A Special Message from President and CEO British A. Robinson

Dear Friends:

I hope this finds each of you healthy and well. The past few weeks have certainly been full of changes as we all settle into a “new normal.” At the Barbara Bush Foundation, we are committed to using our 30+ years of experience in family literacy to help parents and children continue to learn and grow during these extraordinary times.

Last week, our in-house team of literacy and education experts curated a toolkit to support the millions of parents who have unexpectedly found themselves in the role of teacher due to school closures. But, with 36 million American adults unable to read or write at a basic level, we know that there are many parents with their own unique educational needs. Now, more than ever, it is critical that our nation’s parents have the literacy skills necessary to support their children’s learning.

With that in mind, our team has pulled together a new toolkit, which features trusted, high-quality, free online resources for adult learners. I hope you’ll share these resources with any parents or caregivers in your life who might value the opportunity to learn alongside their children during this period of uncertainty. We’d also appreciate you helping us spread the word about the toolkit through your social media platforms and professional networks.

Together, we will get through this. Until we do, our team will continue seeking innovative ways to help families keep learning. We are rooting for you!

Wishing you continued good health,

British A. Robinson
President and CEO

PS: With schools closed, we are more committed than ever to providing hope and help to millions of families across America. If you can, I hope you’ll consider supporting our work to keep our nation’s parents and children on track for a bright future.

At-Home Learning Toolkit for Adults

ReadWorks: ReadWorks offers free content, curriculum, and tools to power remote learning resources for families. While the reading comprehension curriculum was developed with K-12 students in mind, the topics are relevant and engaging for adult learners as well. Access the resources.

Marshall Adult Education: This site features a wide variety of high quality lessons on topics relevant to adult learners, including civics, employment, housing, health, and money. The materials, combined with research-proven teaching strategies, can help adults become better readers, as well as more informed consumers, parents, employees, citizens, and community members. Visit the site.

Pumarosa: Pumarosa is an interactive, bilingual, phonics-based site designed to help adult students learn English as quickly and easily as possible. Students can both read and listen to the lessons, which use a bilingual technique specifically developed to help native Spanish-speakers master the basics of English. Start learning now.

LINCS Learner Center: Created by the U.S. Department of Education, the LINCS Learner Center connects adult learners to free online resources to help them reach life goals. Learners can choose a goal to learn how to read, acquire job skills, and more. Access the resources.

TedEd: TedEd’s award-winning education platform features a library of original animated video lessons that will spark curiosity in learners of all ages. Visit the “Discover Lessons” section to build literacy skills while learning about fascinating topics including history, psychology, and health. Visit the site.

TeachRock: TeachRock is a free, standards-aligned, arts integration curriculum that uses the history of popular music and culture to help teachers engage students. Innovative lesson plans developed by experienced educators and top experts in the field foster genuine learning in areas including social studies, language arts, geography, science, STEAM, general music and more—for learners of all ages. Start learning.

Unite for Literacy: The Unite online library provides free access to more than 400 original picture books—1/4 of which are written in Spanish. The digital books provide audio narrations in more than 40 languages, spoken by native speakers in warm, expressive voices. The languages of narration include indigenous and endangered languages along with languages most widely spoken in the U.S. These are high interest, all level books for adults and children. Visit the online library.

Looking for resources to help your children learn at home? Access our At-Home Toolkit for Children.