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Reading Fluency

Reading Fluency: Part 1

Reading with fluency is like driving on a well maintained road.

Reading fluency is the ability to identify words quickly ,  accurately,  and  understanding their meaning.  Learners develop  reading fluency  by reading daily at their reading level.  This reading level is constantly changing .Learners start developing fluency at an easy reading level.  Then they move on to the next book, which  will be slightly more difficult, but not much, as to not frustrate the reader.  Therefore, reading fluency and reading a lot are linked together.

 

Lack of reading fluency is like driving on a road full of pot holes.

Dysfluent Reader

A dysfluent learner cannot decode words quickly ( phonological awareness and sound identification are not in place) and accurately. They will stop frequently trying to ‘sound out’  word after word. This causes learners to lose speed and comprehension, which leads to frustration and lack of motivation to read. In this case there is no reading fluency.

 

It’s important to get to the root cause of fluency difficulties.

Reading fluency problems don’t fix themselves and learners become dysfluent.  This needs to be corrected so that learners continue to acquire vocabulary and knowledge through reading whether reading silently or orally.

Can’t or won’t?

Reading is Empowering

Some fluent readers are  voracious readers, others read because they have to and others don’t like to read.  I find that if a person can read  fluently with comprehension and says, ‘I don’ t like to read’, it is usually the type of reading material that turns them off reading. Especially in school settings where learners have to read what they are told to read, instead of what they like to read.  Reading is reading whether you read a magazine, a book, a newspaper, internet materials…and so on.

On the other hand, some people would like to read, but they can’t. This is a technical difficulty that can be remedied with the right tools, time and practice. Everyone can learn to read.  It empowers people!

Reading fluency is a very important part of the reading process.  It is important to access  and develop it.

Love, Light and Gratitude,

Alda

 

Quote

“Start by doing what is necessary; then do what is possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.”     (St. Francis of Assissi)

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Phonics: All Letters are Silent and Ready to Be Decoded

 

Phonetics, aka phonics, describes the sounds of a language . Humans have been making sounds way before they found a way/symbols to represent those sounds. Traditionally teaching the sounds in the English language started from the letter to the sound, giving the impression that letters were invented before sounds. Throughout the decades methodologies were invented which seem to confuse many children learning to read.

The problem with the traditional approach is that it ignores all the knowledge about sounds that children have been accumulating since birth. All the stories, word games, all the spoken language learned within the family and community circles gave the child a good knowledge of the sounds of his/her native language. In order to continue expanding the child’s knowledge on its way to reading, the child needs to learn the symbols that represent all those sounds s/he already knows. The phonemic/phonological awareness previously developed are sub-skills needed to learn to read. Children need to learn the sub-skills necessary to reading in the right order.

Reading Sub-Skills

1- ability to scan text from left to right.(understand the code moves in one direction)

2- ability to match visual symbols to auditory sounds (ex: child makes the /a/ sound to match the letter ‘a’

3- ability to blend discrete sound units into words.(ex: you say /p/i/g/ and the child says ‘pig’)

4- ability to segment sounds into words (ex: you say ‘dog’ and the child says /d/o/g/)

5- ability to understand that sometimes two or more letters represent 1 sound.(ex; ‘sh’, ‘gh’, ‘ph’)

6- ability to understand that most sounds can be represented in more than one way (ex: the sound ‘ee’ can be spelled in several ways: green, team, happy, etc)

All Letters are Silent

If you place a book next to your ear and fan the pages, you’ll feel a nice breeze, but no language sounds, no words or sentences.  All letters in the book are silent.

