Answering Your Questions

Home Educator - Your Questions Answered 

With the purchase of the Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e” reading program and the purchase of my exceptional 9-hour personal training workshop, I will teach you how to be an outstanding parent educator. You will discover how children learning with at least 2 hours/week of instruction with Silent Elephant “e” rapidly become successful, proud, competent readers, writers and spellers.  

You will learn everything you need to know to be an excellent teacher for your children and you will learn how to set up your very own tutoring business in case you would like to help other children.  

You can relax knowing that the program you are using WILL meet the individual needs of ALL your kiddos.  

You can relax knowing you have the materials, instructions and support that will make it easy for you to teach with Silent Elephant “e” and possibly begin your own tutoring business. 

You can relax and join the rest of us in changing the lives of learners.

Now, of course, because of COVID, I have completely transitioned to tutoring online using Zoom and have been over-the-moon happy with the continued success of my students. 

The Silent Elephant “e” workshop (click here for details) will set your home reading, writing and spelling program on solid footing.

Further, if you have been pondering ways to bring more stable income into your household and the thought of being your own “boss” sounds very interesting, with our Silent Elephant “e” workshop you will be certified as a Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e” tutor and could start your own part-time business.  

Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e” is a solid, researched based program with strong data that supports its effectiveness.  

I’m sure you are wondering how much you will invest to begin teaching with Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”. Here are the details:  

The full program cost is $2217.

This is what you will receive when you purchase:

·       Your teacher’s copy of Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”, A Phonetic Reading Program for ALL Learners of Any Age Particularly Dyslexic or Struggling Readers containing over 1800 pages of instruction in 14 user friendly spiral bound books

·       Over 100 instructional videos that I created so you can have an at-your-fingertips reminder of how to teach the lessons.

·       44 colorful posters

·       The picture book My Awesome Grandma 

There are a few other materials for you to make or collect before beginning tutoring:

·       Magician hat

·       Elephant hand puppet

·       Magic wand

·       Tiny star wands: 1 doz. pink, green, blue, silver

·       1 set of cat toy mice

·       1 individual hand-held mirror (check the Dollar Store)

·        Make twenty-one 1” colored copy paper squares; three squares of each of the following colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple and brown and laminated them

·       Plastic zippered bag to store the 21 squares

·       Copy the 6 game boards from Part 1and laminate them

·       Pocket folder per student

·       1-3 oz. paper cup per student

·       Box of 8 Crayola colored pencils per student

·       Two boxes of 8 Crayola water markers

·       Copy the 6 paper masks from Part 4 and laminate them

·       Set of orange, tactile, glittered construction paper letters for consonant digraphs for Part 4 

There you have it!

You will be able to begin teaching your children, and possibly other children, with Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e” for a little more than $2217. You will not need to purchase any other phonemic awareness and phonics materials ever! Silent Elephant “e” is for pre-school to college age. :)

You can also get a group of friends to take the workshop together and share the $1000 cost. You’ll have FUN learning together! 

What if you have already purchased Silent Elephant “e” and want to take the workshop?  That’s an easy answer, just contact us and we’ll get you in.  

AND, MY FRIENDS, I HAVE TO END WITH THIS:

If YOU became a homeschool educator and/or tutor with Silent Elephant “e”, WE would be one step closer to fulfilling my dream:

ALL children become confident, successful readers, writers and spellers!

This is a very exciting thought!

If you are pondering questions that need answers about the workshop and/or the program, just contact either Nina or myself and we will happily help you make an informed decision about becoming a member of our Silent Elephant “e” community.  

Contact us even if you are just curious. 😊 You will not regret it. 

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

Nina Henson   208-860-3125     nhenson1@msn.com 

Nina and I look forward to hearing from you!

Linda Katherine Smith-Jones Nina Henson

A Workshop To Get Your Started on the Right Foot

Personalized Training to Get You Started on the Right Foot

Homeschool Educator 

As you know, Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e” is the program that teaches learners the way they love to learn. It is systematic, language-based, multi-sensory, and FUN! It’s fun for learners and teachers! It engages the whole learner and accelerates ALL children’s learning, even if they are dyslexic or have any other learning difference. Learning to read, write and spell with Silent Elephant “e” is a given.

