Low literacy is connected with a higher mortality rate in the senior population, according to a Canadian TV story. It certainly makes sense that people who cannot obtain needed medical information, read warnings labels, prescription bottle labels, and general health and nutrition information are in more personal danger. Researchers expected a higher mortality rate due to economic factors tied to illiteracy, but the results were astonishing. Over a five-year period, among adults 65 and older, those with inadequate reading skills had a 50% higher mortality rate.

This is why all of us at Learning A–Z feel so passionate about what we do. We aren’t just teaching children how to read to pass standardized tests, or even graduate on to the next grade. We are helping teachers, administrators, parents, tutors, etc. give the gift of literacy to people all over the globe. You might be interested to know that Reading A–Z books are used by children in more than 40 foreign countries. And to us, there are few greater gifts.