November is Family Literacy Month

Many factors contribute to academic success, including a family’s income, education level, or cultural background. But research shows that a home environment that encourages learning is more important than any of these other factors.

We’ve previously posted on the importance of providing early language exposure to young children. As children get older, exposure to print is a critical determinant in students’ reading abilities. So in celebration of Family Literacy Month, here are a few suggestions from Education.com on how to increase children’s exposure to the written word:

• Make reading materials available
• Be a reading role model
• Read aloud to children
• Encourage personal libraries
• Limit television, computers and video games

You might want to check out these other reference articles, also from Education.com:

• Tips for teaching kids to enjoy reading
• Choosing good books for children of all ages
• Teenagers and reading

 

 

Be Amazing Learning at Home School Association of California Conference

We’re just back from the Home School Association of California (HSC) annual conference in Sacramento, CA. Be Amazing had a booth in the vendor hall, and we got a chance to meet homeschool families from all over the West coast.

Fast ForWord programs from Be Amazing Learning are a natural fit for homeschool families. The program runs on a home computer, but parents have access to detailed data and support from our learning professionals. The parents we met at the conference seemed most excited about:

• A proven, research-based solution to reading struggles
• An opportunity to give kids computer time that has a documented educational benefit
• A solution that attacks the underlying cause of reading problems, rather than simply more computer-based curriculum

Be Amazing Learning has worked with several homeschool families across North America with outstanding results, and we’re hoping to work with some of the families we met in Sacramento.