With the goal of ensuring our children’s and students’ success in mind, I designed a comprehensive 9-hour online workshop so I can effectively instruct you on how to teach Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e” right from the comfort of your own home.  

The Silent Elephant “e” workshop will set your home reading, writing and spelling program on solid footing.

When you have Silent Elephant “e”, you have all of your step-by-step, thoroughly researched lesson plans at your fingertips and with the online 9-hour workshop you can relax and know you will truly be ready to enjoy teaching with Silent Elephant “e” as right before your eyes you watch your children having fun rapidly and easily learning what just a short time ago, they struggled with.

You will learn how enjoyable and easy it is to ensure that your children are thoroughly and systematically learning phonemic awareness and phonics quickly while having fun – even electronically. 

During our 9 hours together (click here for details), we will cover everything you need to begin teaching your children to read, write and spell with Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”, A Phonetic Reading Program for ALL Learners of Any Age Particularly Dyslexic or Struggling Readers! 

With Silent Elephant “e”, everything you need will be at your fingertips. You’ll have the textbook, posters, picture book and videos as your incredible teaching tools with precisely sequenced, step-by-step, easy to follow directions guiding you to ensure the success of your children at their personal pace. During the workshop, we will cover how I use all of these components to ensure the success of my students.  

It’s important to me that you know the quality of the program you will be learning and teaching. Let’s review some of my Silent Elephant “e” data. 

These are some of the outcomes you can expect with students of all ages with all types of learning differences:

·       Progress one full year in reading with every 2 months of instruction with just two one-hour sessions per week

·       Advance to their age-appropriate grade level in 4 months (some in as little as 2.5 months)

·       Advance 4.5 grade levels with 6 months of instruction

·       Master Part 1, Phonemic Awareness within 3 months.

Just think—because you will be teaching your kiddos every day, not just two days a week, you could double their learning and progress! 

More data that makes my heart sing:

·       Our Silent Elephant “e” students’ lives begin to change immediately. ALL students begin to experience success right away. Even within the first couple of weeks of tutoring, profoundly dyslexic learners and struggling learners begin to feel differently about themselves and begin seeing themselves as able and successful readers, writers and spellers.

·       In the last eight years, 9 of my students have successfully exited out of Special Education! I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again: this is unheard of!

This short workshop will take you from:

“I’m not sure how to teach reading, spelling and writing.

What if I mess up?

What if they don’t learn?”

To:

“This is doable.

I have the tools.

I have the knowledge.

I CAN successfully teach reading, writing and spelling while having lots of FUN.

My children will become successful readers, writers and spellers.

I KNOW where to go for support.

I’ve got this!

What a relief!”  

When you have completed the workshop, I will certify you as an instructor of Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”.

 You will be able to confidently and easily teach your children, and you will be certified to tutor hundreds of children and adults, if you wish. You could begin your own tutoring business from home! 

(Click here to see the workshop page.)

Last thought—I always want to be available to promptly answer your questions, but if I’m tutoring, I’ll refer you to my editor and colleague Nina Henson.  She taught with me for twenty-five years. She knows Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e” in her sleep!  

You can email me at silentelephante@gmail.com or call me at 208-859-4406 or call Nina at 208-860-3125 or email her at nina_henson@yahoo.com. 

We look forward to helping relive some of the stress of this time by helping you relax and achieve success in teaching reading, writing and spelling using Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e” with every child your heart touches!

 You are in our hearts and our minds. You are important to us!

Linda Katherine Smith-Jones Nina Henson

Answering Your Questions

Answering Your Questions

Classroom Educator

With the purchase of the Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e” reading program and the purchase of my exceptional 9-hour personal training workshop, I will teach you all of the “bells and whistles” of Silent Elephant “e”. You will discover how students learning with at least 2 hours/week of instruction with Silent Elephant “e” rapidly become successful, proud, competent readers, writers and spellers.  

You can relax knowing that the program you are using WILL meet the individual needs of ALL your students.  

You can relax knowing you have the materials, instructions and support that will make it easy for you to teach with Silent Elephant “e”. 

Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e” is a solid, researched based program with strong data that supports its effectiveness.  

I’m sure you are wondering how much you will invest to begin teaching with Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”. (This investment would be tax deductible for you.) Here are the details:  

The full program cost is $2217.

