Although many people believe that the English language is full of words that don’t follow spelling rules, few words are truly undecodable. People often think that the English language is …
The Superpowers You Have as Educational Parents That Teachers Don’t
Quality time, familiarity, flexibility, and customizing implicit teaching As an Educational Parent, you have certain advantages teachers wish they had. In an earlier post, I wrote that you have certain …
How to Balance Implicit and Explicit Teaching as an Educational Parent
Welcome back to the Educational Parenting Blog, where parents can find advice, answers, and awesome resources on becoming their child’s first and most influential teacher. Something that all of a …
How Do I Know if a Book Is at an Appropriate Reading Level for My Child?
Read books before your child does to figure out how many words in each book are too hard for them to read without supervision. Choosing books that are at an …
Why I Ignore Age-Based Rating Systems
Age ratings for children’s books do not accurately reflect the unique skillsets of individual kids. Some children’s books come with an age-based rating system designed to help you assess reading …
How to Read to Your Child for Maximum Literacy Gains
In a previous post, I discussed how to assess whether a book is at the right reading level for your child to read on their own. But children can also …
I Let Children Re-read Books That Are “Too Easy” For Them
By the time they lose interest, that’s when there is little benefit. After children learn a sizable chunk of the sound-letter correspondences and have begun reading the easiest of books …
How to Develop Good Judgment as an Educational Parent
Helping your child requires judgment, not just theories. Welcome back to the Educational Parenting blog, where parents can find advice, answers, and awesome resources on becoming their child’s first and …
Selecting Phonics Materials That Minimize or Avoid Nonsense Words
Decodable, yet unknown, real words are just as good. In the last post, we looked at strategies Educational Parents can use to help balance phonics education with teaching word meanings …
How to Make Sure Your Child Understands the Meaning of What They are Reading
Otherwise, they may develop the habit of not understanding what they read. Welcome to the Educational Parenting blog! This is the place where parents can find advice, answers, and awesome …