THOMASVILLE, GA (WALB) - Each pre-K student at two of the elementary schools in Thomasville will soon have an Amazon Fire tablet to use at home for reading.
"These mini-grants are like pilots to see if we can really make a difference in early literacy," said Asst. Supt. of Teaching, Learning, & Assessment Dr. Daniel Oldham.
The Thomasville City School System was awarded a mini-grant from the Governor's Office of Student Achievement for the tablets.
Everything in the world now seems like it's at the tips of our fingers, many of us use technology in our jobs and personal lives.
But what about in the classroom?
Thomasville City School System staff is now testing that out.
"We see that it is the future, so we have to embrace it but you also have to understand it and make sure that you give them the skills to use it in the proper way to learn," said Oldham.
Pre-K students at Harper and Scott Elementary will soon each have an Amazon fire tablet to take home and read with.
This is part of a $16,000 grant in hopes of making a big push towards early literacy.
"The more words a child hears, literally from the time they are born to the day they walk on the school campus has a great effect on their ability to learn to read and be on grade level by third grade," explained Oldham.
School system leaders said that research proves those who are not on the reading grade level by third grade have difficulties graduating.
The goal is to send the Fire tablets home and have students bring them back to school once or twice a month.
Data from each tablet will be collected to measure how much the student is reading and what they are reading.
"We can see these kids if they are reading books, how much exposure to the language they are getting," said Oldham.
The program that will be installed on the tablets is called Footsteps to Brilliance.
Thomasville City School staff said it's software that they use system-wide, but you don't have to be a city school system student to use it.
If you live in the city limits, you can be signed up for the program as well.
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