monkeypodeducation

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monkeypodeducation

I’m a literacy specialist, private tutor, and consultant who helps students, families, and educators improve reading and writing outcomes.

MEd, EBLI-Trained Literacy Specialist | Supporting kids with dyslexia and other reading challenges—and the families & educators who guide them—through practical, research-based instruction. I use a speech-to-print approach that’s efficient, effective, and grounded in real classroom and parenting experience. As the founder of Monkeypod Education and the parent of a dyslexic child, I’m committed to helping kids become confident, capable readers—without overwhelm.

08/24/2026

If you notice a pattern of reading difficulty, don’t wait and hope your child grows out of it.

Talk with the teacher and ask what the reading data shows. Early intervention works—and it often takes less time than trying to close a larger gap later.

If you’re still concerned, request a comprehensive evaluation in writing.

In Montgomery County, the school must review your concerns and your child’s data, decide what testing is needed, and determine eligibility. The process must be completed within 60 days of your consent to testing and no more than 90 days from your written request.

04/28/2026

Today, while we were sorting the 4 most common long e spellings, a kindergartener said:

“When I was practicing my red words, I thought green was two short e sounds…
but now I know the two e’s say /ee/.”

That’s exactly what happens when short vowels are all they know.

Kids apply what they know to everything.

But English doesn’t work like that.

Sounds can be spelled different ways. Sometimes 1–4 letters represent one sound.

So when the code doesn’t account for the word, they get stuck.

When it does, they can adjust.

/grĕn/ → green

That adjustment—set for variability—is a strong predictor of reading success and how new words are learned through reading.

Learning phonics isn’t the goal.
Reading is.

This doesn’t mean teaching everything at once.

Kids need a secure foundation first—
short vowels, digraphs, adjacent consonants.

But once they have that, they need more of the code to make sense of what they’re reading.

That’s also why staying only in decodables is limiting.

Kids don’t get enough exposure to the patterns they actually need.
They’re not adjusting.
They’re not building flexibility.

And when they read real text,
they can feel it working.

Citations:
Seidenberg (2017) · Share (1995) · Savage et al. (2024) · Ehri (2014)

04/22/2026

Four years ago, I changed my approach to reading intervention.

I saw my son stuck below grade level
while getting intensive intervention.

I was seeing the same thing with my students:

They learned the skills.
But they didn’t catch up.

I had been trained to simplify—
controlled phonics, leveled text, scope and sequence.

This study challenged that.

In a Grade 3 intervention study (Downs et al., 2026; 283 students, 17 schools),
students read texts above grade level
with explicit multisyllabic word instruction
and strategic rereading.

They didn’t lose fluency.
They made stronger gains in reading accuracy (g = 0.47).
They were 2.79x more likely to reach high accuracy.
And the lowest-performing students improved the most.

For me, this shift matters.

When students don’t catch up,
it impacts how they see themselves.

In my experience, working in complex, meaningful text, with the right support, builds confidence and motivation in a powerful way.

The shift isn’t making text easier.
It’s supporting students inside complex text.

12/06/2025

Kids learn to read more efficiently when instruction emphasizes the foundational skills for word reading:
• identifying the sounds in a word
• blending those sounds
• knowing letter–sounds
• understanding that letters represent those sounds

These are the skills that help decoding take off.

12/03/2025

Speech-to-print supports every learner by starting with something all kids already know — speech.

It’s simple, clear, and often especially powerful for neurodivergent kids who benefit from fewer steps and more meaning.

This clip is from my webinar with .

You can watch the full replay here:
https://www.raisingorchidkids.com/register/simplifying-literacy-workshop-replay/

11/11/2025

You don’t need fancy tools to help your child read — just a finger, a pause, and a little patience. 💛

These small, sound-focused steps help their brain store words accurately, so reading finally clicks.

11/10/2025

✨ Support Your Child’s Reading ✨
Does reading at home feel stressful or confusing? Join me and the amazing team at Raising Orchid Kids for a speech-to-print, research-backed workshop designed to help parents of all kinds of learners.

In just one hour, you’ll walk away with clear, doable strategies to make reading and spelling easier—and more joyful—at home. 💡📚

🗓️ Monday, November 17 | 12–1 PM ET
💻 Live on Zoom | Recording included
💵 $25 per family | Free for Raising Orchid Kids members

🔗 Register here: raisingorchidkids.com/rok-workshop

10/24/2025

Most classrooms are full of teacher talk —
but oral language grows when students do the talking.

Research shows the biggest gains come from explicit work with words and their parts —
vocabulary, morphology, and syntax —
woven into meaningful, interactive discussions.

Language learning thrives on conversation and connection.

Sources: Gibbs et al. (2025); Silverman et al. (2020); Metsala et al. (2025)

Address

Bethesda, MD
20817

Website

http://www.monkeypodeducation.com/

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