Why Literacy Matters—and How You Can Help Your Child Improve

Literacy is an essential part of childhood education. In many ways, it’s the foundation on which many other forms of education rely. 

But learning to read is hard, particularly for students from underprivileged backgrounds or rural communities, where schools tend to have fewer resources. Sometimes, kids need a little extra support developing their reading skills. In those cases, summer reading programs can be immensely beneficial in helping students to get caught up and maintain fluent reading comprehension. 

The Importance of Literacy

According to experts, literacy is a key predictor of academic success. Students with strong literacy skills tend to do better in school and have a higher self-esteem. They also have stronger analytical and critical thinking skills, memory, and concentration. All of these, in turn, increase students’ educational and professional prospects. Particularly for children in low-income and/or rural homes, literacy can be a powerful asset for economic mobility. 

Educational Disparities Impact Literacy

Unfortunately, factors such as socioeconomic status, location, and more can take a toll on students’ literacy levels. Experts at the George Lucas Educational Foundation note that rural students frequently lack access to quality educational materials, and rural schools are often overlooked in regards to funding and resources. Additionally, “rural students also lack consistent access to quality early reading opportunities because of the socioeconomic circumstances of some families and the absence of financial flexibility in rural districts to allocate money to address these issues.”

In Georgia, the 2013 National Assessment of Educational Progress revealed that only 34% (just over a third) of students in Georgia are proficient or advanced readers by the time they start fourth grade. The report also noted that low literacy skills increase the risk of a student dropping out of school before finishing high school. 

Summer Reading Programs Offer Solutions for Students Struggling With Literacy

In the past, students who fell behind on their reading goals had limited options aside from repeating a grade level.  

Now, however, advances in digital learning programs are making it possible for students to improve reading fluency and literacy over the summer. These programs not only ensure that children are caught up by the time they return to school in the fall—they also allow parents an opportunity to provide support and take an active role in their child’s learning. 

In particular, the Dr. Annise Mabry Foundation provides two academic intervention programs, Fast ForWord and DreamBox Reading Plus, to families with students who are struggling to meet grade-level reading goals. These programs are made available thanks to generous grant funding from the United Way of Greater Atlanta, the Dollar General Literacy Foundation and Vincent and Annabella Villacci’s Butterflies & Heart Shaped Clouds Fund. 

Both of these programs utilize evidence-based digital pedagogy strategies to aid students in learning recovery and provide an engaging, motivating learning experience. Even more crucially, both programs take a personalized learning approach that is designed to accommodate each student’s level of knowledge and unique learning needs.

• Fast ForWord is focused on helping students to build cognitive skills such as memory, attention, processing, and sequencing, as well as developing their language and reading skills. Its curriculum is centered around listening accuracy, phonological awareness, and language structure, which are critical skills for students who are learning to read. This program tends to be most suitable for struggling readers in grades K-4.
• DreamBox Reading Plus is geared toward improving students’ reading fluency, comprehension, and vocabulary. This program incorporates an adaptive learning environment that also helps to build stamina, motivation, and confidence in emerging readers who struggled with reading in early grades.
  
  Reading Plus participants begin by taking an assessment to identify their proficiencies and areas of improvement. Based on their results, each child will then be assigned the lessons that best fit their needs. Reading Plus’s easy-to-navigate student dashboard also utilizes a simple checkbox format that allows students and parents to track progress.
  
  In addition to reading, DreamBox also offers a mathematics learning program (DreamBox Math) that helps K-8 students deepen their understanding of mathematical concepts. 

If your child could use a little extra help meeting their reading goals, accelerated learning programs like DreamBox Reading Plus and Fast ForWord offer data-driven, personalized, and flexible solutions to support students in building reading fluency and literacy. For more information on how the Dr. Annise Mabry Foundation can help your child succeed, fill out this form to get started today!

The Dr. Annise Mabry Foundation is dedicated to improving our community by enhancing education opportunities, promoting synchrony between law enforcement and constituents, and encouraging community engagement. Our programs and initiatives include the Southwest GA Community Policing Resource Center and the Tiers Free Academy, a homeschool cooperative for students in grades 9-12 that provides an alternative diploma program for homeless LGBTQ youth, sex trafficking survivors, and high school dropouts. To learn more about our offerings or support our work, consider subscribing to our newsletter or donating today! 

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