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.

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. 

10 low stress activities to help you enjoy the last few weeks of summer.

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!

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

5 tips that will help you create a successful learning environment within your home.

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

I've been teaching children to read for over 10 years now, and these are 5 important takeaways that parents and educators should be aware of.