Finding consistency for your young readers whether they are online or in-class.

As whispers of ‘that new variant’ started to spread a few weeks ago, I could almost hear the collective sigh. For educators and parents alike, returning to online learning vs. a physical classroom is the question on everybody’s lips. Now, I’m a Speech-Language Pathologist so I do a bit of both, but let’s not beat around the bush; another dollop of change is hard. Energising your students when you don’t feel energised is hard. Providing stability when the world doesn’t exactly feel stable is hard.

But something struck me when I was planning my January sessions. It isn’t March 2020 anymore. We already know how to do this; in fact we’ve already done it. Twice. And this feels like it might be a shorter stint too. So, like any diligent Speech-Language Pathologist, I thought about the one word I would give to my students, the one thing that has been the biggest game changer. After some back and forth, I settled on: ‘consistency’. We do this all the time; an educator’s ability to find pockets of consistency within all of this change is, frankly, a superpower.

I see the impact of consistency every day at Simbi. I see the power of regular daily reading for students, not just as their fluency and comprehension improves, but as their opinions and motivation grow too. I see the power of educators consistently being able to listen back to a student’s reading and respond to their progress. In reading, as with many other areas, consistency is power.

We all have different ways of finding consistency for our students, but if you’ve read this far, perhaps you’re interested in how Simbi can support your students’ reading journeys. This simple guide includes some resources and ideas for how to support your readers through this next chapter and maybe Simbi’s reading platform can help too!

What options do I have?

Educators can choose to set up a free Educator account, or, can recommend that families set up their own accounts to read at home with their children for free. Educators can access a free unlimited access 2 week trial of Simbi Premium, with the option to upgrade to a yearly subscription for only $99 at the end.

How does Simbi offer consistency for teachers?

• Set up your whole class up in one group or smaller groups to mirror how it works in your physical classroom with this ‘getting started’ video
• Access consistently high quality, diverse globally focused books in our library from top publishers like National Geographic, Oxford University Press and Harper Collins
• Access consistent reading insights, allowing you to target strengths and areas for improvement
• Listen-in to all of your students’ narrations and responses to comprehension questions, and provide differentiated verbal feedback for each student
• Create customized assignments from Simbi’s diverse Library for each reading group.

How does Simbi offer consistency for students?

• Students access our global library with thousands of books, any time, anywhere.
• Students earn stars, and explore our new worlds as they progress through their Reading Journey
• Students earn volunteer hours by narrating books and helping others around the world learn to read
• Families access consistent information about their child’s reading activity, and discover areas for improvement

I’m pretty sure that the next few weeks are going to throw some changes at us. But whether your students are in school or at home, we’re here to keep them moving forwards on their reading journey.