Human beings are equipped with a “voice box” which enables us to make sounds.  Letters, on the other hand, cannot make sounds. Therefore, we need to teach children to make the appropriate sound for the appropriate symbol representing that sound. This is important because it avoids a lot of confusion later on. If letters made sounds, just imagine the cacophony around the books on the meadow below…

I worked with a grade 1 child who was perceived to be reading at grade level. He had the ability to memorize text. A typical person can memorize between 2000-3000 words. As an English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher I had the opportunity to work one-on-one with this student. After a few assessments I understood that the child couldn’t read. He couldn’t crack the English code. He didn’t have the opportunity to memorize  the text I was giving him, which he did on a regular basis with classroom texts. He might have been able to continue this until the end of grade 1, but by mid-grade 2 his house of cards would have collapsed.

The English Written Code

The English code is a sound symbol code. This code has 134 sound pictures that represent the various sounds used in English. If the child learns these symbols, the child will be able to decode words in English. There are about 55 English words that do not decode accordingly (ex: yacht). Typically a student uses around 20,000 daily vocabulary words; therefore either the student memorizes the 134 sound pictures or s/he needs to memorize these words needed to function in his/her environment. Learning the code opens the way to never before seen words, not just the daily ones.

The Basic Code

A four year old child can begin to learn the basic code. S/he begins to read and spell three-sound words. The basic code is the 1 symbol =1 sound word. The child can make the sounds for: b,c,d,f,g,h,j,k,l,m,n,p,r,s,t,v,w,x,y,z,i,e,a,o,u.   By the time the child is 5 yrs old s/he has mastered the basic code.

The Advanced Code

By the age of 6 a child should know about 70% of the advanced code. The advanced code is 1, 2 or more symbols = 1 sound. The child needs to learn what sounds to make for the symbols: sh, ch, th, ck, qu, ce, ai, ou, ea, oa, ow, igh, eigh, ay, ie, aw, ee, ey, ue, ew, au, oo, ui, oy, and oi.  60% of grade 4 texts are in advanced code. If children are taught to ‘sound out’ basic code words, logic dictates that they will use the same strategy to decode advanced code words, unless properly taught.

There is a phenomenon called the ‘grade 4 slump’. Research shows that there is a decline in reading scores at this point. I believe this ‘slump’ comes about because children were not taught to decode the advanced code. Probably the last time anyone taught them to decode was in grade 1 or 2. There is, of course, a limit to the number of words one can memorize.

The Importance of Learning to Decode for ELLs

I encountered students with difficulties in reading that were created by the methodologies  used to teach them,  which failed to empower these students to learn to read. When a significant number of students have the same difficulties, one cannot blame the students, one needs to look for the causes. The advanced code also needs to be taught directly, explicitly and consistently. Learning the English code (or French, or Spanish, or Italian, or…) is important for anyone who speaks English (or a particular language), but I think that it is even more so for an English Language Learner (ELL). A person , who  is literate in a mother language, will transfer acquired reading knowledge into the new language. However, if the English code is not taught the student will apply the sounds of his native language to English.  This is easy to see especially when ‘reading’ advanced code words with sounds (i.e ‘th’) that don’t exist in the student’s native language. In this case the ELL has to make a conscientious effort to train his/her ‘voice box’ to make the new sound.

 

With Love and Gratitude.

Alda

Source:

Reading Reflex : The Foolproof Phone-Graphix Method for Teaching Your Child to Read.  By Carmen and Geoffrey McGuinness

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Phonemic and Phonological Awareness

 

 Phonemic Awareness

Phonemes are the smallest part of sound in a spoken word.  For example, if you change the phoneme /h/, in the word ‘hat’, for the phoneme /c/ you make the word ‘cat’.  Therefore,  phonemes make a difference in the word’s meaning. Phonemic awareness is not phonics– that’s  a different puzzle piece. Phonemic awareness is understanding that the sounds of spoken language work together to make words. As seen above the phonemes /h/a/t/ work together to make the word ‘hat’. This is about hearing and processing  sounds. Phonemic awareness is a subcategory of phonological awareness.

Children who have phonemic awareness skills are likely to have an easier time to learn to read.

Phonemic awareness is… ·  …       the ability to hear, identify and manipulate individual sounds –phonemes- in spoken words
Phonemic awareness is important because… ·         it improves children’s word reading and reading comprehension.

