Stories From Home
The time and care that software developer Juan Rios and his wife have put into reading with their kids paints a clear picture of what parent engagement looks like in practice, in action, but most importantly, in real life.
Born in Colombia, Rios grew up with a dad who couldn’t read until he was 11. “I should be part of the statistics,” said Rios. “But my dad used his struggle with reading to make sure my brothers and I got to a point where we could succeed in life.”
Rios became a father of four boys of his own shortly after emigrating from Columbia in the 1990s. “My wife and I made certain commitments that we’re going to give our kids an even better life.”
Watch Rios share stories of the work he did with his children at home very early on—while he and his wife held down jobs—first teaching them to self sufficiently read on their own in Spanish, then introducing English. This is a great example of what it takes for parents to make a difference in their kids’ education and what we need to do at home, before school even begins, to Get Georgia Reading.
Then go back and watch Episode 10, where Kenney Moore tell us how about the hard, but necessary, work we need to do to Get Georgia’s kids with hearing loss on the same page with reading proficiency.