SALT LAKE CITY & TALLAHASSEE, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Waterford Institute, creators of early literacy programs for grades PreK-2 is delighted to celebrate Florida’s 20th Annual Children’s Week.
“Young children are naturally eager to learn and explore,” remarked Dr. Benjamin Heuston, President of Waterford Institute. “It’s vital to provide the appropriate materials and structure to children so that they can get off to a successful academic start.
“The cornerstone to academic success is reading,” he continued. “Literacy is the life-changing difference that we must make a priority with our youngest learners. When we work together with parents, teachers and administrators to help children read well and read early, we set them up for a lifetime of success and a love of learning.
In order to help promote that love of reading, Florida school districts using Waterford will participate in activities such as reading Waterford’s collection of children’s literature, Traditional Tales, and book donations such as 312 books for a read-along at Oakridge Elementary School, part of Leon County Schools in Tallahassee.
The books read this week are a component of Waterford’s award-winning Waterford Early Learning program that children in Florida have been using for two decades. Research-proven and teacher-approved, Waterford has been shown to help children acquire the fundamental skills of reading in appropriate and engaging ways. Its careful design and adaptive pedagogy have also been shown to be uniquely effective for English Language Learners and for children with special needs.
“I am a believer in computer assisted instruction [referring to Waterford],” says Chris Sandy, principal of Stanton-Weirsdale Elementary School, part of Marion County Public Schools in Weirsdale, Fla. “Kids will make progress. This is what we do, and it works.”
About Waterford Early Learning
Millions of children around the world have learned how to read with Waterford Early Learning, which provides each student with personalized, self-paced instruction through adaptive learning software. Accessing over 8,000 learning activities, books and songs, each child receives the instruction they need, when they need it. Scaffolded and research-based, Waterford is rigorous, comprehensive and proven to help children master phonological awareness, phonics, comprehension and vocabulary, language concepts through grammar and writing, and reading fluency.
Waterford's software also gives teachers actionable data that provides insights into student progress at the individual and whole class level. Teachers and administrators each have a portal accessible anytime, on any device where they can login to access these reports. Waterford teachers use these reports for monitoring progress, building lesson plans, identifying areas of difficulty, and to track student growth throughout the year.
About Waterford
Waterford Institute is a nonprofit research center that creates personalized cloud-based instruction through award-winning curriculum, content and assessment for children aged PreK through 2nd grade. As a nonprofit, Waterford is uniquely focused on providing accessibility, equity and excellence for our youngest learners to position them for a lifetime of learning and success. For more information, visit www.waterford.org or call 801-349-2200.
About Children’s Week
Children’s Week is the only true broad-based promotion of children and family issues in Florida. Children’s Week is now supported by more than 100 different corporate, non-profit, philanthropic, and faith based organizations. www.childresweek.org
