Reading Waves

Jade Moss

By Léo Azambuja

A couple of Kaua‘i residents created a fun and interactive way to teach elementary school children how to read. Its effectiveness comes from the idea that children learn better if we take into account they are just that, children.

“People say a child’s job is to play, that’s their work,” said Jade Moss, one of the co-developers of Reading Wave. “If we’re not teaching them through the medium of play, that’s not going to be that interesting for them.”

Reading Wave, originally created by educator Angela Kuzma, is a reading and language arts curriculum designed to teach children ages 3 to 8 how to read based on movement and play. It is simple and fun for the children, and readily accessible for parents — the curriculum is available for download on their website at $12 per e-book, which provides at least a whole week of classes.

Kuzma has been teaching for about 25 years. Over the course of her career, she realized she needed to figure out a better way to teach children how to read. She came up with Move and Play Reading Games, so the kids would have fun and learn at the same time.

Moss met Kuzma a little over six years ago, and immediately fell drawn to the idea of teaching children through play and movement, especially because she wanted to apply the curriculum to her own children. At that time, the curriculum was more a concept that Kuzma was utilizing. However, it wouldn’t take long for Kuzma to ask Moss for help with developing and publishing a curriculum in a format that could be used by other parents and educators.

“The idea was from Angela, she’s a genius,” Moss said.

They both worked for about five years on the project, and in March they finally published it. But because of the pandemic, they opted to publish it online rather than the initial goal of selling printed material. Moss said they wanted the curriculum to be 100 percent screen-free, but even though it’s online, the classes can be printed and taught away from the screen.

“As soon as COVID hit, we were, ‘Let’s do it as e-books and just get it up on the Internet so people can download it, so they don’t have to wait for it to come in the mail,’” Moss said. “We knew that kids were home, not going to school, and parents needed something. We had all this material finished on my computer.”

There are 26 e-books, and each one comes with five days of lessons, which can be stretched out for as long as parents or teachers want.

Each e-book has three levels, making the curriculum quite flexible and long-lasting. For example, they use a paper boat or a toy boat to teach the word “boat.” On level one, the kids would be learning the letter “b,” while kids on level two would learn the partnering letters “o” and “a,” and kids on level three would learn the word “boat.”

“We made it so (parents) have the freedom to customize what works for their families, what works for some kids,” Moss said.

Each daily lesson is called a “Wave,” which explains the title of the curriculum, Reading Wave.

Moss said the curriculum is Kaua‘i-centric, with places and cultural references to the island. Each e-book is set on a different place on the island, such as the Iliau Nature Loop in Waimea Canyon on e-book 1, and the Alaka‘i Swamp in Koke‘e on e-book 2. Despite the curriculum being based on Kaua‘i — or perhaps because of it — they also have many customers from faraway places, including the Mainland, Canada, Europe and even Australia.

The lessons are very visual, with color-coded letters and partnering letters reinforcing what the kids learn. But perhaps the most fun for the kids are the Move and Play Reading Games. The kids get off their seat and walk around while utilizing chalk, pens, toys or other physical aids to really strengthen and support what they have just learned.

“When I first started using Reading Wave, my son was about four-and-a-half years old, and his terrible-twos lasted almost three years,” Moss said. “We had a really hard time with his terrible-twos, and so this helped me get back in touch with him because we were playing and learning in a way that connected us. It made us laugh, it made us smile. That’s the thing with kids, it’s got to be fun.”

Moss said parents need to realize the curriculum means they will also have to get off their seats and teach the children. It might be convenient for parents to put a lesson on the computer and go do chores, but they actually have to go through the curriculum together with the kids.

“It’s more fun. I think they’ll reconnect with their kids, like I did,” Moss said.

Visit readingwave.com to find out more about Reading Wave, and download and purchase their curriculum.