Literacy is a gift to our youth:
Nearly 40% of American fourth-graders read below the most basic level – 69% of them are African American and 64% are Hispanic. (National Assessment of Educational Progress)
44% of youth minority are functionally illiterate. (Laubach Literacy Action)
85% of juvenile offenders have reading challenges. (Laubach Literacy Action)
Each year over 700,000 students in the United States graduate from high school unable to read their high school diploma. (San Francisco Chronicle)
95% of the poorest readers can learn to read if given instruction in sound-letter relationships. (National Institutes of Health)
Literacy is a gift to adults:
32 million American adults are illiterate, and another 50 million are functionally illiterate. (National Adult Literacy Survey)
75% of unemployed adults have difficulty reading and writing on a basic level. (Laubach Literacy Action)
24% of all Californians are illiterate. (National Adult Literacy Foundation)
Illiteracy is on the increase in the US by 2.2 million people each year. (Laubach Literacy Action)
Literacy is a gift to society:
65% of all prisoners are functionally illiterate. (Correctional Education Association)
46% of American adults can not understand their medical prescription labels. (American Medical Association)
27% of army enlistees are not able to read training manuals written at a 7th grade level. (Laubach Literacy Action)
Two-thirds of the world’s illiterate people are women.
Literacy is a gift to the business community:
90% of Fortune 1000 executives expressed concern that low literacy is hurting their productivity and profitability. (National Institute for Literacy)
US employers will lose over $225 billion in productivity each year due to employees’ lack of basic skills, $60 billion specifically due to illiteracy. (National Institute for Literacy)
75% of Fortune 500 companies provide remedial training for an estimated 8 million workers at a cost of over $300 million per year. (Laubach Literacy Action)
The Solution to Illiteracy is NOT Money:
Over $350MM each year is targeted for family literacy each year by the federal government. (National Institute for Literacy)
$800MM each year is given in state funds. (National Institute for Literacy)
Hundreds of millions of dollars are privately donated, in addition to Federal and State funds. (National Institute for Literacy)
All of the volunteer programs and government programs, only ever reach less than 10% of those who need help. (This only accounts for the adult problems, and does not even address the problems mounting for our children.)
90% of illiterate adults have never been served by literacy programs and the problem is increasing every year with younger generations of non-readers.
Solutions:
95% of even the poorest readers can learn to read if given proper instruction in sound-letter relationships (phonics).
With only 35 to 45 hours of “coaching”, a child can improve reading skills by one grade level. (National Literacy Foundation)
The solution to teaching a child how to read is in the quality of intervention, for the appropriate quantity of time, beginning at the quintessential age.
There's something great on the horizon!
The LifeRaft System and Expeditions to Excellence have brought together the best product for special education and the best products for phonics-based literacy in one terrific, coordinated philanthropic campaign:
Three Great Products:
The LifeRaft System (Coming Soon)
Expeditions to Excellence: A Fun and Friendly Phonics Safari (Available Now!)
Ready for Excellence (A New Pre-Kindergarten Literacy and Readiness Program Coming Soon)
About Expeditions to Excellence
Get ready to embark on the most awesome journey imaginable! Reading is truly the journey of a lifetime. It is the key to educational success and the door to countless future opportunities. Expeditions to Excellence was created with an exceptional goal in mind: to be the best, most comprehensive, effective and fun reading system ever developed! It was designed to make the critical difference in every child’s life, by using methods and materials integral to the success of each and every boy and girl. Expeditions to Excellence recognizes the different learning needs, styles and abilities of the individual student. It seeks to uncover the special gifts inside every girl and boy. Best of all, the system been scientifically proven in an independent clinical study to work with children with all levels of skills and abilities. No other program on the market today is as thorough or fun, and Expeditions to Excellence is unmatched by any other competitor or reading product.
Expeditions to Excellence uses an easy-to-follow, step-by-step, multi-sensory method to teach phonics and reading. Each Reading Expedition is the equivalent of "base camp" for reading lessons. Every lesson is designed to be taught in sequential order. All of the directions, concepts and activities are outlined in the lessons and are simple to follow and teach. The components of the system that are needed to complete the reading lessons are specified and included within each Reading Expedition.
Expeditions to Excellence is organized using the theme of a safari. Each lesson describes, in a user-friendly way, the underlying phonetic concepts of the lesson and the components of the system necessary to complete the mastery of the reading concept. Expeditions are designed to be completed in a sequential order and each has the mascot of a different animal. As the lessons are completed, students record their progress on the Safari Success Trail. To learn more, view the slideshow or watch the introductory videos featured here.
Literacy is America’s lifeline. It is the most important determinant for future educational achievement, academic performance and success in life. Literacy is not just a part of education; arguably, literacy IS education. It is one of the most valuable gifts we can give to other individuals and to our nation.
Expeditions
to
Excellence
is the recommended reading system for LifeRaft users.
The LifeRaft Foundation
Use Coupon Code "LifeRaft" for your complimentary subscription as a gift to you for your learner from our generous donors!
3 Minute Introductory Video
20 Minute Introductory Video
About the Ready for Excellence Pre-K Reading & Readiness Program
This developmental and literacy readiness program has no equal. It introduces the foundational concepts of phonics and reading, including learning the names of the letters in the alphabet, learning the sounds of the letters, the vowels, the long and short vowel sounds and blending sounds together. It offers all of the board games, fun sheets, videos and songs that accompany the phonics lessons. In addition, Ready-for-Excellence! teaches essential readiness concepts through 14 songs and videos, such as Where Do You Live?, Twelve Months of the Year, The Weather Song, Days of the Week, The Shapes, The Colors, and Thirty Days Has September. Early intervention and preparedness is key to establishing the proper fundamentals for literacy and classroom learning. This is the key to establishing a one-hundred-percent literacy rate. There is a great opportunity to be leaders and to reverse the disturbing trends that our illiteracy statistics demonstrate, and to enlist and utilize the expertise of parents, mentors, student peers and educators at the earliest windows of opportunity. You may click on the images below to view them in a larger format and to view the program in more detail.