This is what you will receive when you purchase:

·       Your teacher’s copy of Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”, A Phonetic Reading Program for ALL Learners of Any Age Particularly Dyslexic or Struggling Readers containing over 1800 pages of instruction in 14 user friendly spiral bound books.

·       Over 100 instructional videos that I created so you can have an at-your-fingertips reminder of how to teach the lessons.

·       44 colorful posters and the picture book My Awesome Grandma. 

There are a few other materials for you to make or collect before beginning tutoring:

·       Magician hat

·       Elephant hand puppet

·       Magic wand

·       Tiny star wands in boxes of a dozen in pink, green, blue, silver – You will need one star wand for each of your students.

·       1 cat toy mouse per student

·       1 individual hand-held mirror (check the Dollar Store)

·        Make a set of twenty-one 1” colored copy paper squares; three squares of each of the following colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple and brown and laminated them – one set per student

·       Plastic zippered bags to store the 21 squares

·       Copy the 6 game boards from Part 1and laminate them – one set per student

·       Pocket folder per student

·       1-3 oz. paper cup per student

·       Box of 8 Crayola colored pencils per student

·       Box of 8 Crayola water markers per student

·       Copy the 6 paper masks from Part 4 and laminate them

·       Set of orange, tactile, glittered construction paper letters for consonant digraphs for Part 4 

There you have it!  

You will be able to start teaching in your classroom, or on-line, with Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e” for a little more than $2217. You will not need to purchase any other phonemic awareness and phonics materials ever! Silent Elephant “e” is for pre-school to college.

Here’s a bonus! You can get a group of friends who purchase the program to take the workshop together and share the $1000 cost. You’ll have FUN learning together!

What if you have already purchased Silent Elephant “e” and want to take the workshop?  That’s an easy answer, just contact us and we’ll get you in.  

AND, MY FRIENDS, I HAVE TO END WITH THIS:

If YOU teach with Silent Elephant “e”, WE will be one step closer to fulfilling my dream":

ALL children become confident, successful readers, writers and spellers!

This is a very exciting thought!

If you are pondering questions that need answers about the workshop and/or the program, just contact either Nina or myself and we will happily help you make an informed decision about becoming a member of our Silent Elephant “e” community.  

Contact us even if you are just curious. 😊 You will not regret it. 

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

Nina Henson   208-860-3125     nhenson1@msn.com 

Nina and I look forward to hearing from you!

Linda Katherine Smith-Jone Nina Henson

A Workshop to Get You Started on The Right Foot

A Personalized Training That Gets You Started on The Right Foot

Classroom Educator 

As you know, Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e” is the program that teaches learners the way they love to learn. It is systematic, language-based, multi-sensory, and FUN! It’s fun for learners and teachers! It engages the whole learner and accelerates ALL children’s learning, even if they are dyslexic or have any other learning difference. Learning to read, write and spell with Silent Elephant “e” is a given.

With the goal of ensuring your children’s and students’ success in mind, we designed a comprehensive 9-hour online workshop (click here for details) so we can effectively instruct you on how to teach Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e” in your classroom, or if you are virtual, right from the comfort of your own home.  

The Silent Elephant “e” workshop will set your reading, writing and spelling program on solid footing.

When you have Silent Elephant “e”, you have all of your step-by-step, thoroughly researched lesson plans at your fingertips and with the online 9-hour workshop you can relax and know you will truly be ready to enjoy teaching with Silent Elephant “e” as right before your eyes you watch every child in your classroom having fun rapidly and easily learning what they may have just a short time ago, struggled with.

You will learn how enjoyable and easy it is to ensure that your students are thoroughly and systematically learning phonemic awareness and phonics quickly while having fun – even electronically. 

During our 9 hours together (click here for details), we will cover everything you need to begin teaching students from preschoolers to adults to read, write and spell with Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”, A Phonetic Reading Program for ALL Learners of Any Age Particularly Dyslexic or Struggling Readers! 

With Silent Elephant “e”, everything you need will be at your fingertips. You’ll have the textbook, posters, picture book and videos as your incredible teaching tools with precisely sequenced, step-by-step, easy to follow directions guiding you to ensure the success of ALL of your students at their personal pace. During the workshop, we will cover how I use all of these components to ensure the success of my students.

