Don M. Winn's Blog, page 10

Reading Instruction and the Dyslexia Diagnosis Debate

When it comes to diagnosing and providing accommodation for
dyslexia, there are more issues involved than just making sure a child can
learn to read. What do I mean by that?

First, there is no question that reading is the most
important aspect of our early education because we have a short window during
which we learn to read and after that, we must be able to read in order to
learn. Reading is fundamental and necessary for everyone in today’s society.

Research has proven that all children—not just
dyslexic children—learn to read best with an evidence-based explicit multisensory
approach. Sadly, most children are not taught that way. This needs to change,
not just for dyslexic children, but for all children that struggle to read for
whatever reason. Every child should be taught to read the same way.

Reading specialist Faith Borkowsky published an interesting blog
on the dyslexia diagnosis debate. One point that stood out to me is that every child can
learn to read, and whether the reading difficulty is due to dyslexia or any
other problem, the solution is the same, and that is evidence-based explicit
multisensory reading instruction, and that I would agree with.

However, some contend that a dyslexia diagnosis is a distraction.
In Borkowsky’s blog, she quoted Professor Julian Elliott of Durham University
and co-author of The Dyslexia Debate, who argues that the diagnosis of dyslexia
is a distraction because it implies that it exists separate and apart from
general reading difficulties.

I would agree with that if learning to read was the
only issue that dyslexic children face, but for most dyslexics, including
myself, the difficulty goes far beyond just reading. A dyslexia diagnosis and
appropriate accommodation are critical for dyslexic students to reach their
full potential.

Why do I say that? For one thing, not all dyslexics are alike.
Beyond the struggle to read, we all have different strengths and weaknesses and
each person’s dyslexia can range from mild to severe. And then there are the
many sibling conditions of dyslexia, including dysgraphia, dyscalculia,
dyspraxia, dysphonia, and auditory dyslexia, and these can present numerous
difficulties beyond just reading.

In my case, I grew up in the sixties when little was known or
understood about dyslexia. It wasn’t until my second agonizing year in first
grade that I was diagnosed as dyslexic. After that, I received one-on-one assistance
from a special ed teacher that helped me to learn to read, and I’m grateful for
that intervention.

But in addition to dyslexia, I also had two of its sibling
conditions, dysgraphia and dyscalculia. Even after I was helped to read, I
struggled miserably in school for the remainder of my early education—not just
academically, but especially socially and emotionally.

So what is my opinion on the dyslexia diagnosis debate? That a
dyslexia diagnosis is important for more than just reading intervention. A
dyslexic child needs social and emotional support and appropriate accommodation
(like extra time for testing, etc.).

[image error]

When it comes to understanding the details of high-quality reading
instruction and learning what dyslexia is and isn’t and how to provide the
social and emotional support dyslexic students need, there are two important books
that every parent should have, Failing Students or Failing
Schools? A Parent’s Guide to Reading Instruction and Intervention, by
reading specialist Faith Borkowsky, and Raising a Child With Dyslexia:
What Every Parent Needs to Know by Don M. Winn.

Please share
your comments how you feel about the dyslexia diagnosis debate.

Cardboard Box Adventures Picture Books are great for
shared reading and can help parents establish a strong pre-literacy foundation
for their children. Check out the new CBA
Catalog for a full list of award-winning picture books, chapter
books, and resources for parents and educators .

Two Important Books for Dyslexia Awareness Month

With the release of my important new
book, Raising a Child With Dyslexia: What Every Parent Needs to Know, I
thought this would be a great time to reintroduce you to an invaluable companion
book by reading specialist Faith Borkowsky, Failing Students or Failing
Schools? A Parent’s Guide to Reading Instruction and Intervention,both
published by Cardboard Box Adventures Publishing. 

While Raising a Child with
Dyslexia focuses mostly on the social and emotional aspects of dyslexia,
Faith’s book will help you understand the various causes of reading
difficulties and show you how you can support your child. With over thirty
years of experience as a teacher, reading specialist, regional literacy coach,
and administrator, Faith Borkowsky, a certified Wilson and IDA Dyslexia
Practitioner, explains why so many children struggle to read and what all
parents need to know to help their child.

Here is the interview with Faith
that was originally published in June of 2018.

Don: You start your book
by describing your process of working with your student Robert. As a struggling
reader myself, I was touched by your specific attempts to build trust with this
struggling reader and to help him relax so as not have such a stressful
response and defeatist attitude. What can you tell us about your interventions
with Robert, and why were these actions so important?

Faith: We cannot separate
the mind from the body. By putting children at ease and into a positive state
of mind, it opens the learning channels. Robert and I began with movement
exercises that crossed the midline of the body, such as bringing his left elbow
to his right knee when the leg is lifted and then repeating with the opposite
elbow and knee. Then, I taught him how to focus on his breath to clear his
mind. We spent a few minutes “warming up” to build a mindset for learning. I
told Robert that he can be in control of his learning when he has control over
his mind and body. Slowly, he began to trust me, and more importantly, he began
to believe in himself.

Don: What butterfly
effect (a small action that has a far-reaching effect) has decimated American literacy?

Faith: Beginning in the
1930s, reading programs began to focus on comprehension and the memorization of
whole words instead of using a phonics-based approach. Phonics took a back seat
and was only supposed to be used as a last resort. Prior to this, reading was
taught through spelling books that were sequential, and the alphabetic code was
learned through letter patterns that were explicitly taught. As a matter of
fact, reading, spelling, handwriting, and grammar were all taught directly.
Children were not left to “discover” how to read words. In the 1950s, Rudolf
Flesch wrote a book called Why Johnny Can’t Read, advocating for phonics to be
brought back as the primary instructional method because so many children were
not learning by using this whole word memorization approach. He was not very
effective in changing minds. In the 1970s, the Whole Language approach was
being taught at teaching universities, and it became the dominant teaching
method. When I started teaching in the mid 80s, anything that included phonics
was removed from schools. Open Court, a basal reading program that used a
phonics approach, was abandoned. Teachers were not supposed to emphasize
phonics. Spelling was not taught by letter patterns anymore. Words were given
to the class weekly that reflected misspellings noticed in the children’s
writing or which were based on holiday words and themes.

Children do not always make the connection between sounds and letters if phonemic awareness and phonics are taught separately.

Don: In your book, you
describe the gap between assessments of struggling readers and actually using
that data to improve instructional choices. How can parents be more proactive
in this area so their child doesn’t fall through the cracks?

