A literacy company is bringing its new program to Delaware to help increase literacy rates in the First State.
Mrs. Wordsmith uses a team of artists, game designers, writers, data scientists, teachers and researchers to build video games, card games and books that teach early reading skills
The company - along with the American Library Association - is donating 750 of those books, video games and card games to libraries across the state to support literacy and make sure kids are reading.
Their goal is to deliver educational content that’s fun and kids want to use.
Mrs. Wordsmith president Brandon Cardet-Hernandez is a former teacher and principal. He explains how the games and books work.
"I think a lot about phonics, those early skills that teach kids how to read, how you sound out words, and I think a lot about vocabulary, closing that vocabulary gap that so many kids, particularly our most vulnerable kids have. And so we build them with an incredible team of educators and linguists. We then design something that's really fun and funny. The idea is to be silly, and that words can have a lot of joy in them. And then we bring them to the world," said Cardet-Hernandez.
The books will be available for kids to check out and take home or use in the library.
Cardet-Hernandez says recent research by the National Literacy Trust based in the UK shows literacy improvement for kids after using their products.
"Some of our products had a 43% increase over semester and vocabulary, so, far exceeding what's happening every day in a classroom,” said Cardet-Hernandez. “We know that our kids love them and part of the journey and reading is that kids are able to stay focused and use it, and so that's been really part of what we're up to and really trying to build it with kids. We co-design all of our products with young people, so they're part of the design work."
Five youth correctional facilities in the state will also receive the resources from Mrs. Wordsmith.
