Every 18 months Reading Horizons invites their distributors and trainers from across the country to join together at their headquarters, in Salt Lake City, Utah. During the conference we bond, receive training and share our vision of helping individuals improve their reading skills. The 2010 conference was enjoyed by all who attended.
The Reading Horizons staff provided training on various subjects including, what's new with Reading Horizons v5 curriculum, research supporting Reading Horizons v5, and the future of marketing, just to name a few. The highlight of the conference was Dr. Neil J. Anderson, who presented, "Five reason why ELLs (English Language Learners) benefit from explicit phonics instruction." Dr. Anderson is a Professor of Linguistics and English Language at Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah. He also serves as the Coordinator of the English Language Center. He teaches courses in the TESOL Master’s program as well as language classes to second language learners. In his presentation he pointed out that:
1. There are English decoding rules, so why not explicitly teach them?
2. Reading fluency increases as learners have strong decoding skills.
3. Oral reading improves when learners can correctly decode the words.
4. Spelling improves when learners have strong decoding skills.
5. Motivation and confidence increase when learners read well.
Not only were the conference sessions informative, but we, as a Reading Horizons team, were able to connect and bond. We come from all over the world but we have a common goal: Imagine all the good we can do as we teach reading strategies to improve reading skills.
Special thanks to the Reading Horizons staff, distributors and trainers.
Watch a video montage of the conference.