by Jan and Kari | Dec 2, 2021 | Blog, Language Comprehension, Video
What’s oral language development got to do with reading, anyway? Well, it turns out . . . a whole lot. As we explain in Chapter 1 of Shifting the Balance, reading comprehension doesn’t begin with reading; it begins with comprehension of spoken language. And...
by Jan and Kari | Nov 24, 2021 | Blog, Phonemic Awareness, Phonics, Word Reading Instruction
Kari’s husband, John, likes to save scraps of wood and other building materials. Sometimes he buys new stuff . . . but, boy does he get excited when he can repurpose something he already has on hand, using it in a new and useful way. In the same way that John loves a...
by Jan and Kari | Nov 18, 2021 | Blog, General, Literacy Leadership, Video
Perhaps you are thinking about that second (or third or fourth) cup of coffee you have in the morning. Maybe you are wondering if coffee is really good for you after all. So, you decide to get on the internet and do a bit of reading to find out what the research...
by Jan and Kari | Nov 11, 2021 | Blog, General, Literacy Leadership, Video
It’s in the news.It’s in the title of our book.It’s in the name of countless Facebook groups.It’s the topic of conversation at school board meetings and in state legislatures across the country. So, what is “the science of reading” anyway? First, check out our video...
by Jan and Kari | Oct 16, 2021 | Blog, General, Literacy Leadership
We’re book lovers, for sure. We’ve got stacks of books on our counters, our tables, and our nightstands. Our bookshelves are filled to overflowing, the delivery person keeps delivering new books that have fallen into our shopping carts! We do lots of kinds of...
by Jan and Kari | Oct 3, 2021 | Blog, Literacy Leadership, Video
In a fast-paced and over-scheduled life, finding any margin between the activities that begin when your alarm goes off in the morning and end when you lay your head back down on the pillow at night can feel almost impossible!If you’re like us, you probably wish you...
by Jan and Kari | Sep 25, 2021 | Blog, General, Literacy Leadership, Video
What prevents us from making the changes we want to make in our lives?Whether in our personal or professional roles, we all have visions of reaching for our better selves. Whether we want to eat better, keep a tidier house, get in shape, read more. . .the list goes...
by Jan and Kari | Sep 19, 2021 | Blog, General, Literacy Leadership, Video
Did you ever really surprise yourself?This summer Kari did. She did it by water skiing 70 days in a row!She didn’t originally plan to go for 70 days.In fact she still has a hard time believing she did it.If you had said to her in July, “Kari, you should ski 70 days in...
by Jan and Kari | Sep 11, 2021 | Blog, General, Literacy Leadership, Video
Who doesn’t want to make their work easier? Our ancestors certainly did. If necessity is the mother of invention, then the need to lift heavy objects led to the invention of the lever. A lever is–as you well know–a simple machine that makes work a lot...
by Jan and Kari | Sep 3, 2021 | Beyond the Book, Blog, Literacy Leadership, Video
Whether it’s broccoli in the teeth, frosting on the chin, a shirt inside-out, it often takes someone else – with honesty and caring – to help us notice what we haven’t yet seen for ourselves. As we dig deeper and deeper into the wide body of research that...
