My latest favourite books! Suspense/Thriller The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley The Overnight Guest by Heather Gudenkauf Never Coming Home by Hannah Mary McKinnon Her Last Holiday by C.L. Taylor The It Girl by Ruth Ware Rapid Falls by Amber Cowie Cover Art by Vanessa Westermann (lighter mystery) General Fiction Smells Like Tween […] Read more…
This summer I took on the task of preparing and presenting a webinar through IDA Ontario on structured literacy in the kindergarten classroom, and I shared 5 key changes that I made to my program that resulted in all kids leaving kindergarten as readers. The webinar video is available here. The slideshow, full of […] Read more…
Summer is here and today I was back on Global’s The Morning Show with hosts Carolyn MacKenzie and Jeff McArthur outlining easy ways to keep learning going over the holidays. Read more…
Who’s looking forward to some reading in the sunshine this summer? Whether it’s your back deck, a local park, the cottage, the pool or an international destination (hey, even just those few minutes when the kids are in bed and you can squeeze it in before your eyes close), I’ve got you covered for reading […] Read more…
Updated February 2023 Over the last few years as I’ve learned about evidence-based reading instruction, something I’ve seen over and over is the importance of vocabulary and content knowledge. With kindergarten kids, this isn’t something they can independently get from their reading material (while “The cat sits” is fantastic for decoding practice it’s a teeny […] Read more…
I was thrilled to be invited to chat with Kathryn Garforth from Right To Read Initiative not once, but twice this past week. In the first video, A Journey to the Science of Reading, I talk about my teaching background, the ineffective practices I was using before, my deep dive into the science of reading, […] Read more…
In my latest segment on Global’s The Morning Show (video below), I debunked six common reading myths and misconceptions with hosts Jeff McArthur and Carolyn MacKenzie: Reading is natural All kids learn to read differently Reading to your kids teaches them to read If your child doesn’t know a word they should guess Your child’s […] Read more…
Curl up with one of these great reads! (And remember, I share my recommended books as soon as I finish them over on Instagram!) Suspense/Thriller/Mystery Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney People Like Them by Samira Sedira Little Disasters by Sarah Vaughan Dark Roads by Chevy Stevens The Perfect Ruin by Shanora Williams The Maid […] Read more…
I was back on The Morning Show today chatting with hosts Jeff McArthur and Carolyn MacKenzie all about report cards: how important they really are, what I look at first as a parent, whether to expect differences due to COVID, how to approach the teacher with concerns, and whether or not I recommend paying for […] Read more…
I started 2021 with dry January and kept on going…all the way to December 8th, when I enjoyed a couple of Smirnoff Ice with colleagues at our Christmas social, but with no plans to drink again in the near future. I’m not looking for any accolades because to be honest, it wasn’t hard. I’ve never […] Read more…