Words on a Limb Interviews Dave Freeman

This week Spotlight on Authors is delighted to virtually visit with Dave Freeman. Although we would have preferred to visit him in person since Dave and his wife live a few miles from the ocean in beautiful West Palm Beach Florida – and since we are having a great winter this spring.

Ocean notwithstanding, here is his Mushroom Tale.

Dave is a professional who writes motivational children’s books. With forty years experience solving problems in industry and in his communities, he would like to change that title to: 

WRITER who solves problems, promotes, teaches and entertains.

Well said.


About writing …

When did you first realize you wanted to become a writer?
I don’t recall beginning my love affair with writing. I can only remember that once I joined the real world, in a professional capacity, I was always drawn to and selected for writing assignments. From resumes, radio commercials, complaint letters and other letters to turn an angry client in to a proponent, I stepped up and surprisingly continued to hit the bulls eye on many assignments. That is simply exhilarating. Continue reading

Sight Words BINGO!

Bingo GameSight Words Bingo

Sight word acquisition is an important building block in the construction of a child’s ability to read. Once she is able to read these words, she has access to up to 75% of what is printed in almost any piece of children’s literature. How exactly do teachers and parents help children develop their stores of sight words? There are several proven techniques that any adult can use to teach sight words.

Children do not learn new words by being exposed to them only once. Repetition is key to sight word acquisition. Young readers should be given opportunities to read and write a new sight word multiple times. Repetitive reading of texts featuring certain sight words is one strategy for helping children commit these words to memory.

Once children have had the opportunity to study new sight words, games are a fun, hands on way to help strengthen their retention. These games are easy to create at home or at school and can be modified based on the particular sight words a child is learning at the time. We designed a game based on an all-time favourite, BINGO. The incentive to find a word coupled with the urge to complete a card, creates an active environment for memorizing these essential words.

The download includes 48 Sun-Moon-Star-Earth bingo cards as well as a set of 40 sight words to call out. All you need is lots of bingo chips and eager players, and you are ready to go.

Just click here to download the package.

Enjoy!