According to the Young Readers Foundation, reading not only helps build focus and comprehension, it also helps children develop empathy, leadership, confidence, and social skills—and developing a few key early literacy skills can help children grow into confident and proficient readers.

With a nod to Benjamin Franklin, let me begin by saying that an ounce of good, quality instruction to prevent reading difficulties is worth a pound of reading remediation.

As we’ve seen in the past two years since the COVID-19 pandemic began, millions of students lost the structure and socialization they were accustomed to.

Maintaining grade-level proficiency in reading and math is essential to student achievement throughout their educational years and beyond, but unfortunately, 22% of American adults are innumerate (functionally illiterate in math), and 21% are illiterate.

Educators continue to find themselves facing the ramifications of pandemic-related disrupted learning and learning loss as we head into a new school year.

Whether you're a parent, a teacher, or just interested in childhood development, you know that reading is one of the most difficult yet impactful skills a child can learn in their early years.