By Natalie Hale
Posted WHAT’S FREE, FAST, AND TEACHES VOCABULARY LIKE THE BOMB?
WHAT’S FREE, FAST, AND TEACHES VOCABULARY LIKE THE BOMB? If you’ve been reading my blogs or my book “Whole Child Reading,” you know I’m talking about Fast Flash. [...]
By Natalie Hale
Posted INTO THE BOXING RING: PHONICS vs. WHOLE WORD READING
Speaking of Boxing… At the NDSC Conference in Pittsburg last month, the Phonics Or Whole Word (POWW!) issue attacked me personally in the form of one attendee who voiced the opinion that, [...]
By Natalie Hale
In Down Syndrome Reading, Early Reading, Education, Fast Flash, SANDWICH STYLE TEACHING, Sight Word Reading
Posted YOU WRITE ABOUT “SANDWICH STYLE TEACHING.” WHAT’S THAT?
What’s the Sandwich? “Sandwich Style Teaching” is simple. It means making a reading sandwich where Fast Flash are the two pieces of bread and the middle, the PBJ layer, is the [...]
By Natalie Hale
Posted COMPREHENSION ROCKS. BUT ONLY IF WE TEACH “READING FOR MEANING.”
What are we teaching our kids? Our teens? As a teacher, this is what I often see when a desperate parent brings a teen to me because he/she missed the reading boat: I see a learner who was pushed [...]
By Natalie Hale
In Down Syndrome Reading, Early Reading, Education, Fast Flash, Sight Word Reading, Teaching Down syndrome
Posted “FLASH CARDS DON’T WORK FOR MY CHILD!” Let’s fix that…
Why aren’t flash cards working for my child? Flash cards as they are traditionally used are the slow boat to China. Boring. It can take forever to get that information into the [...]
By Natalie Hale
In Down Syndrome Reading, Early Reading, Education, Phonics, Sight Word Reading, Teaching Down syndrome
Posted MICHAEL ROSEN ON PHONICS: LET’S HEAR IT FROM A CHILDREN’S LAUREATE OF GREAT BRITAIN
Leading The Charge! I so often wave one of my most passionate flags, which reads, “Let’s teach our children that reading is fun, reading is magic, reading is about understanding! [...]
WHICH “a” DO I USE WHEN I MAKE FLASH CARDS or BOOKS? WHY?
Simple Question, Simple Answer We use the “a” that your child will read for the rest of his or her life. That would be “a”. The alternative lowercase “a”, the [...]
Q: How do I do the “Peanut Butter” part of Sandwich Style teaching?
How to Make a Great Teaching Sandwich I’ve said that Sandwich Style teaching is best for beginning readers. It’s a “bread-peanut butter-bread” system in the form of: [...]
By Natalie Hale
In Down Syndrome Reading, Early Reading, Education, Personal Books, Phonics, Sight Word Reading, Uncategorized
Posted Your READING SUCCESS SHORT LIST: a 30-second BLOG
The Short List: 3 Basics If you have only these 3 basics in place, you’re set for success in teaching your child with Down syndrome to read. The entire topic of teaching our kids can be [...]
By Natalie Hale
In Down Syndrome Reading, Education, Fast Flash, Personal Books, Sight Word Reading, Teaching Down syndrome
Posted SUCCESS STEP 5: UNDERSTAND WHY SIGHT WORDS COME BEFORE PHONICS
In Defense of Sight Word Reading You’ve been following along with our Success Steps to reading, and right now you’re Fast Flashing some really cool words that go with the awesome [...]