COOKIE SCIENCE!

COOKIE SCIENCE!

Hello Friends,

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

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

    THE SCIENCE OF COOKIES    

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Keep a song in your heart!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

YAY for DATA! YAY for Their SUCCESS!

YAY for DATA! YAY for Their SUCCESS!

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

• Dyslexia

• ADD or ADHD

• Speech and Language Disorders

• English Language Learners

• Autism

• Hearing Impairments

• Down Syndrome

• Dyspraxia

• Central Auditory Processing Disorder

• Low to Extremely Low IQ

• Other Learning Differences

• Those with No Learning Differences

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Keep a song in your heart!

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

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

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

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

Contact us here -

Linda Katherine Smith-Jones Nina Henson

It Only Takes 2 Years!!

It Only Takes 2 Years!

Today I’d like to share more of my experiences with Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”™  and continue my thoughts on why I am realizing it shouldn’t take 6 years for a child to be able to decode 6th grade reading words.
 
Over the last 10 years that I have taught reading, writing and spelling with Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”™ it’s been my experience that children master phonemic awareness and learn all the phonics rules and are able to apply the phonics rules to fluently decode 6th grade words by the end of their 2nd grade year, about 8 years old. In other words, it takes about 2 years to achieve reading 6th grade words. 

Further, Silent Elephant “e”™ was written so this goal can be achieved with only 2 hours of instruction per week. Again, that’s what my data is showing because I only meet with my students for 2 hours a week. Of course, if they spend an hour per day learning with Silent Elephant “e”™, they will be decoding words at a 6th grade level even sooner.
 
Why would this be true? Why is this my experience over and over?
 
Well, they learn so easily and quickly because they are learning the way they learn best, through whole child/whole brain, multi-sensory activities that stimulate all parts of their brain for both learning and retaining what they have learned. These whole child/whole brain, multi-sensory activities are embedded into every moment of their instruction in Silent Elephant “e”™. My experience and data share the results.

I can hear some of you thinking, “But my child struggles with reading. It’s so difficult for them!”
 
If your child has a learning difference, multiple learning differences or any learning struggles, it may take longer for him/her to reach that 6th grade word recognition level.
 
But, you can rest assured that he/she will attain that level with Silent Elephant “e”™ faster, more steadily and with more fun than with any other reading program. This is because they will be learning using all their senses (multi-sensory) therefore connecting their learning in all parts of their brain. In the case of dyslexic learners, it activates under stimulates parts of their brain and makes learning and retention of learning much easier. 
 
This has been my experience with Silent Elephant “e”™, it may take them longer if they have learning differences, but they get there and they have fun getting there.
 
Let me share an example. I have been tutoring an ELL boy for 2 ½ years who has multiple learning differences and speech and language processing disorders (one can barely understand his English or his native tongue). He is also considered to have a low IQ.
 
When he came to me halfway through his 3rd grade year, he wasn’t reading at all. He didn’t know letter sounds or letter names. He was illiterate and basically non-verbal.
 
Today as I write this, he has mastered phonemic awareness and knows all letter sounds and letter names. He fluently reads simple to complex words, such as: so, ran, sphinx, lush, squint: words with single consonants, consonant digraphs and/or consonant blends. He knows how to read and write (spell) words with the suffixes -s, -es, -ed, and -ing. He has also mastered the first 425 words on the Fry Word List of the most common words. Further, he is formulating answers to high level thinking questions. 
 
When this beautiful boy, who has a goal of becoming a police officer, first came to me, his teachers were sure that he’d never learn to read.
 
That thought crossed my mind from time to time also when we first began, but I knew I couldn’t give up on this sweet, hard-working boy. He certainly isn’t giving up! Like I said, I knew he WOULD take longer than 2 years because of his learning differences and his language processing difficulties, but I had faith he would get there because of my experience with Silent Elephant “e”™. We started out very slowly and have slowly picked up speed. 
 
He’s now reading early readers’ books. You should see the smile on his face as he shows me a book he’s read: one about veterinarians, one about astronauts, one about dinosaurs. He beams with pride! He is feeling the freedom and joy of reading.
 
