What are Literacy Skills and How Can You Teach Them?

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So how do we teach literacy skills? And what exactly is literacy? Read below to learn more about literacy and how you can teach it at home or in your classroom!

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There’s a common saying in the education field that goes something like, “First you learn to read, then you read to learn.”

One thing I learned in my 15 years of being a Language Arts teacher is that the behemoth of teaching literacy skills and a genuine love for reading can be overwhelming for teachers and parents. But everyone agrees that literacy is an essential element to the foundation of learning.

Reading Horizons At Home: An All-In-One Solution

A simple yet complete at-home program to help your child learn to be a successful reader. Reading Horizons At Home is especially good for struggling readers, kids with dyslexia, ESL students, and homeschooling parents.

TRY IT FOR 30 DAYS

At a loss as to how to teach your kids literacy skills? With options for online only, teacher-guided instruction, and a blend of both, Reading Horizons at home is the perfect all-in-one solution for teaching your kids how to read. Click in the box above to learn more!

What Are Literacy Skills?

Literacy is the ability to read, write, listen, and speak. It is the foundation of communicating with one another and the base from which all other subject learning is built.

From infancy, children are beginning the education of literacy by learning sounds and trying to babble to their parents. Literacy is vital to human life. Without literacy skills, a child would not be able to self-advocate for their needs, share their thoughts, nor pass on any new ideas.

Once a child has the skill of speaking and listening, they then acquire the literacy skills of reading and writing. This is a vast subject that includes comprehension, language usage, grammar, and vocabulary.

So if literacy is so important, how do we teach it? Read on to learn more.

The Role of Phonics in Developing Literacy Understanding

Phonics is a well-established method of teaching literacy. It is the technique of teaching students to read and write by correlating sounds with letters or groups of letters.  

Each letter and group of letters are assigned a sound that will be consistent in most words.

Words are simply codes that we have invented to symbolize an idea. Phonics help students identify and utilize letter sounds to break the code of a word.

The more phonics a child remembers and uses, the more words the child can decipher on their own when reading and writing. This is the method used most often when a teacher asks a child to “sound it out” when reading.

After establishing a phonetic foundation, a student can continue their literacy growth with these skills:

• vocabulary building
• language usage
• mechanics
• grammar
• reading comprehension
• persuasive writing
• narrative writing
• research writing

These skills are sharpened throughout a student’s education and even into adulthood. A child will always want to keep honing these skills to continue to be an effective communicator as an adult.

Reading Horizons At Home

Maybe you already believe in the importance of literacy skills but aren’t sure how to teach literacy in your classroom. If so, Reading Horizons At Home is a great solution for you.

Reading Horizons At Home is a comprehensive approach to teaching phonics, grammar, and vocabulary. It is a reading program that offers two plans that grows with your child’s needs:

• Discovery At Home: A gentle approach to reading for ages 4-9. It offers storybooks that align with your child’s phonetic patterns they are learning.

• Elevate At Home: A literacy solution for older students ages 10+ who struggle with reading or are learning the language.

There are three price categories for both plans:

• Online Software: A yearly web-based subscription. This is an online self directed curriculum that teaches the fundamentals of literacy. It is $199 a year for a 2 student license account.
• Instructor Guided Materials: A teacher manual for teachers and tutors to instruct in person. Prices start at $399 depending on which age level you purchase.
• Blended Instructor Bundle: This is a combination of the online software with the instructor guides to teach live. Prices start at $545 depending on which age level you purchase.

Both plans, regardless of if it is taught online or in person, offers storybooks, vocabulary teaching tools, Lexile reading assessments, and skills-based lessons.

In addition, you’ll receive these services for free:

• Customer Support
• Detailed Student Reporting & Evaluations
• Online Phonics Training

Reading Horizons Special Offers

If your child is struggling to read, has dyslexia, or learning the language as an ESL student, the program’s structured literacy approach helps struggling readers to read and build up their literacy confidence.

Want to try it out to see if this program would work for your child’s needs but aren’t ready to jump in with a big cost commitment?

You can try Reading Horizons At Home for 30 days for just $10! This is a special offer for the online software made for parents who want to make sure they choose the right reading program for their child.

If after 60 days, the program is not the right fit for your student, you have the convenience of a 60 day 100% money back guarantee.

Tips for Teaching Literacy At Home

Ready to jump into literacy at home? Here are a few tips to make your journey into literacy a successful one:

1. Create a Conducive Learning Environment: Allow space for students to get comfortable reading. Use special chairs or loungers to make reading be go-to relaxing activity.
2. Incorporate Reading into Daily Routines: Reading is a skill that needs consistency and frequency. The only way to become a better reader is to keep reading.
3. Use Technology and Interactive Tools: Online resources have made reading fun and exciting. Sounds, movements, and clickable links help bring a text to life.
4. Encourage a Love for Reading Through Book Selection: Lean into your student’s interests and find texts that support them. There are endless options of books in every genre and category.
5. Model Reading to Your Students: It’s hard to claim that reading is fun and never do any reading yourself. As a teacher and parent, share your love for reading by modeling it in front of your students.

More Literacy Resources

Want to learn more about literacy and how to teach it? Check out these articles from our blog:

• Reading Horizons At Home Review
• Reading Boardgames

As society grows and cultural norms shift, one thing remains true throughout human history: people need to be able to effectively communicate with one another. Literacy is the foundation of education and will continue to be the cornerstone of education.

But never fear, we at Hess UnAcademy are here to help resource you and your classroom with the best literacy programs and latest literacy trends. Happy reading and happy learning!