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Diagnosis of Dyslexia How Is Dyslexia Diagnosed? Are there tests for dyslexia? The diagnosis of dyslexia usually begins with an awareness by parents or teachers that a problem in reading exists. A physician is often the first diagnostician to explore the nature of the difficulty. The medical practitioner should investigate the cause of the reading [...]

English as a Second Language AVKO’s Speech to Spelling book is excellent for the student learning English. Generally they learn as a child does – to speak first, then learn the letter and sounds building small words in the beginning. The older the student the faster they progress in the letter-sound recognition and speed on [...]

Imaging Study Reveals Brain Function of Poor Readers Can Improve A brain imaging study has shown that, after they overcome their reading disability, the brains of formerly poor readers begin to function like the brains of good readers, showing increased activity in a part of the brain that recognizes words. The study appears in the [...]

Multiply By 5
To quickly multiply by 5, divide the number in two and then multiply it by 10. Often this can be done quickly in your head.

Multiply By 4

To quickly multiply by four, double the number and then double it again.
Often this can be done in your head.

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Multiply Up to 20 X 20 in Your Head In just FIVE minutes you should learn to quickly multiply up to 20 x 20 in your head. With this trick, you will be able to multiply any two numbers from 11 to 19 in your head quickly, without the use of a calculator. I will [...]

Square a 2 Digit Number Ending in 5 For this example we will use 25 • Take the “tens” part of the number (the 2 and add 1)=3 • Multiply the original “tens” part of the number by the new number (2×3) • Take the result (2×3=6) and put 25 behind it. Result the answer [...]

Sequential Spelling DVD Tips No two computers and dvd player software are the same. If you experience problems using the DVD, please try using a different computer DVD players software or a different computer. Computer Tips: 1. The space bar can be used as the play and pause button on most computer DVD programs. 2. [...]

Underlining (or Highlighting): Cueing the Computer Brain Quoted directly from The Teaching of Reading and Spelling: a Continuum from Kindergarten through College ________________________________________ There are many good reasons to get your students in the habit of underlining (or highlighting) words which they don’t know while they are reading.…[Read more]

Whole Language What It Is, What It Isn’t by Mary Bowman-Kruhm, Ed.D. Faculty Associate, Johns Hopkins University School of Professional Studies in Business and Education Whole language back in the 1960s and 70s was called the psycholinguistic approach to reading. Thankfully, that name gave way to the term whole language, which more accurately…[Read more]

Fun Quotations for Spelling Dictation, Comprehension Exercises, Fluency Practice Readings, a Basis for discussion as to the “correctness” of the attitude displayed, or just plain fun ability Journalism is the ability to meet the challenge of filling space. — Rebecca West abstract Abstract art: a product of the untalented sold by the…[Read more]

FOR LEXOPHILES (LOVERS OF WORDS): 1. A bicycle can’t stand alone; it is two tired. 2. A will is a dead giveaway. 3. Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana. 4. A backward poet writes inverse. 5. In a democracy it’s your vote that counts; in feudalism, it’s your Count that votes. [...]

Instilling Curiosity to Learn New Words by Don McCabe The most important element in building a vocabulary is the desire. We are all seemingly born with an insatiable curiosity about words. But somewhere along the line, many of us become satisfied with our vocabularies and stop actively learning words. As teachers, we know that the [...]

The American Way……. A Japanese company (Toyota) and an American company (General Motors) decided to have a canoe race. Both teams practiced long and hard to reach their peak performance before the race. On the big day, the Japanese won by a mile. The Americans, very discouraged and depressed, decided to investigate the reason for [...]

An amusing Urban Legend: Truth in advertising cost Claude Pepper an election Apparently in the 1950’s Sen. Pepper of Florida was defeated for re-election largely due to a leaflet that was circulated throughout the state, and turned the voters against him. It went as follows: “Are you aware that Claude Pepper is known all over [...]

Building a Better Vocabulary the Lazy Man’s Way by Don McCabe Before anyone can successfully embark upon a program to improve his/her vocabulary, s/he must be completely convinced that it will be worthwhile. After, all, why spend the time and the effort necessary to learn words if the new words will not help in any [...]

Individualized Keyboarding Individualized Keyboarding utilizes a multi-sensory approach (as most of the AVKO materials do) to teach typing skills. But this not only teaches typing skills, it also reinforces the reading patterns that are necessary for typing proficiency. You may try our free experiment that demonstrates our point that good readers…[Read more]

How to Use the Membership Books to their Greatest Potential MEMBERSHIP: What’s that? Why should I bother with it? As a non-profit organization, AVKO exists to HELP adults and kids learn how to read and spell. AVKO has established an annual membership which provides the REFERENCE MATERIALS every child’s classroom (even at home) should have [...]

A Don McCabe Mini Lesson To make the learning easier, the readings are in paired sentences. The tutor reads a sentence (often a question) and then the student reads the next. Set the kitchen timer for 15 minutes. Don’t feel obligated to read the entire page. If you can, fine. If you read it twice [...]

What is a Googol?

This is a Googol.

10 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000

Now you know!

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Improving Your Existing Spelling Program by Don McCabe What if I don’t need another new spelling program? What can I do to make my existing spelling program work? Just as sometimes it’s more economical to fix the automobile you have than to go out and buy a new car, sometimes a teacher or parent can [...]