A Healthy Diet Makes for Better Reading Skills

If you’re a child between 6 and 8 and are learning to read, a healthy diet may be a key to greater reading success according to a new study. Researchers at the University of Eastern Finland tracked children’s reading progress from grades 1 to 3; according to a study published in the September 2016 European … Continue reading “A Healthy Diet Makes for Better Reading Skills”


Guest Blog: Robert Burnett, Individual User, on the AceReader Program

[Editor’s note: This is the second in an occasional series of guest blogs from a variety of AceReader users.] My reading efforts over the years have been an up and down journey. By the time I was four, I was already reading storybooks, and as a young kid I was a frequent, engaged reader. The … Continue reading “Guest Blog: Robert Burnett, Individual User, on the AceReader Program”


Reading Formats – Should You Use Print or Electronic Material?

Paper or plastic? It’s a question we get asked a lot these days, but not only at the grocery store. As we move further into the digital age, there is a growing debate about the effectiveness of reading a book in a traditional, paper-based format versus reading it in on an eReader or other screen-based … Continue reading “Reading Formats – Should You Use Print or Electronic Material?”


The Need for Reading

In our social media-obsessed world, there seems to be less and less time for reading books. Gone are the days when kids would plead with their parents at bedtime for “just one more story,” and when they would hide out under the covers with a flashlight and a book, hoping not to get caught reading … Continue reading “The Need for Reading”


The Value of Re-reading Books

While many students are given credit of some sort for reading books during the school year (or completing a summer reading assignment), they are rarely, if ever, given credit for re-reading material. Yet some of the greatest insights into literature can only come about on a second, third, or fourth read. And, some of the … Continue reading “The Value of Re-reading Books”


Literacy Begins Early

A new report from Alberta, Canada indicates that fewer students are entering kindergarten each year with the necessary literacy skills to begin reading. As a result, according to Christie Watson, lead teacher of the Comprehensive Literacy program, only 78% of kindergarteners in the 2015-2016 school year were prepared enough to move on to Grade 1 … Continue reading “Literacy Begins Early”


Physical Exercise and Learning

When you want to make your body fit, you exercise. When you want to make your brain sharper, you also exercise? And we’re not talking about crossword puzzles or mind games here, but actual, physical aerobic exercise. Why should that be? Let’s take a look at what we know so far about the correlation between … Continue reading “Physical Exercise and Learning”


Visualization and its Role in Reading

Visualization is a large part of the learning process. We picture how a word looks or mentally “see” how a character looks as he is described by the author. But what if you weren’t able to visualize? Some people can’t. The condition is called “aphantasia,” and we’re only beginning to understand how this affects the … Continue reading “Visualization and its Role in Reading”


Speed Reading vs Reading Efficiency

Some people claim that speed reading is impossible – that’s not exactly true. If by “speed reading” you mean reading at 2,000 or more words per minute (wpm) with 100% comprehension on all types of text, then, no, it’s not possible unless you have a photographic memory with perfect recall. Most of us don’t fall … Continue reading “Speed Reading vs Reading Efficiency”