·         It helps children learn to spell
Phonemic awareness can be developed through a number of activities… ·         Identify phonemes

·         Categorize phonemes

·         Blend phonemes to form words

·         Segment words into phonemes

·         Delete or add phonemes to form new words

·         Substitute phonemes to make new words
Effective phonemic awareness instruction… ·    …     When children are taught to manipulate phonemes by using letters of the alphabet

·   …      When instruction focuses on only one or two types of phoneme manipulation

 

Phonological Awareness

Phonological awareness identifies and manipulates larger parts of the spoken language, such as words, syllables and onsets and rhymes as well as phonemes.

So when children:

  • identify and make oral rhymes- “The cat sat on the mat”
  • identify and work with syllables –clap syllables of their name :” An-drew”
  • identify and work with onsets and rimes – the first part of sip is s-/the last part of win is –in
  • identify and work with individual phonemes is spoken words – the first sound in sat is /s/.
 Training

Training is the key to breaking the  chains that keep children from successfuly learning to read.  Many children acquire these skills effortlessly, if they were raised by adults who talked to them constantly, played word games incessantly and read aloud nursery rhymes and poetry at bed time. Some have an innate ability to process sounds/language; however, there are  many others  who find these skills difficult.  This skill is crucial to acquiring the English language code necessary to master reading. Children, who lack these skills, need to be trained in developing them.  Children do not outgrow phonological awareness deficits or develop phonological awareness skills with physical maturation (Liberman & Shankweiler, 1985) cited in “Teach Them All to Read” p.33. These skills have nothing to do with IQ levels.

Success in acquiring phonological Awareness comes from teaching it systematically, explicitly within a supportive environment. Attention in training blending, segmenting , auditory processing and code knowledge (alphabet sounds) are really important in this process.

The sweet taste of success is very powerful. The good news is that not only can children overcome it by training, but that parents can help them do it.  Carmen and Geoffrey MacGuiness in their book ‘Reading Reflex- the foolproof phono-graphix method for teaching your child to read” do just that.  I found this resource to be pretty empowering.

With Love and Gratitude

Alda

Sources:

Teach Them All to Read by Elaine McEwan

Reading Reflex by Carmen and Geoffrey McGuinness / www.readamerica.net

 

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Language is Cultural

 

Language is more than just words. People who share a language share a culture and an identity. Learning a language is more than just learning sounds, vocabulary and grammatical rules. It’s also learning the culture expressed by that language. Therefore when parents/families teach children their spoken language they are also teaching them and identity and a culture. Sound is an important part of this process.

Sounds in Spoken Language

Children become aware that some words rhyme. When I read Sofi  “Green Eggs and Ham”, she will meet my “box” with the word “fox” for example. She recognizes the same sound.  However,  Mark at 4 yrs knows they rhyme and can make work families –cat, sat, mat, rat, and so on. Although at different levels they are both developing phonological awareness; that is they can hear and work with the sounds of the English language.

The ABCs

Knowledge of the alphabet – the names, sounds and shapes of the letters by the time children get to kindergarten is a great help.  At 2yrs a child (my experience, perhaps even younger) who has been immersed in a language rich environment can recognize the name, sound and identify a word that starts with a specific letter.  Sofi ‘reads’ her alphablock   book.  She starts with the letter name, sound and the name of the picture on that page. Of the 3 things she identifies the most helpful in helping her to read is the sound she makes when she looks at a particular letter. We read by blending sounds, not by saying letter names.

Reading Aloud

 

This is really the context within which reading develops. It’s probably the most important building activity a parent can do to start the process. When children actively participate in the reading aloud with adults, they learn new words, learn more about a theme, learn about written language and really see the connection between reading and writing. They are making connections and practicing applying knowledge acquired in different contexts. They may connect to another book, to a movie, to a personal experience…. they begin to transfer knowledge from one area to another.