Faith: Since 2002, as a result
of the No Child Left Behind Act, lots of testing and progress monitoring took
over the schools. This was supposed to keep teachers and administrators
accountable for helping students make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP). But
testing alone will not change the outcome if the instruction does not change.
Parents need to ask questions and find out what the school is doing
instructionally to change the trajectory. Usually, children are just given more
of the same methods that did not work for them. Assessing children without
analyzing and responding appropriately to the results is a waste of time. If a
child can’t decode, using an instructional approach that does not teach phonics
explicitly will not work for that child.

Don: In the section about
visual discrimination you state that “there is no substitute for the personal
connection of someone with a true interest in your well-being making simple,
everyday activities meaningful and educational.” What sorts of activities can
you share with us that you benefited from as a child?

Faith: I mentioned in the
book that basic family chores can be a learning experience. My father and I
used to sort his socks by color and pattern. My mother and I would take public
buses, and I was the one responsible for paying the fare. I learned the
difference between nickels, dimes, and quarters by using them, not by a picture
in a book. We also rolled coins to bring to the bank to exchange for dollar
bills. I was fortunate that I had many hands-on experiences, and my parents
were very much hands-on with my learning. Today, children are handed phones and
iPads with very little interaction between parents and children. I see a
difference in children who are in front of screens too early and too often.

Don: You talk about how
using sight words encourages kids to develop guessing habits when reading. I
appreciated your statement that sight words don’t teach kids how words work.
Why is learning how words work so crucial?

Faith: When children
understand the alphabetic principle, they can apply phonics skills to read any
word, short or long. If they only learn to memorize words, they might learn
just those words but will not see connections to unknown words. For example, a
child might memorize the word stop, but that same child will not be able to
read slop, prop, or crop if they have not seen those words before.

Children should not be left to “discover” how words work.

Don: You have some
excellent exercises in your book for parents to use to determine if or how well
their child can read, and if they may have a visual tracking problem. Would you
please share those with our listeners?

Faith: Inefficient
instructional methods can cause tracking problems. If a child is searching for
meaning and not reading left to right and all through the word, his eyes may be
bouncing all over the place to search for cues that can help. However, if a
child can decode isolated words but cannot read those same words embedded in
the text, there might be a true tracking issue. Parents should watch while
their child is reading. Are just their eyes moving or is the head moving as
well? Do they notice head tilting? Body posture can be very telling.

Don: Reading
comprehension is a big topic with multiple aspects, but in your book, you
stress the role of parents play in helping their children progress towards this
goal. You specifically mention continuing to read to children even after they
have learned to read, even more so if they have learning challenges. Why is
this so important?

[image error]

Faith: Content knowledge
and vocabulary both directly affect reading comprehension. Children who know a
lot about the world and have a large bank of words are better able to
understand what they read. This is especially important for children with
decoding issues. If reading is difficult, they will not be able to read books
with more complexity and sophisticated language. Until their decoding skills
are strengthened, children benefit greatly from hearing books that they cannot
read on their own.

Don: These days, there’s
an app for everything, and it may seem more expedient, even more effective, for
a parent to turn their child over to something designed by a professional. Why
are computer-assisted instructional programs not as effective as a real teacher
for the remediation of reading difficulties?

Faith: I believe that
children thrive when adults are giving them attention. There is no substitute
for the human voice or physical closeness. Computer programs can be helpful for
repetitive practice, but I don’t think that putting children on the computer is
an effective use of time. Children become passive learners on these programs
and the novelty wears off quickly.

Don: You discuss the
importance of attitude in reading success. You specifically mention a
distressed mindset and a defeatist attitude. How can parents help their child
move to a more positive, hopeful point of view?

Faith: Modeling positivity
and becoming a role model for having an optimistic outlook are the best ways to
build the right attitude for learning. Parents should reinforce the message
that their own brains have plasticity and can change at any time. There is
always the opportunity to learn something new. As mentioned earlier,
mindfulness strategies can be learned and are effective in building focus. I
have learned many techniques and have studied the benefits of using a
combination of movement and mindfulness to help children concentrate.

Don: Your encouragement
to parents to optimize the time spent together as a family at the dinner table
by not having devices present struck a chord. Why does having electronic
devices present during mealtimes pose such a problem?

Faith: Language is the
foundation for literacy, and listening comprehension precedes reading
comprehension. Learning to follow and engage in a conversation are fundamental
skills that underscore reading and writing success. What better place for this
than at the dinner table? Plus, it is just rude!

Don: Faith, thank you so
much for taking time from your schedule to share a wealth of information with
us! Our readers are sure to benefit!

As you can see from this brief interview, there is abundant targeted
information to be found in Faith Borkowsky’s book, Failing
Students or Failing Schools? A Parent’s Guide to Reading Instruction and
Intervention. And not to be missed, is the companion book, Raising
a Child With Dyslexia: What Every Parent Needs to Know.

Cardboard Box Adventures Picture Books are great for
shared reading and can help parents establish a strong pre-literacy foundation
for their children. Check out the new  CBA
Catalog   for a full list of award-winning picture
books, chapter books, and resources for parents and educators .

Raising a Child with Dyslexia: What Every Parent Needs to Know

In my previous two blogs, “What is
Preliteracy, and When Can Parents Begin to Build It,” and “Shared
Reading and Parental Vocabulary as Preliteracy Tools,” I
shared how recent scientific findings can be used to increase awareness of just
how early a child’s brain begins to learn and how shared reading and parental
vocabulary impact a young child’s ability to read later in life.

These articles were just a preview of two of the topics discussed
in depth in my new nonfiction book for parents and educators called Raising a
Child with Dyslexia: What Every Parent Needs to Know. I’m
pleased to announce that the book is now available for purchase in softcover,
hardcover, and as an eBook, and will soon be available as an audiobook.

[image error]

Raising a Child with Dyslexia is a user-friendly guide providing detailed assistance to parents and
educators who want to help children with dyslexia achieve their best lives. Keyed
to current, cutting edge research, topics include signs of
dyslexia parents can watch for at various ages, symptoms that warrant diagnosis
by a professional, what to expect during the testing process, tips on working
with your child’s school to create an optimal learning environment, creating a safe,
encouraging space where children can learn to manage the emotional fallout of
the dyslexic struggle, and how to help children with dyslexia develop vital
personal qualities and coping strategies that will enable them to approach life
with courage, determination, perseverance, and joy.

