Reading comprehension is one of the most complex cognitive activities in which humans engage, making it difficult to teach, measure, and research. (2) Reading is not equal to just decoding words. In order to have excellent reading skills, children must have strong decoding skills, a strong language foundation, in addition to other cognitive skills. Reading …
Category Archives: Reading/ Reading Comprehension
3rd Grade Communication Goals
Third grade expectations have changed! It’s a pivotal year because children are beginning to move from learning to read to reading to learn. If students have a strong language foundation then the transition is not difficult, but children struggling with reading, vocabulary development or comprehension will have a hard time. Here is ASHA’s 3rd grade …
Homework Battles: What is the problem?
Homework battles, whether once a week or every day, fighting your child to complete their homework is a dreaded chore.
Language Challenges Uncovered: The Foundation for Academic Achievement Part 2
If language is the foundation for academic achievement then what do language challenges look like in everyday life? There are many areas that can impact language including word finding, auditory processing, comprehension and As a speech therapist one of the most telling signs of word finding problems in children and adults is the frequent use …
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Language: The Foundation for Academic Part 1
The foundation of language chart above provides a simplified view of language development to show how early language development supports future academic achievement. Because we so often take language for granted and schools often downplay the impact of speech and language challenges after the third grade, it is  easy not to realize, that even small speech …
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Life Long: Language-Based Learning Challenges
“My son is not confident”, says a concerned Mom at a picnic I’m attending. She goes on to say, “He seems to have difficulty understanding what people are saying and responding to them in an appropriate time frame, so he is struggling in college.”unicaLanguage-based learning challenges are lifelong. They do not cease at the completion …
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“C” says /K/: Orton-Gillingham Reading Approach
Recently, I took a 30-hour intensive refresher training in Orton-Gillingham, a preferred method of instruction for people with dyslexia, given by the Institute of Multi-Sensory Education.    The OG multi-sensory approach has a few differences.  First instruction begins with the letter “C ” which says /k/, “O,” and “A”.  The original OG starts with letters …
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Revealed: Twice Exceptional Learners
Twice exceptional learners may remain undiagnosed, by educational professionals including Speech Pathologist, because of their unique abilities in other areas. The language assessment in a neuropsychological battery and in some speech pathology tests often require only one-word or limited responses. Both assessments attempt to look at different areas of performance in isolation. Because twice exceptional learners sometimes …
Vocabulary Development: Teachable Moments
I am holding up a bright yellow jacket at the LL Bean outlet in New Hampshire. “Hey look this is really bright it will be great for biking,” I say to my daughter. “No, it’s dull she says!” I’m puzzled and confused. I look at the jacket again and then walk off to pay the cashier. I’m …
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Unidentified: Twice Exceptional Children of Color
“I’m dumb!”  “I can’t learn!”  Often underserved in public schools, twice exceptional children of color,  especially children of color who are of African or Hispanic descent spend their entire academic career unidentified and underperforming. Twice exceptional is a term used to refer to students who are gifted in some areas, but also have learning disabilities as …
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