Vocabulary and knowledge of the World

Vocabulary is the number of words we use to name concrete/ abstract objects/ideas. It’s word power that allows us to express what’s in our minds and understand other peoples’ ideas. The size of a person’s vocabulary is connected to that person’s ability to comprehend what he/she reads in all areas. Children learn vocabulary both indirectly, by hearing and seeing words as they listen, talk and read; and directly when parents and teachers teach them the meaning of words. The more personal experiences children have the greater is their vocabulary. When they go grocery shopping with their parents, when they go to the park, zoo, travelling, visiting, are all opportunities to learn that are built in a day’s activity. These are not programs, these are ways of living. Parents are busy so it’s important to use the time they have with the children and use it productively. Even watching TV together and talking about what they are seeing can be an opportunity for learning, providing the program can teach anything of value.

Comprehension

Comprehension is critical to reading. Getting meaning out of text is the reason to read. By using what  they already know children can attach new meaning, new concepts, new words to further their understanding of a subject. At this young stage ‘conversations’ with adults about the world around them  are a good context to show children  how to make connections. Also by asking what they think can happen, making mental pictures, and asking questions. When adults model these strategies aloud  they are showing  the though process for reading/ problem solving, etc. Later children will learn to make  predictions, make inferences,  summarizing and so on.  By  modelling these behaviours early on adults are helping build these reading blocks, which will be part of  a structured reading process at school.

pexels-photo-256417

There are many games and programs to keep children entertained and teach them words and sounds, but there is no substitute for the human voice and human interaction. I truly believe this.

 

With Love and Gratitude

Alda

Resources

www.starfall.com     ( I like this site. It’s the closest I’ve found to teach phonics the  way I believe is less confusing for children.  )

 

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Illiteracy Rates and The Need for a Paradigm Shift

 Reading Wars

 

Reading  wars – as in this method is better than that- has been how people have attempted to solve the illiteracy situation. Just about any methodology can show that someone was able to learn by using it. The claim is made statistical documentation is presented, but the problem is still unresolved.

Methodologies

From the 1950’s to present a series of reading methods have been introduced to improve the literacy rates in North America, and others countries. From the “Dick and Jane/Look and say”, to phonics to decode the meaning of text, to Whole Language- emphasizing meaning over sounds- and to present with  Balanced Literacy – a combination of phonics and cognitive strategies. These were/are some of the methods used to teach reading. The war mentality so far doesn’t seem to solve the problem.

Illiteracy Rates

 

In the 1970’s statistics on illiteracy rate came out at 33% just using the phonics approach. By 1995 with all the improvements to reading instruction, The US Department of Education reported the results of the mix of whole language and phonics approach as the illiteracy rate climbed to 43%. In 2015 the National Center for Education (NCES) reported that 64% of grade 4 students and 66% of grade 8 students were under-performing, that is reading below proficiency reading levels.

In Canada, 42% of Canadian adults between 16-65 years of age have low literacy skills and are considered semi-literate.  According to Craig Alexander, deputy chief economist of TD Bank Financial Group (2007), “The  Canadian economy could enjoy a $32 billion boost if literacy rates were improved by only 1%.”  The Canadian Council on Learning in the report, “The Future of Literacy in Canada’s Largest Cities” (Sept. 8, 2010) suggests that by 2031 more than 15 million Canadian adults will have low literacy levels. This is an increase of 25% in the next 20 years, which will create a ‘literacy dilemma’ if the  situation is not addressed immediately.

The Gift of Learning

Give children the gift of learning. Teach them accordingly to their needs. Elaine McEwan in Teach Them All to Read had some ‘eye opening’ information that sheds some light in why somebody always learns something independently of the method. She says that of “the total percentage of students enrolled nationwide (US) 5% read ‘as if by magic’ some arrive at school already reading; 20%-30% learn with ease, by any kind of formal instruction; 60% find learning to read to be ‘hard work’;15%-25% find learning to read difficult even with one-on-one specialized instruction; and 5% will have serious and pervasive reading disability.” This means that “to survive academically …they will require the very best in systematic and direct reading instruction from highly skilled and supportive teachers”. (p 6). The last thing anyone needs is to be in the middle of a reading war, waiting for people to make up their minds , while children continue to fall through the ever widening cracks.