What early readers are saying about my new
guidebook for parenting a dyslexic child:

A very accessible and in depth look at dyslexia. Perfect for parents who want to know what’s what and what steps to take. Highly recommended.

—Wishing Shelf

It is essential that we help dyslexic children understand their strengths and challenges in order to have a balanced view of themselves. A realistic understanding of what comes easy and what does not leads to resilience and perseverance in the face of adversity—among the most necessary of life’s skills. Parents have the unique and important responsibility and opportunity to not only help their children survive school, but ultimately thrive in life. With this book in hand, you will be empowered by the knowledge of how dyslexia impacts your child and how to raise a healthy human being with dyslexia.

—Dan Peters, PhD, Licensed Psychologist and author of Make Your Worrier a Warrior, From Worrier to Warrior, and The Warrior Workbook

[image error]

A comprehensive yet nurturing, caring, and compassionate book about this condition. Don has done a superlative job reviewing the main concerns relevant to dyslexia. There are so many issues—social, behavioral, cognitive, reading, and coping, but Don tries to address all of these in a kind, caring fashion. An important and much-needed text.

—Michael F. Shaughnessy, PhD, Professor of Special Education Eastern New Mexico University

Raising a Child with Dyslexia: What Every Parent Needs to Know is a must-have book for every parent with a dyslexic
child and every educator. The information provided can help all children,
not just dyslexics to thrive and reach their full potential. The scientifically
proven techniques described in this book can help struggling readers overcome
their challenges so as to enrich the learning environment for all students.

[image error]

Also not to be
missed is the invaluable companion book by reading specialist Faith Borkowsky,
Failing Students or Failing Schools? A Parent’s Guide to Reading Instruction
and Intervention. Borkowsky’s book helps you understand the various causes of reading
difficulties, explains why so many children struggle to read (not just those
with dyslexia), and details what all parents need to know to help their child.

Your child or student may already be struggling, and you may
observe that he or she is dealing with the emotions and stresses of that
struggle. Perhaps you suspect dyslexia, or maybe your child has already been
diagnosed with it. You might be scrambling to understand what options your
child’s school offers and need a guidebook to help you understand the accommodations
and the academic jargon schools use. Your child may have succumbed to substance
abuse as a way of escaping from their dyslexia. Or perhaps you just want to be
prepared to offer the best preliteracy and literacy support possible. Wherever
you and your family are in your dyslexia experience, don’t miss Raising a Child With Dyslexia:
What Every Parent Needs to Know, by Don M. Winn, and Failing Students or Failing
Schools? A Parent’s Guide to Reading Instruction and Intervention, by
reading specialist Faith Borkowsky.

[image error]

Cardboard Box Adventures
Picture Books are great for shared reading and can help parents establish a
strong pre-literacy foundation for their children. Check out the new CBA Catalog for a full list of award-winning picture books, chapter
books, and resources for parents and educators .

Interview with Dr. Dan Peters: Parent Footprint

A common thread that runs through the lives of many dyslexics is
their incredible struggle to read and to discover their path to success in
life.

This is especially true for those who were never diagnosed or
given support or accommodation in their younger years. How does a struggling
dyslexic develop the hope and resolve necessary to work through their issues
and discover their life’s work?

One way is to look to the example of other people with dyslexia
who have found their way to a fulfilling life. I recently met Dr. Dan Peters, a
licensed psychologist, who struggled early in life with undiagnosed dyslexia,
but managed to find his path to success in life through hard work and
determination. Today he is happy that his work allows him to help many other
families with dyslexic children to thrive.

I wanted to share his story because I found it inspiring. I hope
you will too.

Don: Please tell us about yourself.

Dr. Dan: I am forty-nine years old and fortunate to be happily married
with three children (who are all dyslexic) ages fifteen to nineteen. I work as
a licensed psychologist and I am the executive director of Summit Center, a
group of psychologists and educators passionate about helping children,
adolescents, and families realize their developmental potential. I also
co-founded Parent Footprint, an educational resource for families, with the
mission of making the world a more loving and compassionate place, one parent
and child at a time. In addition to an online interactive parent training
program (Parent Footprint Awareness Training), I have a podcast which I enjoy
immensely. When not at work, I enjoy spending time with my family, being in
nature, running, building, and creating.

[image error]

Don: What was it like growing up with dyslexia?

Dr. Dan: When I was growing up, I didn’t know I had dyslexia. However, I
learned I had dyslexia once I was in my late 30s, after the third of my three
kids was also diagnosed with dyslexia. Suddenly, my school experience as a
child made more sense. I read very slowly. My spelling was poor and my
handwriting illegible (and still mostly is). Math didn’t stick (I had math
tutors through graduate school). I couldn’t put my thoughts on paper for
writing assignments and I remember crying at the kitchen table as my mom tried
to help. I didn’t feel as smart as my friends. I remember being confusing to
teachers—not reaching my potential, not doing well on tests when I seemed to
know the material. I relied on my people skills, relationships, and a lot of
hard work to get by. I was often nervous about tests, worrying that I wouldn’t
finish if I took all the time I needed to understand the questions and think
them through. I cheated when I had to, which made me feel bad since it is not
part of my moral code. One strong memory is having to give an oral book report
on a chapter book. I kept trying to read the book but couldn’t get past the
first few pages. I didn’t know what to do. My teacher called me up to the front
of the class when the time came, and I made up the entire book (which everyone
seemed to enjoy), and then was anxious for weeks waiting to get caught.

[image error]

Don: What were your challenges and how did you come to accept them
and commit to your passions?

Dr. Dan: My primary challenges included reading and understanding textbooks,
expressing my ideas in writing and using appropriate grammar, understanding and
remembering math, and taking tests. Growing up, I was passionate about tennis
and played competitively. I gave everything to it—I practiced, studied the
game, and learned from watching the top players. Tennis was where I felt
competent and confident. I later learned that dyslexic athletes have unique
skills on the court and field due to their visual/spatial strengths and their
ability to anticipate what is unfolding. I had this ability. I was also
passionate about leadership in high school and people in general. I didn’t
realize it was a skill, but I could read people and situations well and often found
myself in a “counseling” and problem-solving role. I am not sure I ever
accepted my challenges back then. I feel I just dealt with them, was frustrated
by them, and tried to focus on my interests.

Don: When did you choose to go into psychology? Did your dyslexia
play a role in the choice?