It’s important to me that you know the quality of the program you will be learning and teaching. Let’s review some of my Silent Elephant “e” data.

 These are some of the outcomes you can expect with students of all ages with all types of learning differences:

·       Progress one full year in reading with every 2 months of instruction with just two one-hour sessions per week

·       Advance to their age-appropriate grade level in 4 months (some in as little as 2.5 months)

·       Advance 4.5 grade levels with 6 months of instruction

·       Master Part 1, Phonemic Awareness within 3 months.

Just think—because you will be teaching your kiddos every day, not just two days a week, you could double their learning and progress! 

More data that makes my heart sing:

·       Our Silent Elephant “e” students’ lives begin to change immediately. ALL students begin to experience success right away. Even within the first couple of weeks of tutoring, profoundly dyslexic learners and struggling learners begin to feel differently about themselves and begin seeing themselves as able and successful readers, writers and spellers.

·       In the last eight years, 9 of my students have successfully exited out of Special Education! I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again: this is unheard of! 

This short workshop will take you from:

“I’m not sure how to teach reading, spelling and writing with Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”.

To:

“This is doable.

I have the tools.

I have the knowledge.

I CAN successfully teach reading, writing and spelling while having lots of FUN.

My students will become successful readers, writers and spellers.

I KNOW where to go for support.

I’ve got this!

What a relief!”  

When you have completed the workshop, I will certify you as an instructor of Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”. 

You will be able to confidently and easily teach your students, and you will be certified to tutor hundreds of children and adults if you would like. You can begin your own part-time tutoring business from home! 

Click here for the Workshop page.

Last thought—I always want to be available to promptly answer your questions, but if I’m tutoring, I’ll refer you to my editor and colleague Nina Henson.  She taught with me for twenty-five years. She knows Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e” in her sleep!  

You can email me at silentelephante@gmail.com or call me at 208-859-4406 or call Nina at 208-860-3125 or email her at nina_henson@yahoo.com. 

We look forward to helping relive some of the stress of this time by helping you relax and achieve success in teaching reading, writing and spelling using Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e” with every child your heart touches! 

You are in our hearts and our minds. You are important to us!

Linda Katherine Smith-Jones Nina Henson

Summer Loss Can Be a Real Thing

Summer Loss Can Be a Real Thing

How to make sure your children return to school in the fall

having advanced or remained steady in their skills not dropped in reading levels.

As educators, we need to ask ourselves what we can do to ensure all of our students advance their reading level during the summer. 

Summer usually presents unique opportunities for learning: traveling, camping, visiting relatives and friends, swimming lessons, educational camps, etc. 

Summer is also a time when we hopefully can slow down and catch our breath.  We relish quiet, peaceful times. We enjoy relaxing visits to grandma and grandpa’s house.  We delight in the time when we’re having fun baking, drawing, playing, and reading with our children at a much slower pace.  

We value and appreciate these gifts of summer so much so that it makes it difficult to pull ourselves and our children away to focus on their reading, writing and spelling skills. 

I know this. I’ve been in your shoes. 

I also know THIS:  

Struggling readers, writers and spellers especially must not experience a lapse in routine, review and practice over summer vacation. Their need for a predictable schedule that continues to reinforce and grow their skills cannot be overlooked.  

A daily routine of 30–180 minutes of reading aloud, reading silently, reading sight word cards, reviewing the previous school year’s worksheets and subject content is critical to prevent summer loss.  

I always end the school year by giving multiple suggestions and materials to parents to help maintain and advance their child’s skills over the summer. For further summer support, my summer emails share multiple fun and interesting ideas for engaging children’s language arts skills as summer progresses. I check in from time to time with parents to encourage them to continue striving towards their goal that their children will experience no summer loss. 

When tutoring begins in the fall, I ask my students’ parents about the reading, writing and spelling activities their child engaged in during the summer.  

I ask if their child read a book or books over the summer, reviewed their papers from last school year, practiced their sight word cards, and/or did other reading, writing and spelling activities such as writing plays and journaling their summer explorations.  

My students whose skills remained solid and my students who advanced a reading level practiced language arts skills plus they challenged themselves to read challenging books. Many parents actively participated in practicing their child’s reading, writing and spelling skills consistently with their children. Parents and children alike bubbled over with eagerness to share what they did over the summer. 

