Teaching students to read is so much more than sitting them down in front of a book. It takes an intentional mix of explicit classroom lessons, individualized support, and family engagement to help children develop strong reading skills. But, how do we know what strategies will work best? Have you
Learn about phonological awareness, the ability to hear and manipulate units of sound within words. Then discover strategies to help students develop phonological awareness skills—with 10 free rhyming books for read-aloud experiences at school and at home! What Is Phonological Awareness and Why Is It Important? Phonological awareness skills help
Math and reading are often seen as separate subjects with little crossover between the two—which couldn’t be further from the truth. Practicing math skills can contribute to a student’s literacy development. Likewise, a literacy curriculum can help PreK and early elementary students develop the reading comprehension skills they need to
Back-to-school season is such an exciting time for young learners. It’s the beginning of a year full of new milestones to come, including learning skills, and emotional growth–especially in early education! But it can also be overwhelming for families as they wonder what their child’s early learning and development standards
Understanding the science behind how children learn to read is the starting point for creating effective classroom instruction. One of the most well-known, concise, and grounded models of literacy development is the Simple View of Reading. This is a framework that represents reading proficiency as the product of two factors.
Back-to-school is an exciting time for students – and their teachers. It’s a natural opportunity for you and your class to make connections with each other. Building those positive inter-student relationships early can improve everyone’s school year. That includes positive relationships between students and teachers, researchers have found. Here are
When families play an active role in their child’s education, students feel more confident and academic achievement improves on a schoolwide level. By giving families a voice in your school, you can partner with them to help students reach their potential. Read on to find out what family-teacher partnerships involve
SANTA FE, N.M. — Waterford.org, a national early education not-for-profit organization, is continuing its partnership with the New Mexico Early Childhood Education & Care Department (ECECD) to offer its proven-effective learning program to PreK-aged children across the state. The partnership is even more expansive, making Waterford’s adaptive software and accompanying
Teamwork makes the dream work. Your school’s team consists of your students, school administrators, teachers, and other faculty and support staff. But it’s important to have every teammate in the bullpen. Don’t forget who needs to be included: your students’ families. It can be challenging at times to get families
Candra Morris is the Vice President of Professional Learning here at Waterford.org. She recently sat down with us to talk about family engagement, student success, and building relationships. We like to say she wrote the book on family engagement in schools—because she did! What makes you so passionate about family
