Tara is a mom of two great boys and a MomsRising's fan. She is a non-practicing lawyer, is currently pursuing a masters in special education/ reading specialist certification and writes about supporting children with learning differences, attention issues and anxiety, promoting strengths-based learning and parent advocacy in education. She can found on Twitter at @TaraSarathy1.
Blog Post List
January 4, 2020
This new year, I raise my glass to dyslexia moms everywhere. L ike many parts of parenting —moms are often expected to take the lead. # 10millionmoms . Reporters from Emily Hanford of APM to Stephen Sawchuck of Ed Week to linguists and reading and curriculum experts like Lyn Stone and Karen Vaites have all written about the significant role dyslexia moms have played in advocating schools to provide explicit, systematic evidence-based reading instruction for all our children at school entry and additional interventions for those children who are at risk for reading difficulties and who are...
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March 28, 2019
Books have played an outsized role in my life. As an introverted only child and the daughter of a bookworm, growing up, children’s books were my refuge and my joy. My favorite teacher to this day was my high school English teacher, Mrs. Betty Lou Blumberg, who introduced me to great fiction with exuberance and flair as well as mentored the student literary journal. I felt most alive as a student in her English classes. When my first son was born, children’s picture books were among my most treasured gifts including a copy of Barbara Cooney’s richly illustrated Miss Ruphius which tells the...
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June 22, 2018
For as long as I can remember, books have been my comfort and my refuge. I was also incredibly lucky to grow up in a family where I was given many opportunities to be read to and interact with books and stories including over the summers. But for many children, reading may not be as pleasurable and are at an increased risk for summer slide with respect to literacy skills including those child who are identified with a specific learning difference in reading, including dyslexia, those diagnosed with language impairments, and children whose reading performance is below level on established...
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May 3, 2018
Recently I spoke with Jen Dryer, https://jendryer.com , an educational consultant and parent advocate in Washington, D.C., who helps parents navigate the complex and emotionally challenging process of getting their children, who have or are suspected of having a developmental delay, the services and therapies they need through early intervention and special education. I was drawn to Jen’s story and work as it demonstrates the power of a parent’s instincts and effective advocacy in supporting’s her son’s early development and the tremendous benefits early intervention can have in a child’s...
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May 3, 2018
Infants and toddlers learn a tremendous amount in their first three years of life. Sometimes a child’s development doesn’t progress as expected, and a child needs some extra help in meeting developmental milestones. Early intervention is meant to help infants and toddlers meet their developmental goals in key areas including: Physical skills (reaching, crawling, walking, drawing, building) Cognitive skills (thinking, learning, solving problems) Communication skills (talking, listening, understanding others) Self-help or adaptive skills (eating, dressing) Social or emotional skills (playing,...
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March 28, 2018
I think we lose sight of the beauty, the most beautiful things I look back on in my life are coming out from underneath things I didn’t know I could get out from underneath. You know, the moments I look back in my life, and think, those were the moments that made me — were moments of struggle. Brene Brown radio interview with On Being host, Krista Tippet, The Courage to Be Vulnerable, January 29th, 2015, https://onbeing.org/programs/brene-brown-the-courage-to-be-vulnerable-ja... About six years ago, as I was waiting in the check out aisle of Trader Joes, with my first born, about two months...
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March 19, 2018
Recently I’ve started rereading What My Mother Gave Me , edited by Elizabeth Benedict’s collection of essays in which adult daughters examine their relationships with their mothers through the lens of a gift their mother gave them, whether a wok, sobriety, flowers for a late-in-age bat mitzvah, all gifts that served as a “metaphor or touchstone” in their own lives and speak to the powerful and sometimes fraught mother-daughter bond. After working part-time for several years and then spending the past two plus years primarily parenting and volunteering, I’ve been reflecting a lot on what I...
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