Changing the Paradigm

 

With all the money invested in education and  scientific research in the fields of education and brain function,  why is it so difficult to teach children to read? Scientific research and technology are constantly changing. Who is not keeping up? What can be done differently to teach literacy more effectively?  Perhaps the way educational systems group children by chronological age needs to change? Does the teaching  environment need to be improved?

Teaching All Children All they Need to be  Successful

Definitely the need for a “foundation of solid reading skills that includes fluency, development of strong academic language ….., the building of stores of knowledge, cultivation of a sturdy and flexible suite of comprehension strategies, and opportunities to choose and read engaging texts alone and with others – all of these are essential for reading success” (Liben and Liben, 2013). The Libens and Elaine McEwan seem to agree on the need to teach ALL the reading components to ALL the children.

Children’s life conditions need to be improved even before they get to school. Poverty never helped anyone grow healthy and develop their potential. This is not just a classroom problem; it’s much larger than that, but the right approaches in the classroom should mitigate the problem.

From a Fighting Mentality…

 

Human beings are complex. We have many things in common, but we also differ in areas such as learning styles, innate abilities and needs. Therefore a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach whether in education or any other field that deals with humans (i.e. health care) cannot be successful in my opinion. It is time to change the paradigm from “war on illiteracy”, “war on drugs”, “war on….” – phrases, which invoke only  destruction and desolation.  When we look back to historical times the periods of war and destruction are just that. It’s only after  those periods of darkness that people are able to show their creativity; when the arts, music, architecture, literature and other higher forms of human creative cooperation finds expression.

…… to Creativity and Co-creation Mentality

 

 

A paradigm of cooperation and co-creation for the highest good of the children embedded in love, understanding, and empathy will enhance creativity and co-creation . It’s time to pay serious attention to emotional intelligence. This paradigm invokes creativity, happiness, joy, fun – a set of much higher vibrations- a state of being where human beings can thrive and create.

Mental Health: sowing the seed of love of learning

Nurturing environments are fertile ground to sow the seeds of love. Internal states of war are as destructive as external ones. Today children of all ages (as do adults) carry an enormous amount of stress and anxiety. These negative emotions manifest into physical form as headaches, stomach aches and so forth. Add to this, challenging school environments with bullying, lack of respect, and many children will develop fears,  and low self-worth.

Children who are initiated in Reiki energy and/or who learn to use Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) also known as Tapping  have a way of dealing with stress and other negative emotions.   I saw a video clip from Pacific Grove Middle School, CA School District  where students, who  are practicing Tapping before and after class, are said “to improve focus, reduce anxiety, become better collaborators and increase productivity”. I found this video when I   Googled Tapping Solutions. They also talked about a book written by Alex Ortner for elementary school children called “Gorilla Thumps and Bear Hugs” to teach tapping.

Opinions will differ on these subjects, but it’s personal experience that counts. These techniques work in the realm of energy so for someone still viewing the world solely based on Newtonian physics, Quantum is really a big leap.

 

 

With Love and Gratitude,

Alda

Resources:

Teach Them ALL to Read: Catching the Kids Who Fall Through the Cracks  by Elaine K. McEwan

A Proposed Paradigm Shift for CCSS ELA and Literach by Liben and Liben

www.statcan.gc.ca

www.literacymattersus.org

www.excellence-in-literacy.org/facts.html

www.literacy.ca

www.indexmundi.com

www.huffingtonpost.ca/2016/09/01/canada-literacyrates-n-11817262.html

 

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What is Literacy?