Dr. Dan: This is actually a funny story that I share with clients. During
my senior year in high school, my parents took me to the college counselor that
my older cousins had used. I took a bunch of tests and then we met with him for
the results and his recommendations. He said that I should be a business major
and a Spanish minor, study abroad in a Spanish speaking country to become
fluent, and then go to law school to become a bilingual attorney. I remember
thinking that absolutely nothing he said resonated with me, but I figured that he
was the expert so he must know. We had a follow-up meeting with the counselor
at the end of my freshman year in college. He asked me two questions that
changed my life: “What classes did you like the most this past year?” and,
“Which classes did you do the best in?” My answers were psychology and
psychology. He asked if I had ever thought about being a psychologist and I
said I had not. He then told me to change my major to psychology, sign up to
work in a research lab, and get a part-time job working in a group home for
children. Now that resonated! I did what he said, and the rest is history.
Turns out I didn’t need a bunch of fancy tests (which I apparently didn’t do
well on). I just needed to be asked a few pointed questions. I do think my
dyslexia played a role in my career choice as I was unable to understand
classes that did not make sense to me or did not have any meaning for me (most
classes outside of psychology). I had always been naturally drawn to understanding
people, dynamics between people and groups, and I had an ability to help and
problem-solve (which turn out to be dyslexic strengths).

Don: How did you come up with the title for your platform, Parent
Footprint, and what would you like my readers to know about your work?

Dr. Dan: The name Parent Footprint was coined by my business partner,
Payman Fazly. He told me about his awareness that as parents, we leave
“footprints” on our children, and our job is to become aware of the footprints
that were placed on us by our parents so we can be purposeful about the
footprints we leave on our children and grandchildren. Here’s the key–in order
to raise happy, healthy, and engaged children, we parents have to focus on the
same things in our own lives. As a technologist by training and career, he
wanted to use technology to create an affordable and accessible online training
program that people who cannot afford counseling, cannot geographically access
counseling, or do not feel comfortable with counseling could benefit from. I
was all in! We spent every weekend for at least a year creating the platform
and content for a training program combining my decades of working with
children and parents, his decades of working in technology, and our shared
passion for raising the next generation of healthy humans and making a
difference in this world.

Don: What are your greatest joys and challenges in your work?

Dr. Dan: My greatest joys are seeing people come to understand, accept,
and like themselves; achieve their goals; overcome worry and anxiety; and
realize that their life’s possibilities are virtually limitless. My greatest
challenges are basically the opposite— when people are stuck, don’t see who
they are and who they can become, and are deep in the throes of anxiety and
depression. I have learned that this is part of life and their journey, and yet
I want them grow and thrive. I have learned that I have to be patient and let
their journey unfold.

Don: What books have you written and what would you like my readers
to know about your books?

Dr. Dan: First of all, if you told me as a child that I would be an
author when I grew up, I would have thought you were crazy. I hated to write
and was terrible at it. It wasn’t until after graduate school that I learned I
could express what I thought and talked about all day if I focused on what I
“thought” and used the words I would use to speak to a client, rather than
focusing on “writing.” I have written a series of books to help children,
adolescents, and their parents overcome worry and anxiety (a.k.a. The Worry
Monster):

Make Your Worrier a
Warrior: A Guide to Conquering Your Child’s Fears

From Worrier to Warrior:
A Guide to Conquering Your Fears

The Warrior Workbook: A
Guide to Conquering Your Worry Monster

These books come from my years of working with children and
families who are dealing with anxiety, and I merely put my training, work, and
experience into written words to guide a reader through the process in a
user-friendly way.

I also co-wrote Raising
Creative Kids with my friend and colleague Susan Daniels, PhD. This book
takes our combined experience in working with and educating creative children
and their parents to help others understand creative people and how to nurture
their strengths and overall development.

[image error]



[image error]

Don: From your training and experience, what is the most important
thing you’d like to share with parents?

Dr. Dan: The most important thing I have come to realize both as a
psychologist working with kids and parents, and as a parent myself, is that we
must know ourselves— our past, our triggers, our personal goals, and our goals
for our children. All of this guides our behavior as individuals and as
parents. If we have that awareness of where we have come from, what we liked
and did not like, and what drives our own behavior, we can parent with
intention and purpose.

Don: Is there anything else you’d like to share?

Dr. Dan: Our children are always watching us. Be the person you want
your child to become. What you do is more important than what you say. I will
leave you with the question I ask myself daily and the question I use to end
every podcast, “What footprint do you want to leave?”

Don: I’d like to thank Dr. Dan for sharing his work and message with
my readers, and for all the fine work he is doing in the dyslexia community and
to help parents examine their role so that they can parent with love and
consciousness.

To connect with Dr. Dan:
www.summitcenter.us
www.drdanpeters.com
Amazon Author Page

Listen to the Parent Footprint Podcast with Dr. Dan where he interviews Don M. Winn, author of Raising a Child with Dyslexia: What Every Parent Needs to Know.

[image error]

About Dr. Dan Peters: Dr. Dan Peters, licensed psychologist, is the co-founder and executive director of The Summit Center, specializing in the assessment and treatment of children, adolescents, and families with special emphasis on gifted, talented, and creative individuals and families. Dr. Dan speaks regularly at state and national conferences on a variety of topics including parenting, gifted children, twice-exceptionality, anxiety, and dyslexia. He also writes for the Huffington Post and Psychology Today. Dr. Dan is author of Make Your Worrier a Warrior: A Guide to Conquering Your Child’s Fears, and its companion book, From Worrier to Warrior: A Guide to Conquering Your Fears. He is co-author of The Warrior Workbook: A Guide for Conquering Your Worry Monster, as well as co-author of Raising Creative Kids. Dr. Dan is also a co-founder of ParentFootprint.com, an on-line interactive parent-training program, and Camp Summit, a sleep-over summer camp for gifted and 2E youth. He is the host of the Parent Footprint Podcast with Dr. Dan.

Cardboard
Box Adventures Picture Books are great for shared reading and can help parents
establish a strong preliteracy foundation for their children. Check out the new
CBA Catalog for a full list of award-winning picture
books, chapter books, and resources for parents and educators.

Shared Reading and Parental Vocabulary as Preliteracy Tools

In my last blog I mentioned how recent scientific findings can
be used to increase awareness of just how early a child’s brain begins to learn.
Amazingly, babies begin to learn even before birth. The earlier a parent starts
to share reading with their child, the better. And since literacy requires a
foundation, it’s helpful for parents to know what to do to help their child get
off to the best possible start as a reader, well before entering school.

