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Open-Source Early Literacy Materials Gaining Some Attention

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the not-often-you-can-say-children-and-free-in-the-same-sentence dept.

phooky writes "Although open teaching materials have been available at the university level for a while now, there have been very few materials for younger learners. That's beginning to change now with the advent of Free-Reading, a free, wiki-based resource for early literacy instruction. The availability of free materials could free up millions of dollars from school budgets for more teachers and training. From the USA Today article: 'Last fall, a Florida textbook adoption committee approved Free-Reading, a remediation program for primary-school children that's believed to be the first free, open-source reading program for K-12 public schools. It's awaiting approval by Eric Smith, the state's incoming education commissioner, who could approve it by mid-December. Florida is one of the top five textbook markets in the USA, so its move could lead to the development of other free materials that might someday challenge the dominance of a handful of big educational publishers.'"

3 of 73 comments (clear)

  1. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  2. Literacy Council by Ambiguous+Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    While we're on the topic, I MUST supply the obligatory plug:

    Please, please, PLEASE consider volunteering with the Literacy Council. You have enjoyed being able to read for (likely) some time now, and many people lack this ability. LC is a wonderful group. They will pair you with a student that meets your specifications. Young, old, male, female, disability, ESL, you name it. You can truly help people here, and it's such an easy thing to do.

    My wife volunteers and is currently assisting an ESL mother-of-two learn to read english. I am in the process of learning to teach younger children. You do not need any prior experience, and LC will provide you with help and instruction to get you and your student started. Location is not an issue. Whether your in downtown San Francisco, or Fairbanks, Alaska, you can help.

    Again, PLEASE consider volunteering. You could literally change someone's life.

    Literacy Council
    http://www.literacycouncil.org/

    Disclaimer: I am not a Literacy Council representative in any way, I just think you should offer your time and expertise to those who lack the latter.

    -G

    --
    Their may be a grammatical error, misspeling, or evn a typo in this post.
  3. Holy Shit - I want to be a Superintendent by fat_mike · · Score: 4, Interesting

    No wonder they are looking for "free" alternatives, his starting salary is $197,000 with another $100,000 in benefits and other incentives.

    Half the teachers at my high school in Missouri are on food stamps.