This episode is the launch of season two to continue to help us explore and answer the question: How can family members and caregivers support kids’ literacy development outside of school, beyond the classroom? Emily Butler Smith and Amanda Hartman share research, insights, and practical advice on supporting literacy development and connection with students of all ages. Bringing their experience as former classroom teachers and current staff developers, parent, and caregiver, they consider the everyday opportunities for joyful and meaningful literacy growth.

Emily Smith and Amanda Hartman reintroduce the podcast, preview what to expect this year, and share key reminders for the start of the new school year. For more in depth ways of starting the new school year we recommend listening to the first episode from season one, Welcome Families, Caregivers, Educators and Friends to Advancing Literacy Beyond the Classroom.

We hope you enjoy and follow the new season!

Episode Resources and Book Recommendations:

• Five Practical Tips for Supporting Literacy at Home (Color) and Five Practical Tips for Supporting Literacy at Home (Black and White)
• Outsmart Your Brain: Why Learning is Hard and How You Can Make it Easy by Daniel T. Willingham

Learn more about Teachers College Advancing Literacy.

Mark your calendar for the Literacy Fest January 30, 2027. A free event for educators, families, and caregivers to learn ways to support literacy inside and outside the classroom.

The views expressed in this episode are solely those of the speaker to whom they are attributed. They do not necessarily reflect the views of the faculty, administration, staff or Trustees either of Teachers College or of Columbia University

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In this episode of Advancing Literacy Beyond the Classroom, hosts Emily Smith, Amanda Hartman, and Kristi Guinness — staff developers at Advancing Literacy at Teachers College, Columbia University — explore the many ways families and caregivers can support children’s reading fluency, which serves as the vital bridge between a child's ability to decode words and their ability to comprehend them. Drawing on research from scholars they discuss how fluency is not merely about speed, but a combination of accuracy, automaticity, and prosody that frees up cognitive resources for deeper understanding. The episode offers practical, creative recommendations for families and caregivers to encourage kids of all ages to build their confidence, voice and oral reading skills.

Episode Resources and Book Recommendations:

• Tips for Engaging your Child - color | black/white
• Hello, Tobi! by Andrea Cásceras
• The Ultimate Book of Water by Anne-Sophie Bauman
• Honeybee by Candace Fleming
• One Big Open Sky by Lesa Cline-Ransome
• Truth Is by Hannah Sawyerr
• Dear America: Young Readers’ Edition by Jose Antonio Vargas

Learn more about Teachers College Advancing Literacy.

If you’d like more tips on supporting at-home literacy, be sure to join and share our FREE Online Family and Caregiver Workshop Series and stay tuned for more podcasts episodes.

The views expressed in this episode are solely those of the speaker to whom they are attributed. They do not necessarily reflect the views of the faculty, administration, staff or Trustees either of Teachers College or of Columbia University.

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