April Star of the MonthCongrats to Kharter, our April Star of the Month! Kharter is a fifth grader at Brookside Elementary in Nicholasville, KY. Here is what his teacher, Mrs. Schultz, has to say about him:

Kharter is a caring and hardworking 5th grader. He enjoys playing sports and spending time outside with his friends. While he focuses on improving in reading at school, he doesn't let challenges hold him back. Over the past two years in 4th and 5th grade, he has been using a program called Read Naturally during small group reading sessions. This program has really helped him grow in his reading skills. When he started, he was reading at a first-grade level, and now he’s reading at about a 3.5 to 4.0 level. Improving his ability to sound out words and read fluently has greatly boosted his confidence in reading in class.

Kharter has benefited from all the support he's received, but his hard work and dedication to practicing with Read Naturally have made a big difference. He told Mrs. Schultz that he’s proud of being able to read words without sounding them out—it's like he has them ready in his "reading brain." By practicing repeatedly and using different strategies to help him read, Kharter can hear himself reading more smoothly. This improvement has made him more interested in reading, both at school and at home. He works on his reading outside of school too, enjoying trips to the library with his family and attending reading tutoring every week. With his growing confidence, he even participated in a school project where he recorded himself reading a book from the 2025 March Book Madness for younger students.

Kharter said that Read Naturally has helped him feel like a stronger reader. He enjoys tracking his progress on a graph every time he reads a passage and passes the story, as it shows him how close he is to reaching his goals. He has liked the readings in the program, especially the one about poison dart frogs, which taught him about animals he hadn’t known much about before.

I am thrilled to nominate Kharter for my classroom's March student of the month for Read Naturally! He truly deserves this recognition for his commitment to becoming a better reader.

Way to go, Kharter!

Do you have a student like Kharter? Nominating them to be a Read Naturally Star of the Month only takes a few minutes! Just share why they deserve special recognition for their hard work.

Winners receive:

  • $50 Barnes & Noble gift card (student)
  • $50 Amazon gift card (teacher)
  • $200 Read Naturally gift card (school)