I’m going to say something kind of controversial in the dyslexia support industry. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. I’m not a fan of phonics. This funny (not suitable for kids), two minute video from teacher-turned-comedian, Ben Knight, gives a great example of why phonics really is difficult. It’s not just hard...
Author: Bec J. Smith (Bec J. Smith)
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It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas!
Have you ever gazed up at a beautiful display of Christmas lights and wondered, “How did they do that?” Each year, for about the past six years, I’ve bought a box of Christmas lights with the idea of creating a Christmas lights display on my home. And every year I’ve chickened out from figuring out...
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Planning Our P.I. Penguin Christmas Special
Last Thursday, the Bec J. Smith team (Rebecca, Kaylie, and Joshua) set about planning their P.I. Penguin Christmas Special. I’ll tell you a secret, we actually had the first ideas for this in December last year but it was too late to write, get illustrated, and publish a book in time to enjoy that holiday...
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New Adventures With P.I. Penguin
This month Bec J. Smith had some wonderful adventures with P.I. Penguin. Check out what we’ve been up to, where we’ve been hanging out, what we’ve been doing, and see if you can spot a penguin or too! Children’s Book Week This week, I had the joy of visiting some schools in the City of...
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Coming Soon! [Lesson Plans For Busy Teachers!]
One of the things that got Nanci and I really excited while preparing Zany Circus: Paradox was the huge range of learning opportunities the book provides. We included a really fun section in the back of the book that offers some great ideas for how to extend learning from the book, and we also listed...
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October’s Guess My Name Winner!
Did you know, each month Aulexic runs a competition inviting children to guess P.I. Penguin’s real name. Now, we’re not really looking for someone to guess right, because his name is not secret enough for that to be a fair contest. What we look for is creative ideas for what names he might have, or...
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Focus on Strengths: STOP Trying To Make Your Dyslexic Child A Better Reader
“I just think that people are going all in on fixing what they are bad at instead of going all in on extenuating what they’re great at.” Multi-millionaire business builder, Gary Vaynerchuk Gary Vaynerchuk wasn’t good at school. He didn’t read well and his teachers told him he’d go nowhere in life. Strangely, this disdain...
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Does Font Really Matter To Children With Dyslexia?
I’m a dyslexic, with a dyslexic son, and I have to admit that the question of there being supposedly dyslexia-friendly fonts has weighed on my mind. I know from personal experience that there are fonts that have helped me. There are fonts that have helped the dyslexic members of my family, including my son. But...
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May the 4th Colour In Starring P.I. Jedi
We’re thrilled to bring you these fun May The 4th colour in illustrations from the talented Adit Galih and Aulexic. This Star Wars Day we had a lot of fun exploring “How P.I. Penguin is like Luke Skywalker“. Check out our comparisons and let us know if you can think of any others! May The...