We got stung at the Spelling Bee!

Oh well! What we didn't know: Our fourth grader would be competing with students up to the seventh grade, that there would be almost 100 students competing. We made it to round three, and then were **ding**ed with the word embroider. Scotty did a great job in the first two rounds, but we apparently didn't take our studying far enough. By the end of round 2, the announcer had passed by all the words on our study list. So, lesson learned? YES! Get more words to study!! BUT in defense of Scotty & Beacon, of all the words we studied and used Beacon to study for - HE KNEW THOSE WORDS! We had a really great time and are looking forward to next year!

A Parent's Guide to Reading

We had an absolutely wonderful time! I met some wonderful people, and we all learned from each other. We covered so much material, I think that everyone was dizzy by the end. We talked about reading development and how that works, how to encourage it, help it, etc. We talked about proper sound pronunciation, we talked about things to do at home to help your child at certain ages. Our two hours turned into almost four. I cannot wait to do it again! I do hope you can all join us next time! Just visit www.beaconliteracy.com/news/php for more information. Information on the next workshop is not up yet, but will be soon. You can email us/contact us for more information on that...info@beaconliteracy.com

Two days until the spelling bee

Two days. I'm nervous, I think Scotty could care less. But I suppose that's a good thing. We'll be going over our words one last time today & tomorrow. Then we'll leave it up to him! Not much to tell at the moment. We will let you know how it goes.

Seven Days & Counting!

Well, it's all most here! The District Spelling Bee! Are we ready? Almost! We lost 2 weeks of practice over Christmas break, so we're playing a bit of catch up. We have 8 more words to practice with our Beacon recorder. Hopefully we will get that done today. What have we learned so far? Yes, Scotty is recalling the words that we are recording. He is doing great. Much better if he does when he's supposed to, and as often as he is supposed to. Also, the longer words - um, latitudinarian! - are still a bit of challenge, even with the recording.

We are very excited, and we will keep you posted!

Tutors are ready!

Come on in! We have five new tutors for you, so keep watching over the coming days, and I will give you a bit of info about each of them. If you live in the Old Hickory, Mt. Juliet, Hermitage, Donelson, etc. area, give us a call and we will have some ready to work with you! I am so excited about each of our new tutors. They are all excited and ready to work struggling readers. We offer a no cost, no obligation screening along with a 50% money back guarantee if we do not acheive a one year growth in word recognition. You can't lose with that! Can't wait to hear from you! If you would just like a bit more information, come and see us next weekend at our parent seminar. Information on that can be found at http://www.beaconliteracy.com/news.php .

Does this help us on the Spelling Bee?

Well, I am very excited about this test! My son, Scotty, placed 6th in the school spelling bee, so that means we are off to the county wide Spelling Bee. We did not use our Beacon equipment/methods to study for the first one, but have decided to give it a try for this next round. There are about 36 words on the study list that he is having difficulty with. We will be using the Beacon system to study those words. We will work on about 20 words to begin with, and add to that every few days. I will keep you posted on our progress.

Things coming up in 2010

We are very excited about the new year. In January of 2010, we will be hosting a Parent Workshop called A Parent's Guide to Reading. This event will focus on educating parents on what can be done at home to encourage reading development. We will focus on students in PreK through the third grade. More information about this event can be seen at www.beaconliteracy.com/news.php . I do hope that if you live in the Mt. Juliet or surrounding areas (Lebanon, Old Hickory, Hermitage, Donelson, Goodlettsville, Murfreesboro...) that you will make plans to attend. This event will be held in Old Hickory - please let us know if you are interested, and we will provide additional information.

Also, we will be welcoming five tutors to our team, and so will have openings for reading tutoring starting on January 10, 2010. If you or someone you know is in need of reading assistance, please contact us at info@beaconliteracy.com so that we can set a time for your free screening and introductory lesson. If you are interested in tutoring for us or in setting the program up at your school or organization, we would love to hear from you as well.

We will have a busy and exciting new year, and hope that you will join us as we continue to grow and reach out to the community!