REading success!

I get it. I was a "smart parent" who never imagined I could have a child who struggled at school. But, I did! I was devastated that I couldn't help my own child. At the time, I was not a reading interventionist and I also never had had a hard time reading. And when I was in grade school, we still used phonics, syllables, and spelling rules and it seemed like everybody learned to read under that system. 

So, what the heck? I felt like someone should have been able to identify my child's issue and come up with an intervention, but, out of all the school professionals and outside people I hired to tackle it, not one of them created a solution. I was also overwhelmed with a divorce, becoming a single mom with three kids still at home. There seemed to be a diagnostic issue with my teenager, but I kept getting messages from the school professionals that we just needed better "time management." 

I  knew there was something else going on, but I did not know how to find out what. He was not that responsive to professionals I brought in at the time. We just weren't getting anywhere. He knew and I knew he was smart, and he didn't want to be treated as somebody who had a "problem." 

We didn't figure out until later that my son most probably had ADHD with a different presentation, a non-hyper type. When he would read, the words often "circled" in his mind.  He was so bright, he compensated for this on his own, but the result was that homework took hours and hours for him. Even though he got stellar grades on tests, blew everyone away with his in-class contributions, and was known as "smart" at school, his homework piled up due to the time it took him to read. The "missing homework" grade was sinking his gpa. I watched him put in hours and hours every night on that homework, but his reading speed prevented him from getting on top of it all, no  matter how hard he would try. 

I have since come across many children and adults who have various issues with reading: dyslexia, working memory issues, pandemic learning loss, and problems with blending sounds due to pronunciation differences according to dialect, just to name a few. And they have ALL responded to Guided Reading methods. Guided reading utilizes tried and true methods we "older generations" used to learn to read combined with LOTS OF PRACTICE READING ALOUD.

So, what's going on with the schools? Don't they have all kinds of remedial education teachers who are there specifically to figure out why my child can't read and to help him? Aren't the teachers trained to teach kids to read? Why should I have to do this, or hire a tutor to do it?

Here's the unfortunate answer: The school system in the U.S. changed its approach to reading in the 1990's and the tried and true methods of teaching reading--syllabication, spelling rules, and phonics plus reading aloud for phonological awareness--were put aside.

In 2000, the federal government mandated the return of phonics (sounding out the parts of a word) to the classroom, but the damage was done.

Now, teachers are allowed to use "mixed methods" in the classroom. They can use more or less phonics instruction. It's up to the individual teacher. This leads to a lack of standards for evidence-based reading teaching.

This situation has been further exacerbated by the loss of learning that occurred for students during the recent pandemic. Outside support is now a necessity for children who are not on grade level with their reading skills.  

Most schools have tutoring programs, but they primarily use group tutoring formats. Recent research shows that, particularly for reading, group tutoring is much less effective than 1:1 tutoring. The new model the federal government supports for reading remediation is individualized and highly involved with building the relationship between tutor and child. 

This kind of tutoring is what has come to be known as High Impact, or high dosage, tutoring. A student receives one-on-one tutoring 2 or 3 times per week with a tutor who explores deeply into the child's learning style and unique reading issues.

This is what I do!

I WELCOME YOU INTO MY FREE SUPPORT COMMUNITY. Together, we can greatly reduce the time it takes your child or loved one to level  up their reading.   Quick catch-up is crucial for children, so the lag in reading doesn't snowball as they move up through the grades. For an adult who is a poor reader, achieving reading fluency can transform their confidence level and open doors at work that were previously closed to them. I will be there to help them every step of the way and to help you as you support them on their reading journey. Welcome aboard! 

Help is the click of a button or a phone call away! Contact me at 859-878-4924 or click below to set up a free meeting between me and your struggling reader. The first meeting is a complimentary reading assessment so we can identify individual reading issues and determine how fast your child or loved one can gain grade levels and close their reading gap!