Page 4 - Martin Downs Bulletin - December '20

Page 4, Martin Downs

Little Smiles from page 1 battling life-threatening illnesses in addition to stocking Once again this year, Little Smiles is thrilled to have
hospital pantries with comfort foods. Funds from the toy the North Pole at Harbourside Place where volunteers will
That’s why this year, Little Smiles set a really big goal drive also go towards fulfilling individual family requests be collecting, sorting and distributing gifts. People can
for its 11th annual Little Smiles Toy Drive of $250,000. which has also seen a huge increase in demand. A $100 also text LITTLESMILES to 44321 and donate through
Donations will still go towards buying gifts for children donation stuffs a stocking with presents and holiday texts and online. All gifts collected on land at the Palm
in need during the holidays but this year, donations will treats for children! A $150 donation helps produce a Beach Holiday Boat parade will also benefit Little Smiles
also benefit the 23 hospitals, shelters and facilities the movie night! Toy Drive.
nonprofit serves. Little Smiles throws monthly pizza For the first time this year, Little Smiles kicked Little Smiles is a volunteer-driven nonprofit
and movie nights at several local hospitals for children off its annual toy drive over the summer with a organization that helps caring professionals bring joy
magical Christmas in July parade through the Heights to children in tough situations. A wide range of caregivers
neighborhood in Jupiter. For over an hour, Santa and help children of all ages who are facing devastating
his elves paraded down each street to holiday music circumstances including terminal illness, abandonment
collecting presents and donations along the way all while and other trauma.
spreading early holiday cheer when families needed it
most! Little Smiles is proud to announce, thanks to the
community’s generosity, Little Smiles collected 238 toys.
So far, the Little Smiles Toy Drive has already raised
nearly $30,000.

Jerry Somma, Virginia Sinicki and Nicole Grossmayer

Kids Corner

Three Ways To Give The Gift

Of Reading

By Jim Forgan, Ph.D.,
School Psychologist
Give the gift of reading
to your child this holiday
season. Many elementary
age children struggle with
reading and COVID-19
and virtual learning have
widened the gap. In
addition, if you were your
child’s teacher during the
lockdown, you saw firsthand
how hard reading was for your child. Since reading is
foundational for academic success, your child’s reading
needs to be on or above grade level. Here are three ways
you can help improve your elementary age child’s reading.
First, use the computer-based reading program Nessy
at Nessy.com. This reading program is for children in
kindergarten through fifth grade and it is based on Orton
Gillingham reading principles. Nessy helps children with
dyslexia as well as children with weak phonics. It has built-
in assessments, adjusts to your child’s reading level, and
provides games and characters as rewards. I recommend
using the Nessy program four days per week. It’s not
free but is reasonably priced at $12/ month or less if you
purchase annually.
Next, you can teach your child using a specialized
reading approach. The Barton Reading and Spelling System
was designed for parents and educators to use one-to-one
with children. To use the program you should first take
and pass the tutor screening. Then purchase levels from
BartonReading.com. Each level comes with training
on DVD so you can watch the training and then use the
program with your child.
Third, make reading fun. Struggling readers find reading
laborious and mentally draining so they don’t want to
pleasure read. Regardless of their age, read aloud to your
child. This builds vocabulary and keeps the love of reading
alive. As an alternative use Audible or Bookshare.com and
listen to an audio book together. Young kids enjoy graphic
novels like the Dog Man series. Use the book Create Your
Own Graphic Novel: A Guide for Kids by David Chiu to
work with your child and create your own graphic novel.
This provides a fun way to read, write, and draw. Who Dyslexia, ADD/ADHD,
knows, your child could become a bestselling author.
We offer dyslexia and ADHD/ADD testing. Learn more
at JimForgan.com or call (561) 625-4125. Gifted Testing

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