By Michelle Torgerson, CEO of Raising a Reader  The latest national assessment of educational progress results reveal a sobering reality: American children’s reading skills have reached new lows with little sign of post pandemic recovery.  As reported in The New York Times, 40% of 4th graders and 33% of 8th graders now perform at a below basic level in reading and ...

At Raising a Reader, we know that families play a crucial role in a child’s early learning journey. Research consistently shows that strong family connections—especially through shared reading—can boost a child’s confidence, school readiness, and love of learning. Why Family Connections Matter Studies show that when families feel confident and engaged in their child’s educational journey, children are more likely ...

Winter may be in full swing, but now is the time to plan for summer learning! While students enjoy snow days and cozy reading indoors, educators, schools, and libraries can take steps to ensure every child has access to books at home when school is out. Super Summer Learning Adventures (SSLA) makes it easy to build home libraries that keep children engaged, learning, and ready for the ...

We all know that story time is a wonderful way to foster a love for reading and build early literacy skills. But did you know that it’s also a perfect opportunity to support young children’s math development?   When families use reading time at home to talk about numbers, shapes, patterns, and measurements, they help children build foundational math skills that ...