Dreams KC

Due to unfortunate circumstances, The Queens Table has been rescheduled for a later date. The tables that were purchased will be honored for the rescheduled date. Thank you for your support and understanding of this matter.

Mark your calendars!

Luke Morin describes “lily pads” as the supports that help students move step by step through a complex text.

Too few lily pads and students struggle to stay afloat.
Too many and they never grow stronger.

In this video, Luke shows what that looks like in practice. https://ow.ly/rb6G50Yu6Es

Comment LILYPAD and we’ll send you:
• a video showing Luke’s close reading model https://ow.ly/eQKx50Yu6Er
• the podcast episode 🎧 https://ow.ly/JyOS50Z35Bp
• the article https://ow.ly/RVYP50Yu6Eu

If your kid reads STOP as "sop"—you're not failing. They've just hit the next reading stage. It's called blends. Two or three consonants stuck together... but you hear EACH sound. /s/-/t/-/o/-/p/ = stop

Here's the part that confuses parents: blends look just like digraphs (sh, ch, th) but they behave completely differently.
🤝 Digraph (sh) = TEAM UP into 1 sound
👋 Blend (st) = HOLD HANDS, keep 2 sounds

Two kinds of blends to know:
🔵 BEGINNING (CCVC): stop, frog, plan, swim, brick
🟢 ENDING (CVCC): jump, hand, milk, lamp, tent

ONE TIP: if your kid skips the 2nd consonant ("sop" for "stop"), slow down and STRETCH the blend: "ssss-tttt-op." That's the whole fix.

10-minute practice for tonight:
- Tap each sound: /s/ /t/ /o/ /p/
- Stretch the blend: "ssss-tttt-op"
- Blend it: "stop!"
- Build it with magnetic letters
- Sort: beginning blends vs. ending blends

Stage 4 of 7 in our Phonics Roadmap. Save this. Share it. Magic E is next. 💛

We are so excited to announce that DREAMS KC has officially partnered with Growing Futures Early Education Center to bring our Parent Literacy Training (PLT) to their families! 🎉

Here's why this matters so much to us:

So many parents want to help their children learn to read but aren't sure where to start. Maybe no one read to them growing up. Maybe reading has never felt easy. Maybe they just don't know what to do.

We're here to change that. 💙

Through PLT, we walk parents through simple, fun activities they can do with their little ones — like clapping out the syllables in their favorite foods or their own names — that build the exact skills children need to become readers. No experience needed. Just 15 minutes a day.

And here's the beautiful part: when parents learn alongside their children, their OWN confidence grows too. We're not just raising readers — we're strengthening whole families. 👨‍👩‍👧

To the Growing Futures team — thank you for trusting us with your families. We can't wait to see what this year brings!

Do you know a preschool, school, or family center that could use this? Send them our way! Visit www.dreamskc.org to learn how to bring Parent Literacy Training to your community.

Because every child deserves to be a confident and competent reader. 📖