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Biographical Info for Marlys Isaacson, Ph.D.
I earned a B.S. in Elementary Education from Bradley University and.happily spent the next year as a kindergarten teacher. Then, I took a break from teaching for several years to be “Just Mommy” to two small sons.
Next, an M.Ed. in Curriculum & Instruction from the University of Washington (Reading & Language Arts) gave me all I needed to know, or so I thought, to become a great first grade teacher for the next three years. Surprise! Some kids in my class learned to read phenomenally, but some still dragged along below the average. What was wrong with this picture? If I took credit for the successes, didn’t I have to take responsibility for the slowpokes, too? Sigh. Back to school again....
A Ph.D. in Educational Psychology, also from the UW, would surely give me the key! Although I did learn a great deal in the program and in no way wish to belittle that fine university, when I proudly became a school psychologist, I still saw some of the kids with whom I was working “falling through the cracks.”
I taught graduate students at Salve Regina College for a few years, too, sharing all my hard won wisdom about learning disabilities, child development, and related coursework with teachers who hoped to give every child a successful start.
I did a great job as a “school shrink” for the next ten years, (so all my teacher co-workers said), putting all the little people referred to me through their paces to show what they could do (and sadly, also what they couldn’t do!). I guided some toward special help, but there were the ones who still languished, and those who were not “eligible” for special help, or worse, who got the special help but still didn’t “get it,” and it troubled me...
...until I met Jacob, who changed my life when he said one little sentence that set me on the road to developing “Picture Me Reading!” By so doing, he changed the lives of thousands of other children throughout the US and a number of foreign countries. Like Jacob, they all learned to read, too, as a result. You can read that story by clicking on "How It All Began"
It has been 16 years since I met Jacob, and I have been able to share the simple secret that helped him with many others in the intervening years.
Media; School Districts; Publishers:
Please call me if I can help YOU spread the knowledge to parents and grandparents, babysitters, siblings, teachers, and tutors – quite literally, to anyone who would like to help beginning readers or struggling readers get a running head start into reading success! Together, we can tell the world how most early readers joyfully can make six months of reading progressin six weeks or less!
Presentations and Seminars
Marlys Isaacson has been making presentations to teachers and other education professionals since 1997. Thousands of teachers have learned to use the visual-conceptual method of ”Picture Me Reading!” effectively in these workshops and seminars. They are delighted to see that no special training or expertise is necessary to quickly teach children to read with “Picture Me Reading!”
In the presentation, titled “ALL Your Students Can Read!” teachers learn how a number of easy-to-use sight word reading games and activities that delight children so much that they beg to play these games for fun and practice – solo, twosomes, small groups, or whole class. The wide variety of techniques taught capitalize upon the “multiple intelligences” theory of Thomas Armstrong and Howard Gardner, using several modalities to impress the learning. (To learn more about multiple intelligences, see “In Their Own Way,” by Thomas Armstrong, Ph.D., or “Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences, by Howard Gardner, Ph.D.)
Feedback about the presentations has been enthusiastic in venues such as these:
- 1. CKC, The California Kindergarten Conference
- 2. SCKC, The Southern California Kindergarten Conference
- 3. ACSI, Association of Christian Schools International
- 4. Early Childhood Curriculum Conference, Torrance
- 5. NAEYC, The National Association for the Education of Young Children
- 6. CAEYC, The California Association for the Education of Young Children
- 7. CARS, The California Association of Resource Specialists
- 8. LDA, The Learning Disability Association
A few typical comments from seminar participants follow:
- • Great job! She motivated me to consider this program for my thesis and help all my students read.
- • Wonderful product! Games are extremely useful and will work along with my reading program.
- • Great ideas for my students with special needs!
 A Radio Interview |
Radio Or TV Interviews
A sample radio interview can be heard at www.instantaudio.com/postcard/?1801623 in which Marlys was featured in an interview with Mark Crowley on his Success Radio Show in Denver, CO and on the program, Community Affairs, USA, aired on various outlets from 2004 to the present.
Television is a great medium for doing "how to" presentations, including the actual teaching of children. The public currently is very interested in knowing more about effective methods of teaching reading and your favorite local TV station might like to do a program about this unique, inexpensive and effective visual-conceptual method.
Teleseminars and telephone consultation
Presentations may be made in person, or by means of teleseminar calls, in which receiving parties call in at a pre-arranged time for an interactive conference telephone call. One-on-one consultation also is available by phone. If interested, see the contact information near the top of this page.
Costs
The costs for having Dr. Isaacson appear in person are dependent on the demands of the occasion and, of course, her costs for transportation and lodging. She is a bargain in the Southern California area, but necessarily must charge more for distant locations.
Community Service Activities
Marlys does community service volunteer work by running classes at a local community center for students who are lagging behind in their reading. Simultaneously, she trains volunteers to become teachers for future classes. Obviously, she is not available to do this in other areas, but she will be happy to instruct you in what to do in order to train volunteers and run such classes in your own vicinity.
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