Shared reading—sometimes called lap reading—is the single most
important thing parents can do for their children to help them learn to love
reading and to become the best readers possible. Shared reading is an
interactive reading experience that occurs when a child listens to, joins in,
or shares the reading of a book or other text while guided and supported by an
adult. The adult reads with fluency and expression, modeling the skills of a
proficient reader.

Picture books are two to three times as likely as parent-child conversations to include a word that isn’t among the five thousand most common English words.

From the example set by the adult reader during shared
reading, children begin to learn about the mechanics of reading. For instance,
children may learn that in English, we read from left to right, that letters
make up words, that words make up sentences, that letters have sounds, that
punctuation influences pausing and expression while reading, and much more. In
addition to learning from the reader’s example, children also learn from
exposure to the content of the books that are read, which increases their
vocabulary, their empathy for others, and their knowledge of the world.

According to a meta-study conducted by the LENA Foundation—a
non-profit group that studies the effect of language on children’s brain
development—the amount and quality of shared reading time a young child
experiences early in life predicts the level of reading competence that child
will achieve by third grade. Therefore, the more often you read to your young
child at home, the better he will read on his own by third grade.

The facts on how shared reading in early childhood influences
a child’s reading abilities are unequivocal. Simply put, children acquire
language in two ways: by being spoken to and through shared reading. Both are
important, but shared reading is the more powerful of the two.

[image error]Frequent conversations are one way a child is exposed to language and new words. Multiple daily conversations are crucial, and parents are especially encouraged to take advantage of mealtimes together as opportunities for conversation.

Dominic Massaro, a professor emeritus in psychology at the
University of California, Santa Cruz, published a notable study in 2015 in The
Journal of Literacy Research. He said that although parents can build their
children’s vocabularies (thereby impacting later reading skills) by talking to
them, reading to them is much more effective. “Reading aloud is the best way to
help children develop word mastery and grammatical understanding, which form
the basis for learning how to read,” states Massaro, whose field is language
acquisition and literacy. He found that picture books are two to three times as
likely as parent-child conversations to include a word that isn’t among the five
thousand most common English words.

Massaro’s research has shown that the more diverse the list of
words a child is exposed to as a reader, the better that child’s reading skills
will become—and that’s a cumulative benefit, not something short-term. “Given
the fact that word mastery in adulthood is correlated with early acquisition of
words, shared picture book reading offers a potentially powerful strategy to
prepare children for competent literacy skills,” Massaro states.

[image error]

This is an important statement to understand: the more words a
child learns at an early age, the better their word mastery will be in
adulthood. Massaro is not saying that adults can’t learn new words, but rather
that the more words young children learn, the better a foundation they will
have for all aspects of literacy, and that foundation will serve them
throughout their entire lives.

[image error]

Whatever your child’s age, it’s never too late to begin
reading together. If you’d like to learn more about preliteracy and how you can
build a strong preliteracy foundation for your child, these studies and many
more are discussed at length in my new book, Raising a Child With Dyslexia:
What Every Parent Needs to Know, available in October, 2019 on Amazon.com
and other online retailers.

If you will be attending the Central Texas Dyslexia Conference in Austin on October 19, 2019, you can preorder a signed copy HERE and pick it up at the conference.

Cardboard Box Adventures Picture Books are great
for shared reading and can help parents establish a strong preliteracy
foundation for their children. Check out the new CBA
Catalog for a full list of award-winning picture books,
chapter books, and resources for parents and educators.

What Is Preliteracy, and When Can Parents Begin to Build It?

Life is funny sometimes; when we start a conversation about a
topic, it can be interesting to see what ideas the masses have embraced. Groupthink
is a term that means that a group of well-intentioned people have decided that
a matter or task should be handled a certain way, often because that’s the way
it has always been done, or because it’s the accepted norm. But groupthink
doesn’t always keep up with new information.

So it’s important to seek out the actual facts on an issue,
rather than just deferring to ideas that have been passed down or accepted
without question. When we look at a topic or situation with new eyes, that’s
when the magic happens. There are moments when discovering new information
becomes a tremendous catalyst for change, improvement, and positive momentum.
Remember the old saying, “If you always do what you’ve always done, you always
get what you’ve always gotten.”

This truth also applies to beliefs about when children learn
to read. If you and I went into the streets of your town, right this minute,
microphone and camera in hand, and asked your neighbors, “When do kids start to
learn to read?” the majority would reply, “When they start school.” And we would
understand why they would give that answer; after all, kids do go to school to
learn.

[image error]

But to really blow the conversational doors wide open, and
with it, people’s perceptions of how kids acquire language skills and learn to
read, we need to seek the expertise of the scientists and doctors who have made
this field of study their life’s work. The discoveries these researchers have
made about how kids learn are nothing short of staggering.

Literacy, the ability to read and write well with
comprehension, requires a foundation, and that’s where the term preliteracy
enters the discussion. Preliteracy covers far more than a child’s ability to
identify letters, numbers, or shapes. It includes important skills such as oral
language and phonological and phonemic awareness (the awareness of sounds), as
well as knowledge of the alphabet and an understanding of common print concepts
(that print represents the spoken word, that it flows from left to right and
from top to bottom on a page).

But when does preliteracy begin? The scientific discoveries
may surprise you! Repeated studies reveal that even in the womb, babies are
listening and learning. Here’s just one example: The University of Florida
asked moms-to-be who were twenty-eight weeks pregnant to read a nursery rhyme out
loud twice a day for six weeks. Four weeks later, they brought all the moms to
the lab, put headphones on their ears so they couldn’t hear what was going on,
and had a stranger read to the fetuses. The fetuses that heard the familiar
nursery rhyme demonstrated a marked response: their heart rate slowed down, and
they were calmer. The fetuses who heard a different nursery rhyme showed no
somatic (heart rate) response or activity.

[image error]

“We were basically asking the fetus, if your mother says this
repeatedly, will you remember it?” said the study’s lead author, Charlene
Krueger, an associate professor of nursing at the University of Florida. “As a
takeaway message I would want mothers to understand is that their speech is
very important to the developing fetus. When a mother speaks, not only does the
fetus hear, but also the whole spine vibrates.”

