Why Tutoring?

Why Tutoring?

There are various reasons to have a private tutor. Over the past two years, many interruptions have affected our children’s education!

My goal is to help a child, through one-on-one instruction to gain confidence in his ability to learn and to progress according to his abilities. We will focus on multi-sensory methods so a child has a chance to work in the learning style most comfortable and effective for him (visual, auditory, and/or kinesthetic). Explicit, phonetic instruction helps a child to understand the structure and rules of language. Many learn to read by “feel”. Some need to know and understand the building blocks to become proficient readers.

Let me share a story about a boy close to me, (my grandson):

Tyler (name changed) was mid-year second grade when the pandemic struck. He was excelling in math but had concerning struggles in reading. He wasn't disruptive in the classroom and wasn't receiving any special services in school, so his struggles mostly flew under the radar. After his parents shared their concerns about Tyler's academic struggles, his parents and I decided to do some Zoom tutoring while in-person school was online. 

With some initial assessments and observation while working with him, I noticed confusion in sequence of letters and symbols, such as b and d, was and saw, not recalling frequent use words, etc. Tyler also guessed at words from pictures, context, or beginning letters (this by the way, is a common teaching tool for early readers). This can be helpful, at first. For Tyler, it became a way of compensating: guessing, instead of sounding out the written letters and blending them into words.

His handwriting was hard to read.

He was easily distracted, taking longer than usual to complete most tasks.

Tyler's comprehension of passages and books read to him was very high.  We worked with some non-fiction books (which I highly recommend, so that there is “real” information the child is taking in). He had near perfect retention of the facts. He also could answer questions that required interpretation, such as characters’ actions, feelings, etc. 

I could see he was highly intelligent.

We have worked with a phonetically-based program of reading and spelling, teaching letter sounds, vowel pairs, and consonant blends. We have studied types of syllables, word parts (onset-and-rime), and affixes (prefixes and suffixes). 

Reading has greatly improved! He tests on grade level and above. He now enjoys reading on his own, reading chapter books 2 and 3 grade levels above his own. When reading "clicks", it is a little miracle and gives the greatest satisfaction to me! In his own eyes, he has become a confident reader!

“To learn to read is to light a fire” — Victor Hugo, Les Miserables

DYSLEXIA SUB-SPECIALTY

“The whole world opened up to me when I learned to read” – Mary Bethune

Suspect dyslexia or have a diagnosis? Tutoring can help!

What is dyslexia?

Dyslexia is a language-based disorder which makes it difficult for a person to read, write, spell, compute, organize and/or comprehend, even with adequate intelligence and conventional instruction.

What it is not: an intellectual disability, a physical disability (a vision or hearing impairment or an illness), or emotional disturbance.

9 signs that may indicate dyslexia:

1. Difficulty in learning to read, write, spell, and do arithmetic

2. Difficulty in following oral and written instructions.

3. Cramped or illegible handwriting

4. Difficulty staying on task

5. Easily distracted

6. Confusion in sequence of letters and symbols: e.g. b and d, quite and quiet, was

and saw, 18 and 81

7. Confusion about directions in space, time, right and left, up and down, North and

South, yesterday and tomorrow

8. Difficulty retaining information

9. More than average test-taking anxiety

How do I know if my child may be experiencing dyslexia?

Dyslexia is something that can be diagnosed by a medical profession, but for our purposes, you may see some of these characteristics in your child. We can set up tutoring to address some of these needs without a diagnosis, though if further testing is desired that is solely up to the parents.

Tutoring can help sort out some of the confusion, teach new methods of retention, and increase focus. Individual needs will be addressed to create a unique tutoring plan for your child.