One of my goals when I wrote Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e” was to write a reading program that prevents summer loss.  

I am so pleased that this goal has come to fruition.  

Here’s another wonderful indicator of the power of learning reading, writing and spelling skills with Silent Elephant “e” - my students who have graduated from the program are flying with success in school.   

When they graduate from me, they are two to four grade levels ahead in reading! 

I know I don’t have to worry about summer loss with them, because they are doing so well in school and loving language arts so much that they read and write all of the time.  

I do know this, because I get lots of phone calls, letters and texts from my Silent Elephant “e” graduates and their parents. We miss each other so much after developing such a caring, rewarding bond that we need to keep in touch! 

If you have further questions about summer activities, feel free to contact us.

Linda Katherine Smith-Jones                            Nina Henson

Silent Elephant “e” Will Help You Through the Summer and Beyond

Silent Elephant “e” Will Help You Through the Summer and Beyond 

How are you feeling about your kids as summer approaches? 

Do you have concerns about their reading, writing and spelling—

concerns about how ready they are for next fall? 

Do you want to spend productive learning time this summer that doesn’t cut into summer fun? 

Are you looking for summer school materials that insure thorough, complete, easy to follow directions that actually make learning to read, write and spell successful and fun? 

LET YOURSELF IMAGINE THAT YOU HAVE EVERYTHING YOU NEED AT YOUR FINGERTIPS

AND YOUR WORRIES ABOUT YOUR YOUNG ONES (OR TEENAGERS) HAVE DISAPPEARED! 

Imagine you have a program that is

easy for you,

successful for them,

doesn’t require hours a day,

is FUN,

and you can take it on the road!!

Imagine a program with a success record like this: Over the last eight year, on average, students:

Advanced 1 grade level for every 2 months of instruction

Advanced to their age-appropriate grade leve in 4 months (some in as little as 2.5 months)

Advance 4.5 grade levels with 6 months of instruction

Mastered Part 1, Phonemic Awareness within 3 months

OF COURSE, that program is Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”!

Easy for you, successful for them, and FUN!

Here’s another important piece of data: Those wonderful results were accomplished in only 45-60 minutes of instruction periods TWICE A WEEK!

Just imagine the multiple grade level advancement children will achieve in a full week summer school program providing 60-minute instructional periods using Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”. 

Now imagine they are feeling strong in their reading skills, proud of their knowledge and accomplishments and eager to take on the next school year. That is a GOOD feeling. 

OH YES, I get to share the data that makes my heart sing every time I share it: 

In the last five years, 9 of my students have successfully exited out of Special Education!

This really is special. Being staffed out of special education is pretty much unheard of. All 9 of these students are now competent, confident students, eager about learning and proud of themselves and their accomplishments. (Check out Testimonials - some of their stories are there.)

And now imagine that Silent Elephant “e” is not only

easy for you,

fun for them,

successful for everyone.

easily fits into your schedule, and

it’s easy to order!

Check out our store! 

Put a copy of Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e” in your hands! It will change things!

If you have further questions, feel free to contact us.

Linda Katherine Smith-Jones                            Nina Henson 

Get a PLAN for Summer Activities and Do It

Get a PLAN for Summer Activities and DO It

A FUN summer (or anytime of the year) activity is practicing writing words in pudding. It’s a wonderfully fun way to begin educational summer activities and there are many different flavors of pudding which keeps it interesting.  

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

But here’s the truth!! 

Nothing could be further from the truth—especially for a dyslexic reader, a struggling reader, a child with learning differences, and really for every reader! 

It’s true that they’ll get a break from the “normal” routines of school,

but taking a break from practicing their reading, writing and spelling skills is not a good idea.  

In fact, it’s absolutely vital that you read to your children and have them read to you every day summer, winter, spring and fall.   

This is especially vital if they are dyslexic or struggling in any way.  

Taking a two to three month break in practicing their reading skills will cause them to lose ground on their skills they worked so hard to achieve.  

This sense of loss will cause their confidence to take a large dip when they return to reading, writing and spelling, because they will realize they no longer have the skills they worked hard to learn.  

This is a dip they do not need to take and one that can set them back further than the two to three months of summer break. 

What to do? 