When it comes to the question of when a child begins to learn
the foundations for language and literacy, Krueger’s study is “pushing the envelope
earlier,” says Dr. Shafali Jeste, a pediatric neurologist and an assistant
professor of psychiatry and neurology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at
the University of California, Los Angeles. “It is really before they are born.”

[image error]

In my next blog, I’ll be sharing more discoveries about how shared reading and parental vocabulary impact a child’s preliteracy foundation. This study and the one in my next blog are just a small sample of the research I did for my latest book, Raising a Child with Dyslexia: What Every Parent Needs to Know, available mid-October of 2019. If you will be attending the Central Texas Dyslexia Conference in Austin on October 19, 2019, you can preorder a signed copy HERE and pick it up at the conference.

It’s time to update our collective view about how kids can be
helped to learn to read, especially those who are struggling or reluctant
readers, and I look forward to hearing how you and your family are benefiting
from the information!

Cardboard Box Adventures Picture Books are great
for shared reading and can help parents establish a strong preliteracy
foundation for their children. Check out the new CBA
Catalog for a full list of award-winning picture books,
chapter books, and resources for parents and educators.

Helping Your Child Understand Dyslexia

There are times in every parent’s life when they need to help
their child understand a difficult concept. It could be something like the
reason for someone’s emotional outburst, the illness or loss of a pet, an
upcoming move, or something more abstract. When a child is struggling with
dyslexia or some other learning difficulty, it can be a real challenge for
parents to come up with the words to help their child understand his or her
situation. Finding the words to help a child understand this situation with compassion
and self-acceptance can be even more difficult. This may be the reason why so
many families never discuss dyslexia or other learning challenges, other than
to pay lip-service to the label itself.

But without discussion, questions, and an interchange of ideas
and information, how can a child with dyslexia or other learning issues ever be
expected to understand themselves or embrace their learning issues in a
wholesome, proactive way? They can’t. And when a child doesn’t understand the
reasons for and the scope of their learning issues, they also won’t have the
ability to learn to cope with their situation. Without coping skills and a
solid academic approach, anxiety will be high and learning will be limited.
There’s a flip side as well—if parents do talk with their child about dyslexia,
ADD, etc., but do so as if these conditions are tragedies or if they talk in a
way that portrays a negative future for the child, that’s what the child will
believe. I knew there had to be a way to make the dyslexia conversations
easier, and I’m eager to share the solution!

What if there was a book that parents could read with their
child that specifically addressed what it’s like to have a learning challenge
and the feelings that result from the difficulty, in a fun, relatable way?
Whether your child has dyslexia, ADD/ADHD, autism spectrum disorder, or some
other challenge to their educational progress, the book There’s a Monkey in
My Backpack! can help. When you read this book with your child, they will
be able to understand their learning difference, make peace with it, and even
learn to see the positive aspects of their situation. By using the questions
for discussion in the back of the book, you keep the conversation going,
creating a safe, fun environment in which to explore the possibilities of any
learning difference.

[image error]

Anna, the protagonist, has a monkey in her backpack that only
she can see, and he’s causing her all sorts of trouble! He distracts her, makes
it hard to pay attention to her teacher, interferes with her ability to write,
and even makes her so restless she can’t sit still. Anna gets in trouble all
the time, and it’s all because of that pesky little monkey no one can even see!
This illustrates to children the abstract idea that all people have parts of their
lives that other people may not be aware of. And those unseen limitations can
powerfully affect the way people act, feel about themselves, and how well they
can learn and do their work.

As Anna shares her feelings and experiences, children who have
similar experiences won’t feel alone. They will be comforted and even
entertained by the way Anna talks about her monkey and learns to interact with
him. And when Anna learns to view her monkey and herself through the lens of
the positive aspects of her challenges, she makes peace with her reality and
moves forward with energy and determination.

This storytelling technique has as its basis something called a
hero of self-reference. In other words, the hero or protagonist of the
story has feelings and experiences like the reader’s own (or the reader’s
audience) and offers hope and a basis for believing that the reader will be
able to succeed with certain problems because the hero of the story is also able
to succeed when facing similar problems.

[image error]

When a child has dyslexia or another learning challenge, the
need for conversations about how to cope with all the facets of the situation
is one that exists, intermittently, for years. As new challenges surface due to
the increased workload of each school year, a child with a learning challenge requires
more support, understanding, and coping skills. While the book There’s a
Monkey in My Backpack! gets the conversation off to a great start for
younger children, I also wanted parents to have a comprehensive resource about
dyslexia that would offer a way to navigate those years and those conversations
in a user-friendly, manageable way.

In October 2019, my nonfiction guidebook, Raising a Child With Dyslexia: What Every Parent Needs to Know will be available at amazon.com and other online book stores. The research, science, and conversational techniques in this book will help parents of any child be more in tune with and responsive to their child’s emotional and educational needs. In addition, there are several chapters about working with your child’s school to get testing, accommodation, and other educational needs met promptly.

For those attending the Central Texas Dyslexia Conference on October 19, 2019, who would like to preorder signed copies of either or both books, you can do so here.

There’s a Monkey in My Backpack! is
available from Amazon.com, Barnes
& Noble.com, Amazon.ca, Amazon.co.uk, and
many other online retailers.

Cardboard Box Adventures Picture Books are great for shared reading and can help parents establish a strong pre-literacy foundation for their children. Check out the new CBA Catalog for a full list of award-winning picture books, chapter books, and resources for parents and educators.

[image error]

Written with a gold-tipped pen! A wonderfully fun and clever way for a dyslexic child to understand why learning can be difficult.

Wishing Shelf Review (5-star rating)

This is an excellent book for helping kids understand their own challenges and what kinds of ways it could impact their lives at school, at the park, or even with their own creativity and imagination. This book is an excellent resource for every child suffering from dyslexia and their parents too!

Jason Muckley (NetGalley Reviewer)

[image error]

This is a fantastic symbolic picture book helping kids with dyslexia understand they can still overcome their problems if they learn how they can cope with it. Colourful and adorable illustrations accompany this fantastic story. A must have for any child struggling with learning.

Amanda Williams (NetGalley Reviewer)

Children all over the world have disabilities that prevent them from learning like their fellow students. These problems make children feel different and ashamed of themselves. The learning disabilities are the monkey on a child’s back.

I believe this book needs to be given to every teacher and read to any child with a learning problem. This book could help teachers understand that not all children learn the same way. It can also help a child feel better about themselves and it could get a child to talk more openly about any problems they may have.