His dad, who had been told his son would never read, says over and over to me, “You, Mrs. Jones, you are really teaching him to read!”
 
I humbly thank his dad and I think to myself that I’m so glad I wrote Silent Elephant “e”™. It has been the steady, consistent, multi-sensory instruction his son needs to understand language and learn to read.
 
From my experience with other students, I know that now that he’s almost finished with Part 6 of Silent Elephant “e”™ his reading growth will speed up! I can’t wait, I can already see his face beaming with both pride and relief. He realizes he is succeeding. He is feeling the joy of reading.
 
This Fall he headed off into middle school with more of a feeling of confidence and that he has a future than he has ever felt. He’s still not reading on grade level yet, but he knows he is moving there, however long it takes.

This young success story has not been my only student whose parents were told their child would never read. Recently I had a fun experience with one of my 9th grade boys admitting to me with both embarrassment and pride that he got caught red-handed reading his mom’s text messages. A year ago, he was a nonreader.
 
He hadn’t meant to snoop into his mom’ phone, he just started reading, got caught up in what he was reading, didn’t even realize that he was reading so effortlessly, and didn’t even think about the fact that he really shouldn’t be reading his mom’s private messages. 😊
 
His mom told me later that she didn’t know whether to be excited and happy, because he was actually reading and engaged in reading or to be upset because he was reading things she hadn’t planned on him reading. In the end, she was thrilled!
 
He shared, “I wasn’t trying to snoop. I just started reading and I got so excited that I couldn’t quit. My mom was stunned!” He asked me immediately to give him a reading assessment to see what reading level he was on which, of course, I did. We celebrated the growth he’s made in ONLY 9 MONTHS.
 
Let me go back to where I started today, it’s been my experience with Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”™ over and over these past 10 years that when you teach children, especially struggling children, the way they learn best with whole child/whole brain, multi-sensory activities embedded into every moment of learning, it doesn’t take 6 years to be reading at a 6th grade level. The average is 2 years, and that’s the average!
 
Those who don’t have learning differences learn more quickly but EVERY SINGLE ONE will succeed. That’s been my experience. I have many, many success stories. And I LOVE it!
 
Check out this blog post to enjoy a young one who flew - She Was Reading at a Fourth Grade Level at the End of Kindergarten.  There are also many more success stories here on my blog.
 

Contact us here – Linda Smith-Jones                   Nina Henson

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!

At 10 Years Old, Micah Felt Defeated

At 10 Years Old, Micah Felt Defeated

Being a Silent Elephant “e” ™ tutor is about changing lives – it’s helping someone realize they can achieve their dreams.
 
In my last email I shared that my sweet neighbor had asked me the question, “What do you look for in a Silent Elephant “e”™ tutor?”
 
I shared that first and foremost I look for a person who genuinely cares about people and a person who wants to build a positive relationship with their Silent Elephant “e”™ students. I’m looking for a person who wants to change lives.
 
I shared that a Silent Elephant “e”™ tutor is fortunate to develop a beautiful relationship with a child or another adult while helping him/her learn to read, write and spell. Silent Elephant “e”™ tutors truly change their students’ lives! I’ve experienced this joy over and over. A beautiful example of this joy I’ve experienced as a tutor is the story of Micah, whose life was completely changed by Silent Elephant “e” ™.

Micah is one of my students who recently graduated from me after 5½ years. He walked away from me that day completely different than when he arrived for his first day of tutoring.

I never doubted for a second that I would be able to teach Micah to read, write and spell. I always believed in him. He just needed Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”™.
 
I won’t pretend it wasn’t difficult for Micah. It was! I also won’t pretend it wasn’t difficult for me because it was. It was difficult to watch him struggle and feel so defeated. I knew I had to stay positive and let Silent Elephant “e”™ do its magic.
 
When Micah walked in my door 5½ years ago, he was a defeated 10-year-old who found every moment in school difficult or undoable.  He was in the fourth grade and was a non-reader. He had multiple learning differences and was staffed in special education for reading, math, speech and occupational therapy at his elementary school.
 
But more than anything, Micah was defeated. Every time he tried to read, he failed.
 