Make a plan for reading, writing and spelling this summer!

·       Check out summer programs at the local library and bookstores.

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

·       Make a list of subjects you and they are interested in exploring.

-Write a couple of sentences about why these subjects have caught your and their attention.

-Discuss why you and they are interested in learning more about these subjects.

·       Before you head off on vacation, explore where you will be going in books and on the Internet, and write plans for what you’d like to do when you arrive at your vacation destination. Exploring and planning practices their skills and sets up positive expectation of the fun they will have.

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

Make your main objectives –

KEEP THEM READING, WRITING AND SPELLING!!

KEEP THEIR SKILLS STRONG. 

If you have further questions about summer activities, feel free to contact us. We have MANY ideas waiting for you.

Linda Katherine Smith-Jones                            Nina Henson 

Fun Multi-sensory Whole Child Summer Activities

Fun Multi-sensory Whole Child Summer Activities

Our main objectives this summer –

KEEP THEM READING and KEEP 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 about your favorite new books and the fun summer programs or activities that have been meeting our objectives of keeping them reading and keeping their skills strong. Let’s share ideas and help each other. 

Here are a few more activities to keep children’s 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, as this is ALWAYS fun. Film the tryouts, watch each other and have fun positively critiquing each other.

·       Together create scenery by researching the environment needed to make the scenery fit the play or the 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.

·       Enjoy 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.

2.    Review with your children topics they studied last year in science and social studies.

·       Explore each subject further to extend their learning using the Internet, books or magazines.

·       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.

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

·       Research these locations on the Internet and at your local library.

·       Together draw, paint, or build projects that portray these places in art form.

·       Write about what all of 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.

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

If you have further questions about summer activities, feel free to contact us.

Linda Katherine Smith-Jones                            Nina Henson 

More Fun Whole Child Summer Activities

More Fun Whole Child Summer Activities

Remember our main objectives –

KEEP THEM READING and KEEP THEIR SKILLS STRONG. 

Do you have any fun photos to share from your skits or plays?

What about photos from vacation adventures? 

I would love to see your photos and hear about your travels. 

I have traveled back to Idaho for the months of July and August.

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 two of my favorite activities when I’m in Idaho – yard work 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.   

Do you need 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?

·       Write and draw a “How to Care For” booklet that includes all plants in your yard or in your neighborhood.

·       Explore YouTube for “how to” videos demonstrating how to make leaf prints, so children 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.

·       Get a book about animal footprints and/or research them on the Internet.

·       Include drawings of footprints in their animal booklet.

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 made their summer explorations easier.

·       If they did not learn with Silent Elephant “e” last year, do the same reviewing and analysis with the skills they learned.

HAVE FUN WITH THESE NEW IDEAS!

If you have further questions about summer activities, feel free to contact us.

Linda Katherine Smith-Jones                            Nina Henson

Even MORE Whole Child Activities

Even MORE Whole Child Activities

Our main objectives are always –

KEEP THEM READING and KEEP THEIR SKILLS STRONG. 

Summer is moving along!

Do you have any photos of leaf prints or animal footprints to share? 

I saw my dog River’s muddy footprints on the sidewalk and thought of the booklets you might be making. 😊 

Here’s one more fun set of ideas to keep their skills strong! 

1.    Study the world where you are, whether on vacation or at home, exploring for anything and everything that begins with or has: 

-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.

Draw and write about their finds. For further reading and writing, explore their finds on the Internet.  

This searching activity would 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.

3. As the summer begins to wind down, plan a gallery opening of all their summer art projects and booklets. Make this a special time of sharing what they are proud of. Invite family, friends and neighbors for a fun picnic and gallery stroll.

If you have further questions about summer activities, feel free to contact us.

Linda Katherine Smith-Jones                            Nina Henson

Question - How Are You Feeling About School Starting?

How Are You Feeling About School Starting? 

It’s August! And even though summer is in full swing, thoughts of school are in the air. 

If you ended last school year eager for summer to begin because you were concerned about your children’s learning and you needed a break from watching them struggle, you’ll find that your worries are still lurking around the hotdogs and the swimming pool. 

Now is the time to sit down and ask yourself these questions:

·       Am I feeling confident about this coming school year?

·       Am I feeling concerned--a little concerned, or a lot concerned?