Mimi Loves All 8 Blog Review

[image error]

My 22-year-old daughter, who is a student, becoming a teacher, just finished reading There’s A Monkey In My Backpack! by Don M. Winn, and loved it. She says she can’t wait to implement it, in the classroom, this Spring. She’ll be student teaching her final semester, and she says it’ll be good for the kids she is teaching. I really can’t wait for Sarah to take it into the classroom, so the kids can hear this amazing story.

This Frugal Family Blog Review

I love the message in this book. Even though the character is in 3rd grade, this would suit for a younger audience as well. I think it helps children with learning difficulties and/or on the spectrum understand their struggles as well as inspires super discussion for kiddos to have with their parents and teachers–well done!

Reviewer Meredith Spidel of Mom of the Year

I see my child in this book and for that I am grateful. I like the analogy of a monkey hanging out with the little girl confusing her and getting in her way. I can’t speak with any authority on how it feels to have dyslexia but to me it feels like this paints an accurate picture. I also like that in the end, the monkey has it’s good points as well. I think this is a great book to share with first through third graders that are dealing with things like dyslexia and ADHD.

Reviewer Erin from My Story Time Corner

I was asked to read and review this children’s book called There’s A Monkey In My Backpack. I was so glad to do so! This particular book focuses on kids with dyslexia but I feel that it could apply to many kids with many kinds of difficulties in school.

Sirius Sunshine State of Mind Blog

[image error]

Dyslexia—What You Need to Know Now

I’ll be the keynote speaker at this year’s Central Texas
Dyslexia conference where I’ll be releasing my nonfiction guidebook, Raising
a Child with Dyslexia: What Every Parent Needs to Know The research,
science, and conversational techniques in this book will help parents of any
child be more in tune with and responsive to their child’s emotional and
educational needs. In addition, there are several chapters about working with
your child’s school to get testing, accommodation, and other educational needs
met promptly.

[image error]

The book will be available from amazon.com and other online
bookstores starting in October. If
you will be attending the Central Texas Dyslexia Conference on October 19,
2019, and you would like to preorder signed copies of my new book at a
discounted price, you can do that here. You will be
able to pick up your preordered books in person at the conference.

I was recently interviewed by Education News about dyslexia
and my new book. You can read the interview here: An
Interview with Don M. Winn: Dyslexia.

What early readers are saying about the book:

Dyslexia. It is a word that, like autism and cancer, strikes fear into the hearts of parents, teachers, principals and those impacted by it. Don Winn has written a comprehensive yet nurturing, caring, and compassionate book about this condition. Don has done a superlative job reviewing the main concerns relevant to dyslexia. There are so many issues—social, behavioral, cognitive, reading, and coping, but Don tries to address all of these in a kind, caring fashion. Parents, special ed, and regular ed teachers need all the information they can get to work with and nurture a child with dyslexia. Don does a great job of covering the waterfront of issues that are relevant to dyslexia. An important and much-needed text.

Michael F. Shaughnessy, PhD
Professor of Special Education
Eastern New Mexico University

I will discuss select topics
from the book in future blogs in the weeks leading up to the conference.

[image error]

Cardboard Box Adventures Picture Books are great for shared reading and can help parents establish a strong pre-literacy foundation for their children. Check out the CBA Catalog for a full list of award-winning picture books, chapter books, and resources for parents and educators.

Dyslexia: Before and After

It’s
nothing short of arresting to consider the fact that even though dyslexia was
identified about 150 years ago, there’s still a lot of misunderstanding and
outright prejudice about it, even among some highly trained educators. Indeed,
countless dyslexia sufferers are discriminated against and repeatedly told that
they’re not trying hard enough or that they’re unmotivated or that they just
need medication. When a child with dyslexia tries to learn in an environment
that doesn’t recognize and accommodate learning challenges, a little piece of that
child’s psyche dies every day he or she goes without help and without
understanding.

My
wife and I recently heard about an exhibit at the Science Museum in Oklahoma
City, Oklahoma, that was all about dyslexia. This exhibit was created by the
father of a dyslexic girl as a gift of love and understanding to her and to any
who wished to share the experience. To say that it is powerful is to damn with
faint praise. While the installation only runs through August 4, 2019, we made
a quick trip to see it the week before it ended. We’re so grateful we made the
trip!

[image error][image error][image error][image error][image error][image error]

In
addition to brief, pithy statements explaining what dyslexia is and is not, the
installation portrayed several young students with dyslexia who shared their
before and after stories and pictures. Every single one of the before pictures displayed
the hunched, powerless body language and haunted facial expressions of children
who felt like they were stupid, worthless, alone, and hopeless. Some of them
had even been told by people they respected that they were stupid. In addition,
the exhibit allowed viewers to stand before the pictures of the children and
hear the children’s stories in their own words. The children shared complex
feelings of hopelessness and fear before being diagnosed, and then revealed how
everything about their lives changed once they received diagnoses, accommodation,
and support. The transformations were remarkable, inspiring, and sobering all
at once. The once-haunted faces of these children were now shining with joy,
accomplishment, and self-worth. Seeing these kids before their diagnoses and
after was an incredibly touching experience.

[image error][image error][image error][image error][image error][image error]

The
other half of the exhibit presented famous dyslexics that have had a hand in helping
change the world, including Tesla, Steve Jobs, the Wright Brothers, Edison,
Erin Brockovich, and many others. The point is that the world would be a much
poorer place without the incredible vision, imagination, and outside-the-box
thinking of these dyslexics. It makes me wonder what kinds of gifts and talents
are going untapped every day as hundreds of thousands of dyslexic children fall
through the cracks in the educational system and don’t get the support and accommodation
they so desperately need.

[image error][image error][image error][image error][image error][image error]

One of the things that resonated with me specifically was the story of Agatha Christie. How many millions of folks have loved and been entertained by her amazing stories? Yet her dyslexia and dysgraphia were so bad that she had to dictate her stories to her secretary or else they would have gone untold. As a dyslexic writer myself, I’d be in the same boat without the advent of technology and a crackerjack support team. It’s only with that help that I get to tell my stories. Here’s the thing—we all have stories to tell, a calling, a passion to follow that can impact others in a positive way. It’s time that dyslexia stopped being a barrier to that process. We have the technology, the teaching methods, and the testing and accommodation that can help, but far too few dyslexic children have access to these supports.

