The Active Reader Blog

Why direct and explicit instruction is one of the most effective ways to teach early reading skills.

Phonics instruction and phonemic awareness is a crucial step in developing a strong reader. It helps budding readers understand the relationship between letters and their sounds which leads to strong decoding and encoding (spelling) skills in the future.

 Here we have identified five reasons why phonics instruction is so important.

As a parent, would you rather work to prevent future learning struggles for your children or wait and remediate struggles you observe in the moment?

Read on for our take on prevention techniques vs remedial intervention strategies for literacy skills.

Children can be resistant to flash cards or learning tools. Here are our top tips for introducing flash cards to a child. 

Here are 8 ways you can help your children connect with nature no matter where you live.

We have rounded up a series of 6 skills that you can work on at home with your kindergarten age child. These activities are based in structured literacy concepts and geared to help lay a foundation to allow your child to experience success as they begin to develop their reading and writing skills. 

One of the best ways to practice letter sounds and focus on your child's reading skills and language acquisition is by choosing books that focus on specific letters. Here is a list of 9 books that will help you focus on the letter A!

How often do we send our children outside and encourage them to "have fun," then we proceed to sit down on a chair and supervise. Probably quite often, and there is nothing wrong with that! However, there are big benefits to having our children see us get our hands dirty.

Five suggestions to help you provide feedback on your child's artwork to help build their intrinsic motivation.

Children who are struggling with their speech-language skills may also experience difficulties with basic abilities in literacy such as phonemic awareness, decoding, spelling, and writing. Studies have shown that there is a correlation between oral production and the development of essential reading skills

Pre-kindergarten readiness is something that a lot of parents are thinking about these days. There’s no doubt in anyone’s mind that our teachers and classrooms have been greatly impacted by the pressures of COVID-19. For many children in their foundational years of development, the last year and a half has left room for various gaps to rear their ugly head.

Here's a quick high-level overview of Orton-Gillingham and the strategies that we have incorporated into our Active Reader alphabet cards.