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The Academic Gym Literacy Skills


How to help kids learn and love grammar
We think of grammar as dusty books filled with parched rules and moldy conventions about commas, semicolons, and (heaven forbid) soporific arguments regarding the impropriety of prepositions at the ends of sentences. Unfortunately, to some extent, this is true. But grammar is much more than dead, dogged rules. When taught with passion and explained as the means to creating beautiful, concise, creative, and coherent expressions, grammar becomes a collection of powerful, transf
Brian Vieira
5 days ago2 min read


Spelling for Reading
Spelling is a great tool to use for reading instruction. To spell complex words, students must study phonics, grammar, vocabulary, and background knowledge, which are the keys to reading comprehension and writing skills. This process of spelling complex words is a powerful tool in developing a deep knowledge of words.
Brian Vieira
Apr 32 min read


Simple syllables for spelling and reading
Our scaffolded analytical spelling system begins with larger units, such as simple syllables. It's easier for kids to hear and pronounce vowel and consonant sounds by saying, spelling, and segmenting them within syllabic units such as "ab, eb, ib ,ob, and ub." These simple syllables help students develop phonemic and alphabetic awareness, making it much easier to segment whole words and match their speech sounds to corresponding graphemes (letters and letter combinations that
Brian Vieira
Mar 271 min read


Simple syllables
Our scaffolded analytical spelling system begins with larger units, such as simple syllables. It's easier for kids to hear and pronounce vowel and consonant sounds by saying, spelling, and segmenting them within syllabic units such as "ab, eb, ib ,ob, and ub." These simple syllables help students develop phonemic and alphabetic awareness, making it much easier to segment whole words and match their speech sounds to corresponding graphemes (letters and letter combinations that
Brian Vieira
Mar 271 min read


Your Child's Amazing Brain
Have you ever felt discouraged and frustrated about your child’s behavior or academic performance? Don’t give up: there’s hope. Your child can change because their brain is built to keep growing and learning how to overcome social, emotional, and academic challenges.
Brian Vieira
Mar 202 min read


The writing-reading-spelling connection
Students who need help spelling will also have difficulty reading and writing fluently
Brian Vieira
Mar 131 min read


Vocabulary from roots and prefixes
Middle schoolers need morphology. In other words, they need to learn vocabulary from roots and prefixes. Each post contains a video that provides comprehensive information about a word that will help students understand its origin, structure, and usage.
Brian Vieira
Feb 251 min read


Vocabulary from roots and prefixes
Middle schoolers need morphology. In other words, they need to learn vocabulary from roots and prefixes. Each post contains a video that provides comprehensive information about a word that will help students understand its origin, structure, and usage.
Brian Vieira
Feb 251 min read


Vocabulary from roots and prefixes
Middle schoolers need morphology. In other words, they need to learn vocabulary from roots and prefixes. Each post contains a video that provides comprehensive information about a word that will help students understand its origin, structure, and usage.
Brian Vieira
Feb 251 min read


Vocabulary from roots and prefixes
Middle schoolers need morphology. In other words, they need to learn vocabulary from roots and prefixes. Each post contains a video that provides comprehensive information about a word that will help students understand its origin, structure, and usage.
Brian Vieira
Feb 251 min read


Vocabulary from roots and prefixes
Middle schoolers need morphology. In other words, they need to learn vocabulary from roots and prefixes. Each post contains a video that provides comprehensive information about a word that will help students understand its origin, structure, and usage.
Brian Vieira
Feb 251 min read


How Word Parts make kids Word Smart
Morphemes are word parts that make kids word smart. meaning. Often classified as roots, prefixes, and suffixes, these word parts have one thing in common: they are the keys to decoding a word's meaning.
Brian Vieira
Feb 241 min read


How to teach long vowel sounds
Words with long vowel sounds are challenging to spell and pronounce because of the myriad ways we can represent or spell each sound. There are eight ways to spell /A/,
Brian Vieira
Feb 172 min read


Can you find the errors in this famous Valentine's Day love letter?
Mispronunciations always create misspellings. But sometimes even when kids pronounce a word correctly, they still misspell it. That's because English has several different spellings for the same sounds.
Brian Vieira
Feb 131 min read


Do your kids misspell and misread simple words?
Kids who mispronounce vowels will misread and misspell simple words. Misspelling and misreading can become a stubborn, negative habit. So, intervene now and teach your kids how to say and spell vowel sounds correctly.
Brian Vieira
Feb 32 min read


The Academic Gym helps kids with ADHD learn to read
T.A.G. (The Academic Gym) blends athletic routines with spelling practice to help kids with ADHD learn to read
Brian Vieira
Feb 31 min read


Vocabulary from roots and prefixes
Middle schoolers need morphology. In other words, they need to learn vocabulary from roots and prefixes. Each post contains a video that provides comprehensive information about a word that will help students understand its origin, structure, and usage.
Brian Vieira
Feb 21 min read


Vocabulary from roots and prefixes
Middle schoolers need morphology. Each post contains a video that provides comprehensive information about a word that will help students understand its origin, structure, and usage.
Brian Vieira
Feb 21 min read


Vocabulary from roots and prefixes
Middle schoolers need morphology. Each post contains a video that provides comprehensive information about a word that will help students understand its origin, structure, and usage.
Brian Vieira
Feb 21 min read


How to get kids focused
Here's how to get kids focused: get them moving while they're thinking. The Academic Gym uses T.A.G. techniques to get kids moving and learning at the same time.
Brian Vieira
Jan 302 min read
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