Kanika: Reading to me is one of my favorite things to do and I want so badly for my children to enjoy it, but it can be scary. HOMER’s reading program is proven to increase early learning scores by 74%, so clearly you’re the pro here.
Stephanie (HOMER origin story): I was working at the fund for public schools and my daughter Anya was struggling with reading. I had access to the greatest minds in education and no one could recommend a product they trusted, so I set out to create one.
Kanika: I love that and with Mother’s Day coming up, I just want to celebrate that for a second. There is real power in women starting business to solve parent pain points. What advice do you have for parents listening whose children might be struggling with reading?
Stephanie / Stats:
- Reading is the foundation of a strong education, however it’s not intuitive or natural.
- We also know that if you’re not at reading level by grade 4.
Stephanie / Tips:
- Make your home a reading rich environment
- Subtitles on TV shows
- Leave books all around
- Lead by example
- Create Reading Routine
- The value of bedtime stories – an oldie but a goodie. Proven to help develop literacy skills and bond parents with their children.
- Car time is book time – pick a book before the ride or make the car into a mini library with a small box of books on the back seat
- Weekly library visit
- 20 min / day
- Create a book exchange with your weekly playdate. Each week your child picks out one book to give to their playdate, who borrows it for the week.
Episode Links:
- WEBSITE: LearnWithHomer.com
- INSTAGRAM: @learnwithhomer
- FACEBOOK: /learnwithhomer