When he began tutoring with me, he would painfully sound out the first word of a sentence, run up the stairs in my home, grab a pillow I had put up there for him and roll on the floor saying the word multiple times.
 
After that he would slowly walk down the stairs, stand by our shared desk to look at his paper, say the word again and painstakingly struggle to sound out the next word in the sentence. Then he would repeat his stress relieving process of running up the stairs, rolling on the floor repeating the word over and over trying to memorize it. Although it was absolutely heartbreaking to watch, I patiently waited. He needed me to give him that time and space. I praised every little effort he made.
 
Little by little with much encouragement and patience, Micah was able to stay in my office. He would just grab a pillow from the love seat, roll on the office floor once or twice, and pop right up to try to read the next word without repeating the last word.
 
It was a long, long process. But Micah never, never gave up; neither did I. He knew he was learning and was beginning to feel a little confidence. His parents saw it. Soon his teachers began commenting on how well he was doing in reading as they saw his progress too!
 
It was such a pleasure to watch him relaxing into knowing he was a reader. His confidence grew and grew. Everything in his life began to show his newfound confidence.
 
After tutoring for three years doing tutoring twice a week for one hour each time, Micah had caught up to his peers and was staffed out of special education. He was in regular 7th grade classes at his middle school! (I must add that he was sick a lot our first year together. I think school was so difficult and stressful for him.)
 
He was proud of himself when he caught up with his peers! His parents and I were extremely proud of him! This is what his mom wrote as a testimonial for me to put on my website:
 
“We found ourselves feeling alone on our journey to find the right help for our son. We tried numerous private, big name tutoring centers. We didn't have any results until we met Linda Jones and started sending our dyslexic son to see her for tutoring. We started noticing improvements in our son’s reading and spelling very quickly. His spirit was higher; he finally had enough confidence to want to try to read. We are grateful to Linda. Her program has made a world of improvement in our lives.”
 
Remember I said that Micah was with me for 5½ years? Well, even though Micah had caught up to his peers, we continued tutoring for 2½ more years but only 1 hour per week. We would work together on reading, writing, math, science and/or social studies assignments that he felt he needed help completing correctly. Micah’s mom said, “You are his life preserver. He needs you.” She said that I gave him the confidence to believe in himself that he could do his schoolwork successfully and achieve excellence.
 
This past Thanksgiving, Micah’s mom called me to tell me what she called “bitter-sweet” news. Micah had talked to his parents the previous week and told them that he felt he could do his schoolwork by himself now and did not need tutoring with me any longer. Mom shared, “He said to tell you that he loves you and will miss you, but he feels confident that he can do his schoolwork and get good grades now thanks to you! So, his last tutoring session will be the week before winter break.”
 
I had to stop for a moment to take in her words. I was deeply sad that I wouldn’t be seeing Micah every week! I love him as I love my grandchildren!
 
But then my sadness turned to pride. Micah was feeling so confident in himself that he knew he no longer needed my support. I was proud of him! He had grown into a highly capable, confident, successful person! Learning to read enabled him to excel in every subject area in school. He could now relax and enjoy learning in ALL aspects of his life.
 
This past Christmas, Micah and his mom came over to my home to give me a gift, and I gave Micah a book – one I knew he’d love and could easily and comfortably read.
 
As we stood at the door after our visit saying our goodbyes, I studied this handsome young man, who now towers over me and is so proud of it – giggles. When he first came to me, he was a ten-year-old boy who used to love to scurry up the tree in my front yard to release his constrained energy that he’d stored up while working so hard during tutoring. Now he is a strong, confident young man. Oh, how I’ll miss him!
 
I asked Micah and his mom to keep in touch with me to let me know all the wonderful things that will come to pass in Micah’s life. They promised they would, and they are doing just that.  I promised I’d be checking up on him from time to time too.

Yes, it was a bitter-sweet time, however, I’m so blessed to have been a part of Micah’s life. What a gift being a tutor is to me! What a gift Silent Elephant “e” ™ was for Micah.
 
A lot of people need help learning to read, write and spell. If you’ve ever considered being a tutor, I’d love for you to consider being a tutor with Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”™.
 