·       What specifically am I concerned about?

·       Am I feeling that my children are ready, eager, and confident to begin this new school year?

·       Am I sensing that my children are feeling stress at just the thought of the quickly approaching school year? 

No matter how old your children are, you know their feelings about the coming school year, and you know that you are experiencing similar feelings. 

If they are stressed, scared, and unsure, you are feeling that stress too.  

Here’s an action you can take to relieve your mind and heart if your answers to these questions leave you wondering, “WHAT can I do?” 

Contact us!

It’s that simple.

Call or email. 

We have expertise, knowledge and experience, and we will truly love helping you. 

Together we’ll explore and find the best path for your child/children. We’ll begin with an understanding of how they learn. We’ll discuss if they have dyslexia and/or another learning difference. We’ll discover and list skills they need. 

Whatever their individual and specific needs are, we will address them and set up the best path for you to guide them to achieve their successes in school and life.  

Together our intention will be to ensure that your child/children are eager, ready and competent for whatever the school year brings. 

EVERY child, EVERY student deserves to feel that they are and always will be successful.  

For those of you are who are reading this and thinking, “YAY! I feel so good about where my young ones are and how they are doing,”

THAT IS SO EXCELLENT! 

And please do this! 

Please stop for a few minutes and let your mind think back to any conversations or times when you noticed a friend or family member who was not feeling that same confidence in their children’s success. 

PLEASE tell them about Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e” and explain why you are telling them about Silent Elephant “e” —because you are concerned about them and their worries about their children. 

AND, because EVERY child, EVERY student deserves to feel the confidence

that they are and always will be a success! 

We feel so honored that we are here to help! We are eager to visit with you. 

If you have further questions about preparing for the coming school year, feel free to contact us.

Linda Katherine Smith-Jones                            Nina Henson

Winter Break Ideas :) Keep Budding Skills Strong During Winter Break

Keep Budding Skills Strong During Winter Break

Winter break isn’t different, just shorter. :) 

We all know that the holiday season is a time when things get hectic as we add many exciting activities into our days. The winter break from school is a welcome relief for our children and us. 

But please remember, just like during summer break, your kiddos need to practice their reading, writing and spelling skills during winter break. If they don’t practice, their skills can slip, especially if they struggle with reading, writing and spelling. I don’t want any of them to begin a new year feeling like they’ve lost ground. 

Winter break does give us the opportunity to introduce different subjects as they practice their skills. 

Here are a few ideas: 

1.    Have your children write and draw about your family’s holiday traditions and where they came from. Interviewing you, their grandparents, their aunts and their uncles will open up your children’s eyes about family traditions and why they are important to your family. Interviewing requires them to use all their skills as they speak clearly, take notes and write stories. Plus, interviewing loved ones strengthens family ties.

2.    If you are traveling for Christmas, it’s the perfect opportunity to explore new places. Research with you children where you are going, how long it will take to get there, how many miles you will be traveling, what the weather is like where you’re going and how winter holidays are celebrated there. These activities offer lots of opportunities to write and draw.

3.    Another fun exploration is researching holiday customs in other parts of the world. For instance, in Australia Christmas is in the middle of summer. How different are their customs?

4.    Cooking and baking is a great way to write, draw and practice skills. Children have to read recipes and use their decoding skills on any words that are unfamiliar. They will learn new vocabulary and practice measuring.

Holiday baking is filled with some wonderfully tasty and aromatic spices. Explore where cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves come from.

A VERY fun exploration is researching what is happening when something is baking or cooking. How does that blob of cookie dough turn into that flat cookie you want to eat? They can watch with you through the window of the oven and document what is happening by drawing and writing. What happens if you don’t bake it long enough or if you bake it too long is another fun exploration.

5.    And of course, it’s very important to take a half hour or more each day to reread their work from the first part of the school year. This keeps everything fresh in their minds and ready for January.

Perfect times to reread their past work are:

o       Traveling - there’s lots of down time.

o       During the 12-14 minutes it takes for cookies to bake.

o       While they are eating a warm cookie and waiting for the next batch to bake.

o       During those last sweet moments before you tuck them into bed.

o       I know you have many other perfect times.          