 

Literacy

Literacy is basically the ability to decode and encode a language for meaning, using different cognitive abilities/strategies. It can be a cultural language- the first language one learns to speak, or any other language after that. People can be literate in as many languages as they want to learn. The term literacy is extended to the ability of making meaning in specific languages such as computer, media, financial, environmental literacy and so on. The United Nations Educational, Scientific  and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) defines literacy as “the ability to identify, understand, interpret, create, communicate and compute, using printed and written materials associated with varying contexts”

 

The Literacy Journey

So how does the literacy journey begin?  Literacy begins with oral language as preparedness for reading . Reading is a tool that can help us do a variety of jobs. It’s a skill because the more we practice the better we read. It’s an ability because it empowers us to think and learn new things, and it’s also a process because we learn it over a period of time. When we over-learn the reading process, it frees up the conscious mind, allowing it to focus on other cognitive areas required to deal with a new situation. The development of oral language, starting when we are infants, is important to the reading process later on. When children go to school with large vocabularies and reading readiness skills (i.e. they know how to handle a book), they are well equipped to learn to read.

The Reading Puzzle

My opinions about literacy and literature are a result of my personal experiences both as a learner, a teacher as well as the vast amounts of research papers and books that I’ve read over the years. I agree with Elaine K. McEwan’s  jigsaw puzzle of the readiing components. I believe all the components are equally important and when one piece of the reading puzzle is missing or poorly taught, then it affects the whole experience. According to E. McEwan, the pieces of the reading puzzle are: Phonological Awareness, Phonics, Spelling, Reading a lot, A reading culture, Language, Fluency, knowledge and Cognitive Strategies.

Illiteracy

On the other hand, Illiteracy is the inability to read and write. Different approaches to teaching reading and writing since the 1950s were/are attempts to reduce the illiteracy rate in North America as well as other countries. Many people may not be completely illiterate, but their poor literacy skills don’t allow them to fill out an application, or read a simple children’s story. They are dependent on others, who may or may not give the information they need, and that makes people vulnerable.

 

With Love and Gratitude.

Alda

Source:

McEwan, Elaine. Teach Them All to Read(2002)

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The True Power of Water and the Creation of a Nurturing Environment

The True Power of Water by Masaru Emoto is a favourite book of mine.  He researched water and took pictures of frozen water crystals.  These crystals  had been exposed to different vibration frequencies and environmental toxins.

If water was exposed to positive words (love, gratitude, thank you, beautiful music ie- Pachelbel’s Cannon in D Major) it formed beautiful crystals, but if it was exposed to negative words (fear, worry, stress , a piece of heavy metal music) the crystals were deformed and unbalanced. These can be seen in the pictures in the book. For example:


Thank you

 

 

“Cannon in D Major” Pachelbel

 

Love and Gratitude

On page 142  of The True Power of Water under the subtitle “Love” and “Gratitude” Change the World, Emoto writes,“ Water responded to words used for talking to children.” If we talk lovingly to children, whose bodies are 90% water, then we can imagine what a High vibrational energy download that is.  Masaru  Emoto says, “We must pay respect to water, feel love and gratitude, and receive vibrations with a positive attitude. Then, water changes, you change, and I change. Because  both you and I are water”. (p.145). The implications for raising healthy and happy children are amazing not to mention their enhanced ability to learn to read and  read to learn- full literacy.

The Two Minds

The conscious mind is busy with learning, but the subconscious mind which has been downloading information since conception, can be an asset or a hindrance because  it runs our lives. So it is to our advantage that the ‘programs’ are beneficially positive.   Dr. Lipton, humorously, entitles chapter 2 in The Biology of Belief – “It’s the Environment, Stupid”.  It is the environment that changes/activates genes.

The Power to Change

By consciously empowering ourselves, we can change our environment. The same goes for children’s learning environments both at home and at school. How great to know that we have the power to change by creating positive vibrations that can be felt throughout the human body.  The ability to change by using one’s free will!