To help
change that situation, in October 2019, look for the release
of the book every parent should have: Raising a Child with Dyslexia: What
Every Parent Needs to Know.

[image error]

About the book:

Using current, cutting edge research, this user-friendly guide
for parents and educators will help you prepare your child to be a reader from
infancy. These tools and techniques are proven to help all children, not just
those with dyslexia.

You will learn what dyslexia is and isn’t, the symptoms that warrant diagnosis by a professional, what to expect during the testing process, how to build a strong preliteracy foundation in your child from birth, the necessity of focusing on social and emotional learning, how to work with the school to create an optimal learning environment, how to foster patience and tenacity in your child, how to offer your child a safe, encouraging space in which to cope with the emotional and educational challenges of dyslexia, and most importantly, how to help your child reach their full potential and thrive!

Cardboard Box Adventures Picture Books are great for shared reading and can help parents establish a strong preliteracy foundation for their children. Check out the new CBA Catalog for a full list of award-winning picture books, chapter books, and resources for parents and educators.

Change Your Mind(set)

Not long ago, a teen I know discovered that the high school she
was about to enter as a freshman offered a program that would allow her to
graduate with an associate degree. There was just one catch: she had to pass a
lengthy, difficult test in order to qualify for the program. Oh, and there was
another catch (a big one): she has dyslexia. She was excited about the opportunity
and prepared to take the test. It was long. It was hard. She failed. How
disappointing! But she was so motivated by the opportunity to jump-start her
higher academic life that she took the test again. Fail. She took it again. Another
fail. Should she try it again? She did, and she failed again. This amazing
young woman took the test nine times before she succeeded. Nine times!
What allowed her to persevere with such tenacity and hope despite those eight
previous failures? In a word, it was her mindset.

[image error]

Mindset is what a person believes about themselves. In her
book, Mindset, the New Psychology of Success, Carol Dweck, PhD, explores
the question “How can a simple belief have the power to transform your
psychology and, as a result, your life?” Dweck describes two different types of
mindsets—a fixed mindset and a growth mindset.

A fixed mindset is the belief that your qualities are carved
in stone. You’ve either “got it” or you don’t. Performance abilities are
nothing more than the proverbial “luck of the draw.” When people have a fixed
mindset, it means that they view every they face as a test of the hand they
were dealt, and such people tend view every failure as one more reason never to
try, or dare to try, again. The pain of failure reinforces a negative view of the
self. People with a fixed mindset think that success should happen immediately
upon their first try at a new endeavor, and if success doesn’t happen, it’s
proof that they’re never going to be able to do the thing. Most people with a
fixed mindset won’t even entertain the notion of having to work hard at a task,
because having to work hard indicates to them that they must not be good enough.
In the fixed mindset world, every failure, every setback, every rejection means
that you’re not smart or talented. Having a fixed mindset can cause people to
wholeheartedly believe in self-limiting and unrealistic ideas. In her book,
Dweck comments on some of these unrealistic ideas by writing that “it’s
startling to see the degree to which people with the fixed mindset do not
believe in effort.” She adds that with a fixed mindset, “everything is about
the outcome. If you fail—or if you’re not the best—it’s all been wasted.” Finally,
she concludes by saying that “in the fixed mindset it’s not enough just to
succeed. It’s not enough just to look smart and talented, you have to be pretty
much flawless. And you have to be flawless right away.” How can anyone support
or sustain a world view that demands nothing but instant, perfection at every
task a person decides to do?

In contrast, a growth mindset is anchored to the idea that the
talents and abilities we’re born with are just the foundation—a starting point.
Dweck explains that “the growth mindset is based on the belief that your basic
qualities are things you can cultivate through your efforts. Although people
may differ in every which way—in their initial talents and aptitudes, interests
or temperaments—everyone can change and grow through application and
experience.” How does this mindset play out? “The passion for stretching
yourself and sticking to it, even (or especially) when it’s not going well, is
the hallmark of the growth mindset. This is the mindset that allows people to
thrive during some of the most challenging times of their lives.”

But is this mindset really a trip to fantasyland? Does this
mean that anyone can be anything they desire to be? Dweck stresses that not
everyone is going to become an Einstein through hard work. “People with this
mindset…believe that a person’s true potential is unknown (and unknowable);
that it’s impossible to foresee what can be accomplished with years of passion,
toil, and training.” She further explains that “people with a growth
mindset know that it takes time for potential to flower.”

[image error]

My favorite take-away from this book is this: “How do you act
when you feel depressed? Do you work harder at things in your life or do you
let them go? Next time you feel low, put yourself in a growth mindset—think
about learning, challenging, confronting obstacles. Think about effort as a
positive, constructive force, not as a big drag. Try it out.” When you have a
growth mindset, setbacks are viewed as sources of information. They can provide
motivation or even a wake-up call. Since repeated failure is especially
prominent in the life of a dyslexic, making the effort to embrace the growth
mindset can mean the difference between shutting down or soldiering on.

What about implementation? Dweck stresses the importance of
concrete plans. “Think of something you need to do, something you want to
learn, or a problem you have to confront. Now make a concrete plan. When will
you follow through on your plan? Where will you do it? How will you do it?
Think about it in vivid detail. These concrete plans—plans you can
visualize—about when, where, and how you are going to do something lead to
really high levels of follow-through, which, of course, ups the chances of
success. So the idea is not only to make a growth-minded plan, but also to visualize,
in a concrete way, how you’re going to carry it out.”

[image error]

Dweck references Michael Jordan as an example of a growth
mindset in action. Jordan wasn’t born with a basketball in his hands, but
instead, he “embraced his failures. In fact, in one of his favorite ads for
Nike, he says, “I’ve missed more than nine thousand shots. I’ve lost almost
three hundred games. Twenty-six times, I’ve been trusted to make the
game-winning shot and missed.” But Dweck reminds us, “you can be sure that each
time, he went back and practiced the shot a hundred times.” Throughout her
book, Dweck repeats that everyone can change their mindset, and I encourage you
to observe which mindset your dyslexic or struggling reader seems to embrace.
If they lean toward a fixed mindset, help them change their perspective on
failure and effort. Just look to the example of the girl who took that test nine
times, and know that even young people can develop a growth mindset, and then
there’s no stopping them!

Cardboard Box Adventures Picture Books are great for shared reading and can help parents establish a strong pre-literacy foundation for their children. Check out the new  CBA Catalog  for a full list of award-winning picture books, chapter books, and resources for parents and educators.