Why I’m SO Happy about Savvy Reading

Savvy Reading is real-time reading coaching for children – if your child is eager to learn to read, needs help staying at grade level, works better with an adult that’s not their parent or would benefit from more consistent practice, Savvy is for you! Plus, use the code JANSSEN25 for $25 off every month of your subscription!

In August, I announced Savvy Reading, a reading program Bart and I have been working on this year along with a team of amazing reading specialists, curriculum designers, teachers and technologists.

If you missed that post, the basic idea for Savvy Reading is individual or small group (2-4 kids total) live online reading classes led by a coach that help your child become a confident and skilled reader.

We had a soft launch at the end of August for classes starting in September and it’s been so amazing to see Savvy Reading come to life since then.

The response has been incredible and I’m so grateful for every family who has trusted us from Day 1 to help their children learn to read competently and, just as importantly, learn to LOVE reading.

Here are some of the messages we’ve gotten over the past month from enrolled families: 

I signed up my 4th grader immediately in August and it has been such a blessing. We have been struggling with Dyslexia and now she is actually enjoying reading. THANK YOU!

Just wanted to send along our happiness with Savvy! My reluctant reader 1st grader is LOVING his time with Taryn every afternoon. He doesn’t want to do his virtual schooling every day, but perks up and is so engaged for these sessions every afternoon. So thankful!!

I love listening to my daughter be excited about reading . . . she spends her days sounding out words. Savvy Reading is amazing!

My 2nd grader fights every Zoom of the day minus his 7 am with Ms. Courtney

Savvy classes are for all children at a kindergarten through second grade level and you can register here! (Classes are based on reading level, not age, so if you have a child older than second grade who needs help, they can still participate in a second grade level classroom).

Savvy Reading might be for you if:

• Your child is struggling with reading and needs help getting to grade level.
• Your child is ready to start learning to read but you don’t have the time or ability to teach them yourself
• You’re homeschooling and you want your child to have interaction with other children.
• Your child responds better to an adult that isn’t their parent
• You struggle with consistency working with your child on your own and need a built in program that makes it easy for your child to get the consistent practice they need

If any of those sound like you or your child, Savvy might be the perfect fit for your family.

It’s been especially fun because not only am I working on it on the back end, but we also enrolled both Ani (who is in second grade) and Star (who is in kindergarten) as students (they are both in group classes). Star’s class is in the mornings, before she goes to kindergarten, while Ani’s is in the afternoon a few hours after she gets home from school.

It’s been astounding to me to see not only their technical abilities grow but also their enthuasim for reading.

Last month, for the first time, Star started picking up books on her own and working her way through them. This has NEVER happened, even though I’ve been working with her on reading for more than a year.

And in our evening reading practice, Ani now requests to finish the book she’s reading aloud to me instead of stopping  after 15 minutes. Again, this has NEVER happened.

And although I try to read with each of them every night, it’s so nice to know that on days when things go off the rails or I’m gone or it gets too late, that they already have had solid reading practice for the day.

The phonics-based curriculum is super engaging and fun for kids and the coaches are STELLAR.

A few weeks ago, Star was having an incredibly grumpy morning and nothing I did calmed her down. We went over to my in-laws house to can some applesauce and I took my laptop with me so she wouldn’t miss her Savvy class. For the first 30 minutes at my in-laws, she continued to march around in a huff, mad at the world. When it was time for her Savvy class, I set her up in a quiet space and 25 minutes later, she came out beaming, declaring, “Savvy really cheered me up.”

I’m delighted with the success of Savvy Reading, of course, on the business side, but as a parent, I’m just SO GRATEFUL to have this resource.

Classes meet online in real-time for 25 minutes, Monday through Thursday. There are a whole bunch of different class times so you can choose the one that fits your schedule best.

You can also choose from group lessons (2-4 students) or individual lessons and you can choose a month-to-month plan which means you can cancel at any time or get a lower price with an annual plan.

Once you’ve signed up, you lock in that price forever, so you’ll always keep that discount, even after the prices go up. You can also switch between group and individual sessions or start on a month-to-month plan to try it out and then switch to an annual plan and get the discounted price for any of those options.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask them and I’ll do my best to answer them all!

And most of all, thank you for all your enthusiasm and kindness about Savvy Reading – I can’t tell you how much every nice message or email or comment means to me.