About Story Hour Academy

My Story

Story Hour Academy began with a desire to teach beginning readers using a low stress, enjoyable, and effective method. As a parent trying to teach my own children, I faced several hurdles that ultimately inspired this curriculum.

The Readiness Challenge

I started teaching my oldest around age 4, but in retrospect, kindergarten would have been the perfect time. One of the biggest challenges was matching my readiness to teach with my child's readiness to learn. Often when I was prepared with a lesson, my child wasn't in the mood to focus - and when she was eager to learn, I was busy with other responsibilities.

The Teaching Order Challenge

I remember one day when I was determined to teach blending the sounds of "up" together. I had gathered a stack of picture books with the word "up" in them, but made no progress. My daughter wasn't ready to blend sounds that day - but she could practice recognizing each letter's shape, name, and sound. This experience shaped how Story Hour Academy approaches foundational skills.

The Solution

I realized what was needed: a video curriculum where a child who is ready to learn can simply press play. The adult can handle other responsibilities while the child engages with the lessons. This led to the creation of Story Hour Academy's YouTube channel in 2016.

From YouTube to Complete Curriculum

June 12, 2016

First lesson video published on YouTube, when I had a 3-year-old and a 6-year-old.

2016-2019

Spent countless late nights recording videos after my children went to bed. During this time, our family welcomed a third child.

January 2019

Completed the final lesson video as my youngest was just learning how to walk.

Early Website Attempt

Created an initial companion website using WordPress, but found it limiting for the interactive curriculum I envisioned.

Present Day

With AI-assisted coding (vibe coding), transformed Story Hour Academy into a comprehensive curriculum website with features I never thought possible to create on my own.

The original YouTube videos were just the beginning. While they provided the core content, vibe coding allowed me to expand into a complete curriculum with interactive pretests, engaging exercises, decodable reading passages, classic literature excerpts, and mastery checks.

Features like phonogram sound tests - where students hear a sound and click the matching phonogram - were made possible through AI assistance. This technology allowed me to code all the missing pieces quickly and cost-effectively, turning my vision into reality.

My Philosophy

The core philosophy of Story Hour Academy is simple:

Teaching a child to read should be free and simple. Parents and grandparents shouldn't need specialized knowledge - just the willingness to motivate a child and be available to read together.

With my background in tech product marketing and business writing, I've seen firsthand the value of high literacy levels. In today's world of AI chat interfaces and vibe coding, the abilities to read, write, think, and type are superpowers - and I want all children to develop these skills early.

This curriculum takes care of the teaching methodology, while you provide the encouragement and reading time. My children are proof of this approach's effectiveness. My oldest has tested out of high school English in 9th grade. My middle child is one grade level ahead in reading at his school, and my youngest, by the end of first grade, scored in the 96th percentile on the language portion of the MAP test and has a lexile level of 515-665L, which matches the average reading level of a 3rd grader.

Curriculum Structure

Story Hour Academy follows a systematic, sequential approach to teaching reading:

Unit 1: Single-Sound Consonant Letters
Unit 2: Consonant Digraphs
Unit 3: Multi-Letter Vowel Phonograms
Unit 4: Vowel Letters and the Sounds They Represent
Unit 5: Multi-Sound Consonant Letters
Unit 6: Syllable Types
Unit 7: The Schwa Sound
Unit 8: More Single-Sound Phonograms
Unit 9: More Multi-Sound Phonograms

Each unit builds upon previous knowledge, creating a solid foundation for reading success.

View Full Curriculum Structure

My Mission

My mission is to share Story Hour Academy with beginning readers everywhere, making reading education accessible to all.

Help me spread the word! Please tell friends and family about this free curriculum or simply share the website link with those who could benefit.