The Literacy Coach

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Are Audiobooks and Podcasts Really Reading? Yes. Let me tell you why.Reading requires many skills, most of which have little to do with decoding print, though that is critical for independent consumption of text.Reading also requires that the reader can visualize, interpret new vocabulary words and phrases, that they understand the influence....

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Early Writing ~ Children Are Natural Storytellers Children are natural storytellers, so while the brain is not necessarily wired for the invention of writing, they want to write to make their stories permanent, visible, and share the way they experience the world. Intuitively, children want you to know what they see and what they know. Writing in t...

This is officially my 15th year as a Reading and Writing Specialist, and my 30th summer as an educator. I have worked with thousands of students, trained hundreds of teachers. SO much has changed...and so much has not.

Every summer, I know there are readers and writers who need a, someone LOVES to read and write, who understands the complex cognitive and psychological processes of learning to read, who can sit beside them (or sometimes by video), learn about their reading and writing lives and help them to develop and strengthen their skills. I've spent a lifetime studying students and their literacy growth over, learning from research and practice to be of service to them and to you. This research is revealing critical trends in the magnitude of need nation-wide - deficits in phonological awareness, vocabulary knowledge reading comprehension, you name it - and that's just reading. Shall we talk about writing?

If you have a first grader learning to read, pre-teen who is struggling or wants to be a writer, a college-ready student who's ready to write their college essays but needs a coach, I'm your girl!

Do not wait for gaps to expand. Just do not wait. Do not take for granted that your children will learn everything they need to in school. Despite Herculean efforts, your children and teens need all hands on deck even during the summer months.

If are a parent, a home-schooler or just want to help your child as they grow - I can coach you, too! Coaching parents has an exponential impact and the magnitude of need is too great.

Visit my website and schedule a consultation call.
I've got you. We can do this. We need to do this.
~ Dawn
https://www.theliteracycoach.org/

Follow me on Substack! ....and then go do something brave.😉
https://dawnflorino.substack.com?utm_source=navbar&utm_medium=web&r=379eu9

They matter. The moments you spend reading to children can never be underestimated. 💛

I had a fantastic time meeting readers of all ages last week at the Barnes and Noble in Maple Grove, Minnesota.
One of my favorite moments was when an 8 year old boy stood in front of me and shouted: “He will defend the defenseless! He will protect the weak! He will write a poem!”
“Ha,” I said. “That’s funny. What’s it from?”
“Your book!” he said. “The one about the squirrel! Don’t you remember?”
“Oh,” I said. “Yes, I do. But it was a long time ago. And may I say? The words sound better when you say them.”
“He shouts them,” said his mother. “All the time. His teacher read the book aloud in class and then he made me buy him the book and here we are.”
“Thank you,” I said to the boy and his mom. “Tell that teacher ‘thank you,’ too.”
Thank you to all of you, everywhere, who believe that words matter.

A children's literature legend!
I am so glad his work is being honored in stamps....and of course, I got my hands on them!

Today the United States Postal Service is issuing a special stamp honoring our dear friend Tomie dePaola. The stamp art features a detail from the cover of his beloved book, Strega Nona. He is pictured here with Barbara Elleman in 2009 when she curated the exhibition, Drawings from the Heart: Tomie dePaola Turns 75.