Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Announces New Family-Friendly Online Environment to Support Caregivers in At-Home Learning

Rhea-AI Summary

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMHC) launched Family Room, an online platform aimed at supporting parents and caregivers in at-home learning. As remote education rises, over half of K-12 caregivers are actively teaching, prompting HMH to create a space that offers resources in both English and Spanish. Family Room is accessible via the Ed platform and provides on-demand articles, videos, and tips tailored to children's lessons. This initiative aims to foster stronger relationships between families and educators during a challenging school year.

Positive

• Launch of Family Room enhances support for at-home learning, addressing needs during remote education.
• Family Room provides multilingual resources, broadening accessibility for diverse families.
• Directly integrates with HMH's existing digital platforms, encouraging user engagement and adoption.

Negative

• None.

BOSTON, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Learning Company Houghton Mifflin Harcourt today introduced Family Room™, a brand new, family-friendly online space that supports diverse teaching environments and makes at-home learning more manageable for families and caregivers using HMH solutions. Family Room provides an intuitive, ever-growing library of on-demand resources created with parents in mind, to provide families with engaging, practical recommendations with no teaching background required so that all caregivers can help their children thrive.

As schools and families across the country are navigating remote, in-person and hybrid learning environments this fall, much of the instructional burden has been placed on parents. Over half of K-12 caregivers say they are actively teaching skills to their children, as HMH found in a survey conducted earlier this year. Within this new framework of primarily digital instruction, HMH seeks to streamline communication and strengthen relationships between educators and families to create a deeply connected learning community.

Similar to Teacher's Corner™, HMH's professional learning space for educators launched this summer, Family Room is easily accessible through HMH's curriculum solutions ecosystem via digital teaching and learning platform Ed: Your Friend in Learning. Families and caregivers can access their child's lessons and assignments via the student's log in and find simple, bite-sized articles, videos and tips from parents and educators in both English and Spanish, personalized to their child.

"Children thrive when their families are a part of the learning. At HMH, we value the time of parents and caregivers and know they have to contend with work and other responsibilities as well supporting at-home learning," says Francie Alexander, Chief Research Officer at HMH. "With Family Room, we strive to make this more manageable and as successful as possible during this challenging school year."

Family Room will help caregivers get started and become familiar with the Ed platform and provide 24/7 differentiated support about their children's instructional programs and insights on how family members can help. Examples of instructional resources include "5 Questions Your Teacher Wants You to Ask Them," "Talk Moves: 7 Ways to Get Your Child Talking About Math" as well as general support that offers practical recommendations for fostering learning including tips for avoiding meltdowns, combatting social isolation, and nurturing growth mindset.  

"Connecting is always key! The relationships we build with students, and with their caregivers plays a big role in student success, especially now, when at-home support is crucial," says Toney Jackson, a 4^th grade teacher in Hackensack, NJ and content contributor on Family Room. "I'm really excited to join the Family Room team at HMH, and to work with folx committed to help foster these connections while so many of us are juggling remote, in-person and hybrid learning."   

Family Room is available now via Ed: Your Friend in Learning for students with programs on the platform and supports Amira Learning®, HMH Into Literature®, Into Math®, HMH Into Reading®, iRead®, Waggle®, Writable®, and more coming soon.

About Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (NASDAQ: HMHC) is a learning company committed to delivering connected solutions that engage learners, empower educators and improve student outcomes. As a leading provider of K–12 core curriculum, supplemental and intervention solutions and professional learning services, HMH partners with educators and school districts to uncover solutions that unlock students' potential and extend teachers' capabilities. HMH serves more than 50 million students and 3 million educators in 150 countries, while its award-winning children's books, novels, non-fiction, and reference titles are enjoyed by readers throughout the world. For more information, visit www.hmhco.com.

Follow HMH on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

Contact
Katie Marshall
Communications Manager
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
617-351-5057
katie.marshall@hmhco.com

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SOURCE Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

FAQ

What is Family Room by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt?

Family Room is an online platform designed to assist parents and caregivers in at-home learning by providing resources and support.

How does Family Room support at-home learning for caregivers?

Family Room offers an intuitive library of on-demand resources, articles, and tips tailored to help parents engage with their child's education.

When was Family Room launched?

Family Room was launched on September 29, 2020.

How can I access Family Room?

Family Room is accessible via HMH's digital teaching and learning platform, Ed: Your Friend in Learning.

What languages are available in Family Room resources?

Family Room provides resources in both English and Spanish.