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In today’s environment, children are surrounded by and interacting with screens and online activities practically from birth. Gone are the days of leafing through (often outdated) encyclopedias or wandering through library stacks doing research. Today’s young student has virtually unlimited access to constantly updated information anywhere, anytime via phones, tablets, and computers. There are also countless applications that make tasks much faster and easier for students to accomplish, including online educational software to help make learning more fun and engaging.

Children with autism have unique and particular needs that often, only their parents can truly understand. For this reason, parents of students with autism often take an active role in their education and may choose to homeschool when suitable specialized programs are not available. A strong support system is crucial and having access to excellent learning resources including an online reading program for autism can be hugely beneficial to students and parents alike. 

Children learn at a remarkable pace. In fact, every day a child is developing skills and thought patterns in practically every area including mobility, critical thinking, and language. In the younger years, learning through play is an excellent way to encourage children to acquire new skills and broaden their intellect. With the use of television, tablets, and video games so prevalent in our society, learning resources including reading software for kindergarten are excellent tools for helping young learners improve their skills. 

All children learn at their own pace, and many young students face a variety of challenges when learning to read. Those students who experience ongoing reading difficulties should be identified as early as possible and should begin an early reading intervention program that can help to reduce or even prevent permanent reading difficulties. 

It is not uncommon to find groups of students at varying levels of reading proficiency, even at the elementary grade level. Kindergarten-Grade 2 teachers can find it difficult to balance the day-to-day classroom curriculum while also dedicating time and resources needed to help struggling students. That’s where a research based phonics program comes in. 

Using phonemic awareness is one of the best ways to predict a student’s ability to read fluently. Phonemic awareness is the ability to clearly hear and differentiate speech sounds and is a critical key to our understanding of what we read. Therefore, in an elementary classroom, a phonemic awareness program is an important tool to help students reach their full learning potential. Phonemic awareness is a cognitive skill consisting of three distinct levels:

Response to Intervention (RTI) is a multi-tiered method of instruction and academic support for struggling learners. The RTI reading program and math program are the most prevalent, however, the RTI model is sometimes applied to behavioral intervention as well. The RTI method is highly effective and used by teachers and school administrators across North America. However, it is important to choose a well-researched program and know how to avoid some of the most common problems when using a reading intervention program. 

It can be said that ELL students work twice as hard in the classroom. They work to keep up with their daily lessons, while also working to learn and understand the English language. It can be a frustrating and disheartening scenario for students and teachers alike. 

As more families make North America their home, the need for quality ELL resources for elementary students continues to rise.  In fact, the Toronto District School Board estimates that more than 50% of students speak a language other than English in their home. 

Dr. Seuss famously penned, “The more you read, the more things you will know. The more you learn, the more places you’ll go.”