The National Right to Read Foundation recommends both our ages 4-9 program, Discover Intensive Phonics for Yourself and the ages 10-adult program Reading Horizons. Along with roughly 30 other reading programs, both versions of our program are suggested, and a short synopsis as well as testimonials are included. Visit http://www.nrrf.org/prodhome.html to see how the foundation is working to help literacy. Reading Horizons.com is referenced, which is our website for commercial use in schools, institutions, literacy centers, etc. Our at-home program is also referenced on their website, and can be found at http://athome.readinghorizons.com/.

Here's an article in the July 11, 2010 Seattle Times addressing a question many parents of young children are asking about reading programs, especially as a new school year approaches. John Rosemond advises that a phonics-based approach is essential. He also adds:

By the way, I routinely tell parents, "These days, no matter what sort of school you send your child to, you should be prepared to do a certain amount of home-schooling." It's just the way it is.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/living/2012292526_ parents12.html

As I see the homeschooling groups share ideas for summer reading, as well as lots of other information they pass along, I imagine many other families would appreciate similar tips. Here are just a few:

1. Of course, Reading Horizons tops my list. See www.readinghorizonsathome.com/resources.aspx for such free resources as vocabulary building, games, worksheets, and an online workshop for        parents that teaches the entire Discover Intensive Phonics for Yourself methodology in a very condensed form. You can print out a syllabus at the conclusion of the training.  Also see the vocabulary
    game "Lemons for Literacy that provides opportunity for donated programs to be earned for less-fortunate students: http://www.readinghorizonsathome.com/lemonsforliteracy

2. Some free book downloads are offered on Fridays at Barnes and Nobles ( bn.com/freelibrary). Each Friday they will have a new set, and often there are a lot of classics.
    You do not need an e-reader, since they also offer a free app for your iphone, blackberry, pc or mac. Borders also has some free ebook offers.

3. See www.homeschoolingforfree.blogspot.com for lots of learning opportunities.

4. Www.donnayoung.org has many free learning resources.

5. Visit www.about.com and go where your children's interests lie.

We had a call this morning from a customer hoping to help her child increase her fluency with the Reading Horizons program. Discussing this concern with Shantell brought up the need to stress transferring the decoding skills that students gain from the program into their actual reading on the pages of books. Those transferring skills are not obvious to everyone, and we would do well to point them out more. We'll send a newsletter in the near future about this. But in the meantime, here are a four pointers to help with transferring new decoding skills to every-day reading:

#1. Students should use a finger to track. It may slow down the student initially, but this is essential for accurate phonological processing and can be very helpful until the reading becomes more fluent.

#2. Have the student sound out each word, tracking left to right, without stopping or guessing. Have them keep their eyes on the word.

#3. Teach the student explicitly how to apply decoding strategies to unfamiliar or difficult words.

#4. Have the student again sound out the words from left to right after they have figured out the sounds of the word.

Today is “Summer Learning Day” sponsored by the National Summer Learning Association. To celebrate Summer Learning Day, Reading Horizons is encouraging parents to read with their kids to encourage the development of effective reading skills in their children, especially children that struggle with reading. We would also like to encourage our customers to find the time to have their children work on Reading Horizons program to encourage and promote the reading skills of struggling readers.

Improving the reading skills of struggling readers through the use of Reading Horizons reading program, embodies the ideals of Summer Learning Day in the following ways:

1. Maintain and advance participants' academic and developmental growth

Reading Horizons works to promote users academic and developmental growth by providing struggling readers with a means to overcome their difficulty. As students progress through school their academic growth and success becomes more and more dependent on effective literacy skills. Reading Horizons works to ensure that all students have the opportunity to learn the foundational skills that promote successful reading and eventually a successful education.

2. Support working families

Reading Horizons supports working families by offering a software component which allows students to work through the program entirely on their own. This allows students to improve their reading skills without the direct supervision of their parents. The software can be used by the child under the supervision of any caretaker. The reading program also supports working families with its low cost. Reading Horizons is a cheaper alternative to learning centers and tutors.

3. Keep children safe and healthy

Reading Horizons helps keep children safe and healthy by promoting the development of literacy. Studies have found that 68% of 4th grade students read below grade level and if these students fail to catch up they are at greater risk for: truancy, dropping out of school, juvenile delinquency, substance abuse and teenage pregnancy. Reading Horizons helps prevent the negative consequences of illiteracy by offering reading intervention for struggling readers.

4. Send young people back to school ready to learn

Reading Horizons sends students back to school ready to learn by helping them improve reading skills over the summer. Diligent users of Reading Horizons can improve 2-5 reading levels in 3-6 months with the program. This allows struggling readers to return to school closer to the reading level of their peers and ready to learn new material instead of focusing on relearning skills from the previous school year.

Reading Horizons reading program for struggling readers-->