Blog
I’m learning something – but wow, it is a struggle!
- 10 May, 2016
- Posted by: Katrina Casey
- Category: Reading
Not so long ago, I went to a weekend seminar to learn about marketing for small businesses. It was an amazing event – the presenters were encouraging, the audience was engaged and supportive, and the food was great too!
During the course of the weekend, we were given lots and lots of information, which at the time, seemed very easy to use and implement – but then we went home! This is when the wheels fell off for me!
The week following, I was madly uploading plug-ins for my website, subscribing to essential webinars, attending webinars, and researching different topics in areas that would benefit my small business. I was enthused and excited, and admittedly, a little poorer (come on, who wouldn’t be convinced to part with a few dollars, to get the ball rolling quicker!).
Anyway, for the past week, I have changed my line of attack. I have discovered that it really doesn’t matter how much I know about small business marketing, it is what I do with this information. In other words, if I do not use this knowledge, what is the point?
And as always, I began to draw parallels to learning to read, and/or teaching reading. It doesn’t matter how much children know about reading, for example, 100 sight words, the 44 English sounds, if they still don’t read! Reading is about understanding, and ultimately, reading is an action. For young children to read, they must read.
So my challenge to you, is to get your child to read! Don’t wait until they know a certain number of sight words, or until they can successfully decode 100 words using phonics. Get them reading today! If they don’t know the words, tell them. You can always add these unknown words to sight word lists, or practise decoding them, once the text is read. Reading is about meaning, and if they are not reading, they are not gaining meaning.
And so, how’s the small business marketing going, I hear you say? Slowly, very slowly. But guess what, I’m doing something about it. I am beginning to employ what I have been learning about. I know now, that the things I try, will not always be correct, but until I try, I won’t begin to learn.
And as for your child’s reading, or teaching children to read, in words similar to that almighty sports brand, ‘just read it’.
Cheers!