Highlights of Summer 2020

The Sing Out and READ team is extremely proud of the progress made by its Family Literacy Project (FLiP) participants over the course of the last few months.

The Sing Out and READ team is extremely proud of the progress made by its Family Literacy Project (FLiP) participants over the course of the last few months. Even with the pandemic, we were able to expand last summer’s successful pilot program for two dozen families to reach over 100 families this summer. These at-risk families were largely from two schools in Pinellas County and one in Vero Beach, FL. Students were required to use their program-loaded, cellular-enabled tablets for 90 minutes per week. Once again, we were blown away by the number of kids who instead did double or triple that time on the program. Here are call-outs for some of these determined students.

Mi’kaivion, a Pinellas 4th grader reported "Singing with my tablet, I got better at reading than I was before. And now I’m reading chapter books." Mi’kaivion’s mom told us "Every morning he shuts himself in his room and does Sing Out and READ for at least one hour...His teacher said he has more confidence in class now."

A third-grader from Vero Beach, Maryah, has the most minutes of any student this summer with approximately 4,700 minutes on the program! Maryah’s teacher shared that her words correct per minute count has increased significantly from 88 to 103. That shows a large improvement in reading level. Another child in the same class, Evania, has grown her oral reading fluency from 78 wcpm to 109. Evania has also passed 93% of her song quizzes, demonstrating a very high level of reading comprehension.

We were also fortunate to work with Tampa Bay’s Metropolitan Ministries Summer Camp in Hillsborough County, FL. Metropolitan Ministries is an acclaimed nonprofit providing practical solutions for families that are experiencing homelessness. Cheers to the counselors and kids as they completed their 9-week camp during these challenging COVID months.

Ninety children, ages 7-10, enjoyed using our sing-to-read program for the first time.

The rising 3rd graders completed the most program time. Even though their session was three weeks shy of our normal 12-week program, they still averaged almost 1 year’s gain in reading level.

Congratulations to all of these children and families who diligently sang their song lessons either at home or in a summer program. As a result, they are heading back to school with stronger reading skills, thereby setting themselves up for success in today’s extra-challenging learning environment.