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Launch HN: Litnerd (YC S21) – Teaching kids to read with the help of live actors

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Re: Launch HN: Litnerd (YC S21) – Teaching kids to read with the help of live actors

#11

Post by k_sears »

pj_mukh wrote: post #10

"1 in 8 Americans is functionally illiterate. Like any skill, reading is a habit. If you grew up in a household where you did not see your parents reading, you likely do not develop the habit.This correlates to the socio-economic divide. Two thirds of American students who lack reading skills by the end of fourth grade will rely on welfare as adults." All of this was so very striking to read. Causation =/= Correlatio…

Coupled with teachers working unpaid hours it is somewhat frightening (even if you are not a parent). And we wonder why our society has issues that are so divisive? There is a line between those who are well educated and informed, and those who are not, that starts in elementary school!

Re: Launch HN: Litnerd (YC S21) – Teaching kids to read with the help of live actors

#15

Post by Anisa_Mirza »

mercurywells wrote: post #13

What would pricing look like for homeschoolers or parents that want to participate but their school is not? Are you targeting that demo at all?

We 100% have intention to open up our model to the homeschool community! For now, we wanted to continue testing and adapting our program in classrooms until we feel confident it is ready for more independent format (homeschool parents). I am hoping in the next 6-8 months we can launch B2C version!

Re: Launch HN: Litnerd (YC S21) – Teaching kids to read with the help of live actors

#17

Post by k_sears »

(Litnerd person here). My daughter’s school used Epic, and one of the things we found frustrating was that it was only “free” until 3PM and then if she wanted to continue reading we (the parents) had to buy a subscription (and it was not cheap IMHO). One of the things I love is that this is coming through the school, and will not cost the parents a dime. We cannot expect to impact literacy in lower income households by adding to their overtaxed budgets!

Re: Launch HN: Litnerd (YC S21) – Teaching kids to read with the help of live actors

#18

Post by Anisa_Mirza »

MyHypatia wrote: post #16

My niece and nephew are learning to read, and are currently home schooled. I would love to give them a gift card or subscription for their birthday so that they can access this content. Is that possible?

First off, thank you so much for considering gifting us to your niece and nephew!! Unfortunately we don’t open our B2C stream until another 6-8 months (as a new company, we want to really monitor our program and it’s correlation to learning outcomes in the classroom before we spread wider to the B2C setting). I would love to email you early access and some sort of early adopter discount when we’re ready! my email is anisa@litnerd.com

Re: Launch HN: Litnerd (YC S21) – Teaching kids to read with the help of live actors

#19

Post by subpixel »

mchusma wrote: post #2

My feedback as a father of 3 in 1st grade, kinder, and preschool is that I could not figure out what was different about this then other things out there. Good luck!

This is Reading Rainbow, the subscription version. As a parent of a very young reader, here are my thoughts.

- a video component to a reading program is a distraction, not a value-add, until around grade 4. young kids are mesmerized (this should be in all caps) by video, and before around grade 4 video will create a contest for kids' attention that reading will lose. they won't think "I want to read more so I can follow these programs" they will instead think "I want to watch tv".

- to teach kids to read, and to encourage them to enjoy reading, you need to read with them. there is no substitute for this. talking to them about reading, watching videos about reading, etc. are time wasted that could be spent patiently reading, together.

Re: Launch HN: Litnerd (YC S21) – Teaching kids to read with the help of live actors

#20

Post by Anisa_Mirza »

subpixel wrote: post #19
mchusma wrote: post #2

My feedback as a father of 3 in 1st grade, kinder, and preschool is that I could not figure out what was different about this then other things out there. Good luck!

This is Reading Rainbow, the subscription version. As a parent of a very young reader, here are my thoughts. - a video component to a reading program is a distraction, not a value-add, until around grade 4. young kids are mesmerized (this should be in all caps) by video, and before around grade 4 video will create a contest for kids' attention that reading will lose. they won't think "I want to read more so I can fol…

Hey there! Thank for comment. I believe some of what we do did not come across? We are not just a video subscription tool. We literally lead 'read out loud' in the classroom while the teacher/actor is acting out the main character in the book. We have a weekly designated Litnerd period in the schools/classes we serve and we live-stream in our teachers/actors for an interactive session (the students participate and read live with the actor as well as complete written lesson plans, phonetic exercises etc). We are currently serving 14,000 students in this manner.
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