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Review: All About Reading Level 4

We have officially reached the summit of  All About Reading Level 4 , and I am currently accepting trophies, high-fives, and perhaps a very large latte. If you had told me a few years ago that we’d be tackling "anomalous phonetic structures" and "loanwords" without a total household meltdown, I would have assumed you were hallucinating. Yet, here we are, and I am officially a fan-girl for All About Learning Press. This final level is essentially the "Black Belt" of literacy instruction, diving into the deep end of the linguistic pool with a level of clarity that is frankly miraculous. The curriculum tackles those treacherous "borrowed" words that usually make the English language look like it was put together in a blender. As a dyslexic educator teaching a fellow dyslexic, I’ll be entirely transparent: I encountered phonetic principles in these four levels that were completely absent from my own public school experience. I was basically learning ...

Valentine's Day: Show the Love

Wife, husband, siblings, parents, friends, whoever you want to show your love for would be delighted to receive such cuteness! Double Heart - $10 + shipping Valentine's Minis - $10 each + shipping Teddy Bear - $15 + shipping

Review: Fix It Grammar

After realizing that Daily 6-Trait Writing was merely a delightful appetizer and not the full-course grammar meal we required, I pivoted to  Fix It Grammar  by the Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW). I secured our copy on Amazon for a cool thirty dollars—bless that free shipping—and I’ve fallen head-over-heels for this structured masterpiece. We needed something that wasn't just a supplement but a comprehensive roadmap, and IEW has delivered that with a side of intellectual satisfaction. I previously encountered a review claiming this program lacked direct instruction and relied solely on looking at answers, but in my experience, that’s like saying a car doesn’t work because you haven’t turned the key. I use the Teacher’s Manual to facilitate a collaborative deep-dive every Monday. We treat it like an investigation, highlighting definitions and mnemonic devices in her student booklet as if we’re prepping for a high-stakes law exam. It turns out that when you provide a ...