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In elementary school, I remember participating in a reading incentive program with a simple premise: The more books I read, the more points I’d receive toward a reward. Because of the reward, my classmates and I were highly motivated to spend our free time reading. What’s not to love about a program like that?

There was just one problem. I could read a long, challenging chapter book slightly above my reading level in the same amount of time it took my classmate to read a dozen quick, easy books below his reading level. Who earned more points? My classmate. What did I learn? Quantity beats quality. Don’t challenge yourself.

The program had a fantastic mission, but there was an unintended consequence for me and many other students. Unfortunately, this kind of thing happens often in schools. The only way to avoid it is for teachers to take the time to scrutinize the practices and programs they put to use in their classrooms. Are we doing things out of habit or because others are doing them? Or are we doing things because they truly promote learning? A good educator is one who observes and adjusts—constantly and relentlessly. Read more

Learning to decode words is a difficult skill in its own right. ELL students have the added challenge of learning this skill in a nonnative language. It goes without saying that these students need lots of extra support. What should this support look like? Read more

It sounds too good to be true, but it’s not! Any Read Live student can continue working in the program from home if you set his/her parent up as a program helper. We encourage you to let parents know this is an option. Read more

As a mother of three young children who are drawn to the iPad like moths to a flame, it’s a little hard for me to write a blog post about the upside of screen time. Mostly I see the iPad as a frequent source of conflict in my house. And yet, I’m well aware that there is an upside to this technology. Read more

The inclusion of our Idioms series in the latest Read Live release is a significant upgrade to the program. Are you wondering why and how to take advantage of this new content? Here’s what you need to know: Read more

We’re pleased to announce that our latest Read Live update, version 1.9, has gone live. This update is free for all Read Live clients and offers new content and a number of enhancements. If your students use the Read Naturally iPad app, you’ll need to download the latest version of the app from the iTunes App Store. Here are the main features of this update. Read more

Some ELL students learning to read in English may need additional support in the Read Along step of Read Naturally Strategy programs. We've built this extra support into many of our levels for Spanish-speaking ELL students. Read more

You’ve made the investment in Read Naturally Live; now you want the best possible results for your struggling readers. To achieve this, proper training in the program is essential. We offer excellent full-day seminars and individual coaching services, but we also recognize that many teachers have limited funds and full schedules. If this is you, we have an easy solution for you. Read more

An increasing number of schools are implementing iPad programs, which means an increasing number of teachers are looking for the best apps to improve reading proficiency. If this is you, we're pleased to inform you that Read Naturally offers two highly successful, highly affordable apps: Read Live and One Minute Reader. Which one is right for you? Read more

Nearly 25 years ago, Read Naturally founder Candyce Ihnot and her daughter Jane wrote the first-ever Read Naturally stories. The hardworking mother-daughter pair did research at the local library and penned stories at the kitchen table. As they worked together to create content they were proud of, they never imagined that these stories would someday be enjoyed by students across the globe. But that’s exactly what happened. Read more