If you consider being a Silent Elephant “e” ™ tutor, know that you will have our support all the way. I have developed a nine-hour workshop that gets you started with every aspect of your tutoring business. Check it out on our website here. If you can get a group of friends together that would like to take the workshop with you, all of you can share the cost and have lots of fun together becoming a Silent Elephant “e” ™ tutor!
 
You could be fortunate to develop a beautiful relationship with a child or another adult while helping him/her learn to read, write and spell. You’ll change their life! And you’ll love every moment of it.
 
Being a Silent Elephant “e” ™ tutor is about changing lives – it’s helping someone realize they can achieve their dreams.

Contact us here with questions about becoming a Silent Elephant “e” ™ tutor.

What do You Look for in a Tutor?

What do You Look for in a Tutor?

A few days ago, my dear friend told me she has been thinking about suggesting to a few friends of hers that they become reading tutors for children using my Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”™ program. “They are lovely women. I truly believe they would love tutoring children. 

“What do you look for in a tutor?” 

I paused in thought thinking carefully of my answer, then I smiled and said, “Well first, I look for someone that truly loves children and adults – someone who loves people! I say children and adults because Silent Elephant “e”™ is perfect for teaching preschoolers to adults.” 

I thought a moment more, “I look for positive minded people who are extremely patient, as most of the people I tutor are struggling readers with one or more learning differences.  It’s important as a Silent Elephant “e”™ tutor that they relax and allow their students to learn at their learning pace. As a Silent Elephant “e”™ tutor they must be uplifting and encouraging as most of the children/people they will be tutoring will begin with a low self-concept – often not realizing how capable of learning they are.  

More often than not, those they tutor don’t feel good about themselves and they need their Silent Elephant “e”™ tutor to genuinely care about them and believe in them – believe that they truly can learn to read with Silent Elephant “e”™, because they will. No question about it.” 😊 

I continued, “I’m not necessarily looking for a person with a teaching degree because I wrote Silent Elephant “e”™ to be used by classroom teachers, student teachers, paraprofessionals, parent helpers, homeschool educators and tutors. I wrote the Silent Elephant “e”™ directions at about a fifth grade reading level so that they could be easily used by anyone. I wrote them in what I call “cookbook” directions, in other words, as simply as I could so no one would have to struggle to teach with Silent Elephant “e”™.   

“Another thing I look for is a person who is willing to devote at least two hours per week with each student for a year or more. That may seem like a long time but it’s really only 2 hours a week per student and during those two hours the tutor will be seeing amazing growth in their student. Of course, I know people’s lives change as unperceived circumstances present themselves, look what happened with Covid. However, as a Silent Elephant “e”™ tutor, you will be building a long-term, trusting, loving relationship with your student and that is a very important relationship.        

At this point I eagerly began sharing with my friend how I had recently had a student graduate from me who I had been tutoring for 5.5 years.  I shared how at first it was very slow going with Micah because when he began with me, he was in the fourth grade and was not able to read at a beginning PrePrimer reading level. In other words, he was 10 years old and a non-reader. Further, he had multiple learning differences and was staffed in special education for reading and math and had speech and occupational therapy at his elementary school. But more than anything, Micah was defeated at 10 years of age. He didn’t believe he would ever be able to read and was afraid of trying because he failed every time.  

Five years later, he graduated from me as a confident, assured, successful high school student. He has been staffed out of Special Ed.  

Silent Elephant “e”™ changed his life. I can’t imagine what would have happened to him if we hadn’t met and I hadn’t written Silent Elephant “e”™. 

That’s the power we have as Silent Elephant “e”™ tutors. Being a Silent Elephant “e”™ tutor is about changing lives. 

In my next email, I will fill you in on Micah’s story. You will love it. I am so proud of him.  
You’ll see how as a Silent Elephant “e”™ tutor you will change lives. You will be the person who is both so proud of them as they graduate and a little sad that you won’t be seeing them twice a week anymore. 😊 I know the feeling well.

Contact us at silentelephante@gmail.com. We would love to visit with you and answer any questions you have.

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.