!” I said. “I’m so, so proud of you! You’ve been working so hard with such a positive attitude! From our last assessment, I knew you’d caught up to fifth grade reading.”
 
I smiled at her. "And, what’s this I hear? You want to get even better in reading? That’s wonderful, let’s go for it!”
 
Carol began tutoring with me 9 months ago at the end of her fourth-grade year. She was struggling in reading, writing and spelling and was beginning to feel more and more defeated and behind.
 
When I assessed her, she didn’t understand phonemic awareness at all and was frustrated at a third grade reading level. Until fourth grade she had appeared to have foundational reading skills but had been memorizing all the words and had finally reached that place where she just couldn't memorize everything being taught.
 
Now she is reading on grade level and is eager to learn more. She has mastered phonemic awareness, the 700 High Frequency Fry Sight Words and has caught up with her classmates! 
 
She is very proud of herself and eager about her future. 

Every time I can help a child learn to read using Silent Elephant “e”, I am thrilled! I’m one step closer to helping ALL children know the joy of reading.
 
I have a concern though. I’m concerned that there are many more children with or without learning differences who for whatever reason did not pick up phonemic awareness when they were younger.
 
These children begin to think that you their parent and their teacher have just memorized the words in the books being read to them. This makes sense to them, because they can memorize short books. They make the assumption as they observe their classmates and siblings read fluently, that reading is about memorization. They try hard to memorize everything.
 
This works for them until, like Carol, they reach that age when there is too much information to memorize. At that point, they begin to realize something isn’t right and become more and more frustrated. You become more and more concerned as you watch them.
 
Even worse, they begin to question themselves as a learner and doubt their own abilities to succeed.
 
Sadly, this frustration occurs because no one realized that they, like Carol, simply do not have phonemic awareness, and do not understand phonics concepts. No one assessed their reading skills.
 
This is why I strongly recommend that there is no time like right now to assess your kiddos to make sure their reading foundations of phonemic awareness and phonics skills are truly solid. This is especially true if your kiddos are struggling or becoming resistant to reading, writing, spelling instruction in any way. Frustration of any kind is a clue that assessments are needed.
 
When you have assessed them, you will KNOW they have the skills they need to succeed, or you will know exactly which skills you need to teach them. You won’t be wondering, hoping or guessing.
 
Of course, Silent Elephant “e”™ has you covered.

• Part 2 provides you with all the assessments you will need pre-k through high school beginning with phonemic awareness.

• Part 1 is the 47 phonemic awareness lessons.

• Part 3 teaches phonics skills through the end of second grade.

At this time, Parts 1-3 are 25% OFF!
In fact, all Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”™ program books and videos are 25% OFF!
 
Click here to visit our store, read our blog posts, and learn more about how Silent Elephant “e”™ supports the success of your kiddos and your success as their educator.
 
As always Nina and I love visiting with you, answering your questions about Silent Elephant “e”™, reading writing and spelling and supporting you as you teach your young ones! Please contact us anytime!
 
Linda Katherine Smith-Jones  208-859-4406                Nina Henson  208-860-3125

Once Learned Through Experience, It's Theirs Forever

When Learning is Fun, It’s Easy and It Stays!

The eyes of the young boy hunched over his last worksheet in Part 14 moved effortlessly word to word. His hand stretched into the colored pencils spread in front of him with a smooth motion as he chose the next color he needed to mark the decoding in the next word.
 
Shaun quickly and confidently used different colors and different symbols to mark prefixes, suffixes, root words, consonant digraphs, consonant blends, consonant twins, the sounds of “c’s” and “g’s”, vowel diacritical markings, syllable division and accent marks.
 
He did all of this from memory.
 
By repetitively using colors to mark prefixes, suffixes, root words, consonant digraphs, consonant blends, consonant twins, the sounds of “c’s” and “g’s”, vowel diacritical markings, syllable division and accent marks, Shaun easily put the “puzzle pieces” in a word together to find meaning.
 

Example of a Level 3 worksheet with phonetic markings for decoding.

The Silent Elephant “e”™ colors and phonetic markings Shaun chose to indicate how to decode words are not random markings taught in isolation.
 
Instead, the phonetic markings and the colors used to mark them are the logical outcome of the fun, multi-sensory activities that Shaun experienced as he learned each phonetic concept. More importantly, he had fun learning the concept and the markings.
 
These activities included acting, puppetry, cooking, games, singing and many other multi-sensory activities that set the phonetic concepts firmly in multiple parts of Shaun's brain.
 
In Silent Elephant “e”™, every phonetic concept is introduced with a multi-sensory activity.
 
As he finished his worksheet, he began to glow with pride and as he raised his head, his bright smile beamed at me. He was proud.
 
Shaun was so calm, so in control, so meticulous and so very pleased with himself as he flew through that worksheet marking word after word, reading each sentence effortlessly with expression and comprehending completely.
 
