Knowledgebase

1. Are Read Naturally programs appropriate for homeschoolers?

Most Read Naturally materials were designed to serve groups of students in a traditional school setting. However, our programs are also appropriate for a homeschool setting.

• The Read Naturally Strategy programs (Read Naturally Live or Read Naturally Encore) are appropriate for any situation: a tutor (or parent) with a single student; a single teacher with a few students; or a large district with dozens of schools, hundreds of teachers, and thousands of students. Read Naturally GATE is ideal for beginning readers who are not yet ready to work mostly independently.
• The One Minute Reader program was designed for supplemental, independent reading. One Minute Reader applies the Read Naturally Strategy to a simplified format that is easy to implement and manage. One Minute Reader offers all the advantages of the Read Naturally Strategy without the complexity and cost of Read Naturally Live. It is available as One Minute Reader Live (a component of web-based Read Live), as books/audio CDs with record sheets,  and as individual books with audio CDs for home use.
• Funēmics (phoneme awareness), Word Warm-ups (phonics), Signs for Sounds (phonics/spelling), Take Aim! at Vocabulary, and Splat-O-Nym (vocabulary) are also good options for homeschool educators. These affordable programs were designed for use in schools, but they are easily implemented in a homeschool setting.

2. Which students are best served by Read Naturally programs?

The Read Naturally Strategy is highly effective for struggling readers and students with learning disabilities who read within the range of grades 1-8.  Because the programs use high-interest, non-fiction stories, they are used successfully with dyslexic students, English language learners, high school students, adult GED students, etc.

3. How can homeschool educators receive training on the Read Naturally Strategy?

To understand the Read Naturally Strategy, you can view the webinar video:  Reading for Meaning—Fluently.  

To make it easy to implement the programs with fidelity, we have created Fidelity Checklists. Think of these checklists as the Cliffs Notes for each program. They highlight the most important information for you to consider as you check your implementation.

A variety of program-specific training and resource options are available on the Read Naturally website: 

Read Naturally Live 

• Read Live videos and webinars
• Read Live Smart Start Guide
• Read Live User Guide
• Read Naturally Live:  How It Works

Read Naturally Encore

• Webinar Video:  Read Naturally Encore:  Implementing the Steps
• Read Naturally Encore Teacher’s Manual
• Read Naturally Encore Placement Packet
• Read Naturally Encore:  How It Works

Read Naturally GATE

• Webinar Video:  Read Naturally GATE:  Reading Intervention for Small Groups
• Read Naturally GATE:  How It Works

One Minute Reader Live

• One Minute Reader Live:  How It Works

One Minute Reader Books/audio CDs

• One Minute Reader:  Placing Students
• One Minute Reader Books/CDs:  How It Works

Word Warm-ups

• Word Warm-ups Teacher’s Manuals: Level 1, Level 2, Level 3
• Word Warm-ups:  How It Works

Signs for Sounds

• Signs for Sounds Teacher’s Manual
• Signs for Sounds:  How It Works

Funēmics

• Webinar Video:  Funēmics:  Phonemic Awareness in 3D
• Funēmics Teacher’s Manual
• Funēmics:  How It Works

Take Aim! at Vocabulary

• Take Aim! at Vocabulary Teacher’s Manual
• Take Aim! at Vocabulary:  How It Works

Splat-O-Nym

• Splat-O-Nym:  How It Works

4. What type of content is used in Read Naturally programs?

All Read Naturally Strategy programs (Read Naturally Live, Read Naturally Encore, Read Naturally GATE, and One  Minute Reader: web app or books with audio CDs) use high-interest, nonfiction stories. The stories in each level represent a diverse range of topics that cover several content areas (e.g., history, science, and biography). Because age-specific imagery and topics are avoided, the content is engaging for older students who are reading at lower levels. (High-interest, nonfiction stories are also used in Word Warm-ups and Take Aim! at Vocabulary.)

Funēmics incorporates popular nursery rhymes into each of its lessons.  For this reason, we recommend Funēmics for students under the age of nine.

5. The price for one seat in Read Naturally Live is very expensive. Is there a price break for homeschool educators?

Read Naturally Live uses a tiered pricing system in which the cost per student decreases as the number of students enrolled in the program increases. Homeschool educators can take advantage of these volume discounts by teaming up with others in a homeschool community or network.