My strong, heart-felt encouragement – please don’t let your kiddos’ skills fall back during winter break, especially if they have been struggling. Plan your explorations and practice with them before the winter break begins. With your plans in place, their practice and explorations won’t slip to the sidelines. They have to practice daily in order to keep their budding skills strong.

If you have further questions about winter break activities, feel free to contact us.

Linda Katherine Smith-Jones                            Nina Henson

Thankful for Being Able to Be OnLine

Finding Humor in On-Line Tutoring 

Here’s another story that made me smile with pride in this crazy time. 

Last week on Tuesday evening, I opened Zoom to begin “Phillip’s” tutoring session. Phillip is one of my young third graders. It was his first full week of virtual school.  

I asked him, “How’s school going on the computer?” 

In an extremely frustrated, yet polite voice, he answered, “I have been on this computer for 6 hours already today. Now I have another hour on the computer with you. I wish I could come to your house!” 

“I wish you could come to my house too!” 

“Seven hours is a long time to sit at a computer!” he firmly stated. 

“Yes, it is,” I sympathized, “but think about what it would’ve been like for me if COVID had happened when I was little. 

“We didn’t have a television.” 

Phillip gasped at the thought of not having a TV. 

I continued, “Can you imagine not having a TV to watch shows or movies in the evenings?” 

“No!” Phillip thoughtfully exclaimed.  

“All day I would have only had my little brother to play with.  

“Oh, and, of course, we didn’t have a computer either.” 

“That’s terrible!” 

“I wouldn’t have been able to Facetime with friends. I wouldn’t have been able to do any kind of schooling. The days would have been long and boring. I would probably have had to do a LOT of cleaning.” 

After a very long pause filled with deep thinking, Phillip slowly uttered, “Should I be thankful?” 

“Yes, I believe so,” I lovingly but firmly answered. 

“Oh, my,” was all he could say. 

After another LONG pause, I gently asked him, “Should we start tutoring now?” 

“Yes!” he enthusiastically replied with a smile. 

I smiled to myself. This sweet, young boy is so mature.

This certainly is a difficult time for everyone. Each of us is affected by it differently, but we’ll get through it together with patience, thoughtfulness and love. (Silent Elephant “e” helps too—giggles!)

If you are questioning whether you’d like to join the ranks of Silent Elephant “e” tutors, feel free to contact us.

Linda Katherine Smith-Jones                            Nina Henson 

I Haven't Heard "I Hate Reading" again!

From a Silent Elephant “e” tutor

“Silent Elephant “e” works with excellent results and best of all, kids love it.

Students are engaged and excited!

They don’t realize they are setting their foundation to becoming fluent readers and liking to read.

I had a student who on a daily basis said, “I hate reading.”

I have not heard, “I hate reading,” again since beginning Silent Elephant “e.””

Linda Jarvis

He Read the Pool Chemicals!

A Heartwarming Story - He Read the Pool Chemicals! 

Two or three weeks ago, I answered the phone to hear a very excited mom on the other end. “You’ll never believe what “John” just read to his dad and me last night!” 

I was instantly full of curiosity. “What did he read?” I asked. 

“We just purchased a large above ground framed swimming pool. John was so eager to put it together! As soon as the box was opened, he pulled out the directions, and without even thinking about it, began confidently and quickly reading them to his dad!” 

“Wow! That’s wonderful!” I replied. My mind quickly jumped to last year at this time when John could not have read those directions and he would’ve been too scared to try.  

“Yes, but that’s not all!” Mom continued, “After we filled the pool with water, without the slightest hesitation, John smoothly read the directions for all of the steps for putting the chemicals in the water! He read all the chemicals! Can you believe it?”  

“Oh yes, I can believe it!” I delightfully responded. “John is an awesome reader and I’m very proud of him!” 

His Mom bubbled over with pride and happiness, “You have taught him so much in just a little over a year! You understand him. You have so much patience.  How can we ever thank you?” 

“Sharing this story with me is all the thanks I need,” I replied. “I’ve got goosebumps! I’m honored to be one of his teachers. I’m so happy for him! You’ve made my day!”

If you are questioning whether Silent Elephant “e” is the comprehensive reading, writing and spelling program you’d like to purchase, feel free to contact us.

Linda Katherine Smith-Jones                            Nina Henson