A Conversation About Children’s Literacy and Play-Based Learning with Our Friends at Lovevery 

Reading Is Fundamental’s (RIF) mission is to inspire a joy of reading to create skilled readers. There are many ways to spark a love of reading in young children, and one of the most effective is through play. RIF and Lovevery have recently partnered to highlight and promote the important connection between play and reading. To celebrate this new partnership, RIF President and CEO, Alicia Levi, sat down with Lovevery CEO and co-founder, Jessica Rolph, for a conversation that dives into play-based learning, early reading, and a shared commitment to children’s literacy.

Through this partnership, Lovevery is donating a book to RIF for every sale of its Reading Skills Set. These books will be distributed by RIF to children across the country. Read on and then visit RIF’s Early Childhood Education Center to discover more ways families and educators can harness the power of play to support a child’s reading journey. Also, visit Lovevery’s website to learn more about their Reading Skill Set.  

Before we get started, I want to share how thrilled RIF is to team up with Lovevery and that we can’t wait to see the type of impact we can create together! For those in the RIF community who may not be familiar, can you please share Lovevery’s mission and the approach you take to building strong foundations for educational development through your products? 

We share your excitement! RIF’s partnership will help us reach and inspire thousands of families and children across the country—I’m immensely grateful for that opportunity.  

Lovevery is an early childhood development company that promotes learning through play. Perhaps best known for our stage-based Play Kit subscription program for children from 0-5 years old, we provide families around the world with a comprehensive support system across all areas of development.  

I was inspired to create Lovevery after learning that 90% of the human brain is developed by age 5. Neuroscience research indicates that overlapping developmental windows are opening and closing in a child’s brain at predictable times throughout their early life. Lovevery playthings are specifically designed to capitalize on these windows so children can build skills like language, math, and social-emotional learning just when their brains are most ready and eager to learn.  

This summer, we introduced  The Reading Skill Set, our first skills-based learning program, to support children’s reading development. Like RIF, we are alarmed by the ongoing literacy crisis among children. Our solution incorporates the science of reading into what we already know about learning through play, so children stay motivated, engaged, and confident as they learn to read. 

In what ways do you see our partnership advancing both Lovevery’s and RIF’s missions to promote children’s literacy and joy in learning?  

The tireless work RIF does in support of its mission to end the literacy crisis is a critical undertaking, and Lovevery is honored to join you in that effort. We share your passion for instilling a lifelong love of learning, so this partnership has felt natural right from the start.  

To create The Reading Skill Set, we combined research-backed products for children with expert guidance for their parents. The books include relatable characters, engaging storylines, and real-life photography to foster a lifelong love of reading. Learning to read can be a joyful, confidence-building experience. We want every child to have that.  

Of course, we know that not everyone has access to our program yet, which is why our partnership with RIF means so much to us. By joining forces, Lovevery & RIF will be able to provide many thousands of children across the country with books that can not only help them learn to read, but also help them learn to love it.   

We estimate that by the end of the year, Lovevery will donate over 30,000 books to RIF for distribution directly into the communities that will benefit the most.

Can you elaborate on how Lovevery’s Reading Skill Set incorporates elements of play to make learning to read more engaging and motivating for young children?   

Learning to read is a technical and demanding process, which makes it challenging for many children. But they already know how to play. After many decades and countless studies, the research is clear about the most effective ways to teach reading. The tricky part is how to keep a child motivated and interested all the way through the process.  

Play is the key, so we made sure that every part of The Reading Skill Set is fun and motivating. The program is structured around phonics-driven games and activities—many of which can be played either collaboratively or independently. In the past, resistance to phonics instruction has stemmed from a perception that it’s all joyless drills, but it doesn’t have to be.   

Each skill is introduced in a game or activity before it appears in a book, so new readers are confident and prepared when it’s time to apply what they’ve learned. Making the process fun means children naturally want to keep practicing. Repetition is everything when it comes to learning to read.

As a parent myself- and my kids are much older now - I know personally how daunting it can be to make sure you have the right tools to support your child’s learning and reading development at home.  How does Lovevery effectively address the challenges many parents face in supporting their children’s reading journey at home with the Reading Skill Set?  

Many parents we talked to during our research felt overwhelmed by the responsibility of teaching their child to read. But The Reading Skill Set doesn’t ask parents to be a teacher—it asks them to be a coach. We intentionally designed The Reading Skill Set to make it easy for parents to support their new readers—even without a background in literacy instruction.  

According to a poll Lovevery conducted in partnership with YouGov, reading is the skill families work on the most outside of school. Yet only 31% of parents strongly agreed that they have enough tools to support their children as they learn to read.  

The games and activities included in the program are intuitive and don’t require parents to teach. Many are self-correcting, allowing children to advance at their own pace. Each part of The Reading Skill Set includes a Parent Guide with clear, approachable information and suggestions for responding to your child’s mistakes.   

According to an early Lovevery study looking into the efficacy of the program, 89% of parents/caregivers reported increases in their own confidence to support their child's reading growth after regularly using The Reading Skill Set at home.

At RIF, we work hard to shine a spotlight on the nation’s literacy crisis and spread awareness about the solutions we provide that can help support educators, families, and volunteers to build a nation of lifelong readers. Our new partnership is one more step in advancing our efforts. Can you share how Lovevery shares in this mission?  What type of impact do you hope we can make through this partnership?  

We know there’s a growing skills gap across the country, with as many as 67% of fourth- grade students falling below the proficient level. When we launched The Reading Skill Set as a direct response to this crisis, we knew that we had an opportunity to make a meaningful difference in the lives of children.  We believe literacy is one of the most powerful tools a child can have—once they learn to read, they can start reading to learn. 

The results of our early efficacy study speak for themselves.  Fifty-one families tested The Reading Skill Set, using it for approximately 20 minutes per day, 5 days per week. Reading scores at the end of the six-week study were significantly higher than before:  

By combining our insights and products with RIF’s resources and reach, we can work together to ensure more children have access to the support they need. 

We hope this partnership will inspire families and communities to invest in early literacy and provide children with the foundational skills that set them up for lifelong learning. Our aim is to help more children develop a love for reading and to equip parents with the tools they need to nurture that love from the start. 

My last question for you is a little bit personal; what was your favorite children’s book growing up and why? 

The Practical Princess, by Jay Williams. It has magic, heroes, good and evil, but it’s also about resourcefulness and integrity. Even now, it feels modern—though it was written decades ago.