With Love and Gratitude,

Alda

 

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Nurturing The Child to Successfully develop the Reading Puzzle

Nurturing Environment 

A nurturing environment is critical to children’s lives. It provides the ‘frame’ to assemble  daily learning.  Children learn better in safe environments because they are not intimidated or bullied. Therefore it’s easier to be a risk-taker when learning, to venture a guess, to go out of their comfort zone. Healthy, well nourished children raised in loving homes provide a strong ‘frame’ in which teachers and parents can help them build their reading puzzle. A nurturing environment is key to children’s overall development.

Even Before Birth

However, the ‘frame’ of the reading puzzle starts taking shape way before the child gets to daycare/school. Epigeneticist Dr. Bruce Lipton in The Honeymoom Effect  explains how babies in utero experience the same emotions and physiology as the mother because they are bathed in the same blood chemistry as the mother. So whatever emotion the mother is feeling so will the baby feel it.

He quotes from Tomorrow’s Baby: The Art and Science of Parenting from Conception through Infancy by Dr. Thomas Verney & Pamela Weintraub, (2002),29 that “Awake or asleep,…[unborn children] are constantly tuned in to their mother’s every action, thought, and feeling. From the moment of conception, the experience in the womb shapes the brain and lays the groundwork for personality, emotional temperament, and the power of higher thought”. By the time the child is born he/she is already programmed by these experiences. Therefore the nurturing environment starts in the womb.

Good Vibrations

Hence the reason why people play certain types of classical music ( known as the Mozart effect) to fetuses. The high vibrations of the music, permeating the water around and in the baby’s body, provide a healthy environment for the fetus, by counterbalancing any emotion being experienced by mom. From the womb through the first year of life infants’ brains operate at the slowest brain-wave frequency, they sleep a lot. From 2 to 6 years of age the brain-wave frequency is a vibrational frequency  associated with children’s great imaginations which they show through their play, where imagination and reality become blurred in their minds.

Dr. Lipton explains that at this stage ‘information can be directly downloaded into the subconscious mind,[and]…this is a highly programmable  theta (wave) state ,children record vast amounts of information they need to survive in their environment, but they do not have the capacity to consciously  evaluate the information, while  it’s being downloaded”.(The Honeymoom Effect, (2013),81-82. How crucial that parents and teachers know this!

Low Vibrations and Conditioning

The negative, low vibration behaviours of adults program children’s   subconscious minds. Yet adults probably have no idea how these beliefs will later on reflect in the children’s lives. I think as parents we have all been there in anger and frustration and with good intentions. Foremost in our minds was   what was best for the children.

We did the best we could with what we knew at the time. I’ve apologized to my children, probably not enough. I have a second chance to model appropriate behavior with my grandchildren. Now I know a little more than I knew then. That’s part of my personal growth. I believe that when anyone expands in their knowledge, behaviour and spiritual journey, we all benefit such is the universal connection.

Therefore, the importance of conscious parenting by modeling positive behavior can do wonders for learning survival skills, so children can survive in their environment instead of being dragged down by it. Children learn by observation of the world around them. We must be careful of what they are observing.

 

With Love and Gratitude

Alda

 

Source:

Bruce Lipton, PhD,  The Honeymoon Effect, 2013

 

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Hello and Welcome!

My name is Alda Silva and I’m passionate about literacy.

I trained as an elementary

school teacher, graduated from Trent University and focused on literacy as part of my on-going professional learning journey. As a result of continuing education, through Queen’s University courses, I acquired Reading and ESL specialist qualifications, among others, to support my teaching and learning experience.

I want to share what I’ve learned through my experiences as a learner and a teacher. Being literate in  more than one  language is crucial in today’s world. It empowers people. Although there are different types of literacy, such as numeracy, computer, digital, technology, critical, financial and media  to name a few, the ability to read and write in one or more spoken languages is at the root of mastering any type of literacy.

 

With Love and Gratitude,

Alda