He knew that he knew how to decode and read every word on that page, and he knew that he comprehended everything he read.
 
He also knew that just two years before, he wasn’t even able to read at a first-grade level and now here he was reading at a 9th grade level, 4 years ahead of his grade level.
 
He knew school was easier now and getting easier all the time.
 
He also knew that he is profoundly dyslexic and that learning to be calm and focused had been hard. He knew that learning to read, write and spell through the fun activities in Silent Elephant “e”™ had not only helped him find calm in learning to read, but helped him understand what he hadn’t been able to understand before. 
 
Looking up from his worksheet, his bright smile told me the truth of all of this.
 

Example of a Level 2 works showing phonetic markings for decoding.
Each marking takes their mind back to the activity they experienced to learn that concept.

Let’s ask those questions that come to mind, WHY was Shaun able to make such fast progress with Silent Elephant “e”™? WHY was this profoundly dyslexic young boy able to move from primer to 9th grade in two years?
 
It’s because Silent Elephant “e”™ is experiential, it’s multi-sensory, it’s fun.

It teaches the whole child through fun activities that activates all parts of their brain through their senses, thus “wiring” their brain with memories of these fun activities and with the knowledge learned during them to decode unfamiliar words. It teaches them the way they learn best – through fun experiences.

Long after he completes Silent Elephant “e”™, Shaun’s brain will retrieve memories of the fun activity he experienced while learning the phonetic markings associated with each learned phonetic concept. His brain will retrieve this knowledge when he needs to decode any unfamiliar word.

Shaun’s anxiety is gone; he will always feel confident that he has the skills to support him as he moves into high school, college and adulthood.
 
When children learn to read, write and spell experientially through fun, meaningful, multi-sensory activities, learning WILL be FUN AND FAST and it WILL STAY with them.

Contact us here or call us at:

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

Navigation Systems Get Us Where We Want to Go

Navigation Systems Get Us Where We Want to Go

Let’s celebrate the power of assessing!

 
The kids I tutor and I have just finished their mid-year benchmark assessments.
 
Three of the 17 kids moved from frustration to instructional at the same reading level. I was not surprised as Silent Elephant “e”™ has on-going assessment built right into every lesson so I knew they were progressing and I knew they hadn’t jumped to the next grade level. Two of them are profoundly dyslexic and are now reading on grade level and one, who is not dyslexic, is 5 yrs. ahead of grade level. Since he is already far above his age and grade level in his reading skills, the vocabulary he is learning is stretching him. By the end of the year, I expect all three of them to have moved up a full grade level or more.
 
As I mentioned, Silent Elephant “e”™ has on-going assessments built into every lesson. These assessments take several forms from watching as they mentally and verbally process a concept with their worksheets to having them verbally explain why they know their answers are correct.

Since we are assessing as we move through each lesson, we don’t leave a concept unless they are competent and confident with it. This ensures that they will be successful with the next concepts because all reading, writing, and spelling concepts build on each other.
 
Seven of my kids advanced ½ year in reading skills since fall. Four are profoundly dyslexic and are now all one grade level above their chronological grade level in reading. Three of them are three years ahead of grade level! Two of those are profoundly dyslexic.
 
Five advanced one full year in half a year with Silent Elephant “e”™! All five are profoundly dyslexic and are now reading at grade level.
 
On-going assessments are our handy navigational system that guides OUR daily teaching. We KNOW where they are progressing in their knowledge of the concepts we are teaching, and where we need to give them more support. On-going assessments guide us.
 
Benchmark assessments such as I just finished giving are different, they are a way for us and them to see where they were and where they are now in their overall reading skills. Benchmark assessments give them and us a look at their progress over time.  These assessments are given at the beginning, middle and end of the year, and are a time to stop and celebrate their knowledge and progress.
 
Two of my kiddos advanced 2 full years in half a year! One is profoundly dyslexic and as you can imagine is extremely pleased. 
 
The other is my little first grader that I have shared with you in this blog post. She doesn’t have any learning differences and is now reading at a 6th grade reading level! She has moved 6 grade levels in reading in a little over a year.

We all had fun taking a moment in the middle of the year to celebrate their successes.
 
As educators, homeschool, classroom, or tutor, our desires for our students are the same. We want them to feel that freedom that comes from being able to confidently read and write. We want them to be able to freely explore their world of print, knowing they have the tools to read anything that comes their way. Using assessment as our navigation system is a sure way to make sure they get where they want to go. 

BTW - Silent Elephant “e”™ Part 2   has all the assessments you’ll need beginning with phonemic awareness and taking you all the way through high school. It’s now on sale 25% off. Also on sale at 25% off is the Part 1-3 Introductory Package. Parts 1-3 will take your child from phonemic awareness through 2 grade.

Contact us for information -

Linda Katherine Smith-Jones 208-859-4406 silentelephante@gmail.com

Nina Henson 208-860-3125 nina_henson@yahoo.com

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