Literate kids don’t happen by accident, they happen when families and schools work together. And this year at Innovations Academy (IA), a tuition-free K-8 public school in San Diego, that partnership is thriving
Our second annual “One School, One Genre” program brought the school community together around verse novels — Little Dog, Lost by Marion Bauer for K-4 and Crossover by Kwame Alexander for grades 5-8 — and the response has been genuinely heartwarming. Families are reading together. Kids are asking for more!
That excitement has sparked a new conversation. Several families have reached out to our reading specialist Jennifer Franklin and to classroom teachers with the same question: what can we do at home to keep this going?
We love that question.
The IA Approach to Literacy
At Innovations Academy, we believe every child deserves to be a strong reader and to discover that reading can be one of life’s great pleasures. Jennifer works with students individually and in small groups, and she collaborates with classroom teachers to bring targeted reading instruction into everyday learning. The goal is always the same: move students from learning to read to reading to learn as confidently and joyfully as possible.
For the past two years, Jennifer has been using research-backed strategies from Marnie Ginsberg’s Reading Simplified program. Students who previously struggled are building real fluency. Kids who already love reading are expanding their reach.
What You Can Do at Home
The good news? You don’t need to be a reading specialist to make a difference. Jennifer has been sharing strategies from Marnie Ginsberg’s Reading Simplified program with families, and the full resource is worth bookmarking: 5 Proven Ways to Support Your Child’s Reading. Here’s a quick overview of what Ginsberg recommends:
Read aloud every day. Daily read-alouds strengthen your child’s brain, vocabulary, and love of stories — and they’re good for your relationship, too.
Listen to your child read. Sit with them, let them read to you, and offer encouraging, low-key coaching on tricky words.
Play with sounds in words. Simple games that involve blending, segmenting, or playing with word sounds build the phonemic awareness that underpins strong reading.
Encourage all kinds of writing. Writing reinforces reading. Ask your child to write about their day, their books, or anything that interests them.
Build knowledge about the world. Wide-ranging curiosity — about history, science, geography, art — creates the foundation strong readers draw on. Books, conversations, videos, and podcasts all count.
Visit the link above for videos, app suggestions, and more ways to put each strategy into practice.
Keep the Momentum Going
Our recent Book Fair Week was a great opportunity for families to build their home libraries and let kids choose something they were genuinely excited to read. That spirit of choosing your own reading adventure is something we encourage year-round. Highly literate readers don’t happen by accident, they happen when the adults in their lives make reading meaningful.
Summer is coming sooner than we would like to admit so here’s a link to the American Library Association’s summer reading list of ideas. And San Diego offers a summer reading program that’s free and starts June 4th. So many ways to keep reading going until our next literacy program begins!
Is having a strong reader important to you? Schedule a tour at innovationsacademy.org or call 858-271-1414. We’re enrolling now for 2026-27.
About Innovations Academy:
Innovations Academy is a tuition-free public charter school serving kindergarten through eighth grade in San Diego, California. Our small school values a hands-on, inquiry-based education with high academic standards using self-expression, compassionate connection, and purposeful learning. Our new modern campus is intentionally designed with curiosity and exploration in mind. Join our innovative school today! Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. Find us at innovationsacademy.org.