April 30, 2013 Leave a Comment

Dyslexic Tutoring Student from Canada Makes a Three Year Gain in Less than One Year

When I started tutoring online, I honestly had no idea that I would be able to make as much of an impact as I do.  I have to say that each day I wake I up I feel complete bliss knowing that I am able to service kids struggling with reading everyday all over the world.  I even am able to offer dyslexia tutoring for kids struggling with processing sounds.

One particular student that stands out this month is a child that has dyslexia from Canada.  When I first met this boy’s dad he had informed me that his son specifically had struggled since Kindergarten and that his progress was slow and delayed.  He was diagnosed with ADHD in grade 2 and has been on medicine ever since.  He has had evaluations both at school and privately and was diagnosed with broad based learning disabilities.  They were using Barton Reading and Spelling with him at school and his parents did activities with him at home.  They had hired several local tutors and had limited success.

His dad mentioned that when his son reads he guesses a lot and that his decoding ability is very weak.  Since reading was so hard for his son, it was difficult to get him to read at home.

When I first assessed him, his reading level was actually at a kindergarten reading level and he was in sixth grade.  My heart went out to this family that they had honestly tried everything that they knew to try and struggled with finding anything that would result in success for their son.

After working with this young man for 10 months an hour an 1/2 a week he is now at a  third grade reading level.  He does still struggle with decoding and seems to do really well with memorizing words.  He is able to read more words immediately, but gets frustrated when asked to decode.  To listen to this young man read today compared to what he was reading like 10 months ago is amazing.  There are times when I think, wow, how in the world did he get that word.  He reads for meaning, he understands what he reads, but it still isn’t his favorite activity.

About 2 months ago when I was doing an assessment I noticed that he was reading very choppy.  I really wanted to improve on his prosody and i decided to do a reading fluency intervention.  So we began reading song lyrics and then using youtube with the lyrics to speed up his reading.  It worked, just like it has with all of the other students that I have used this method with.  It also increased his engagement.  He began getting more excited about our time together and made remarkable growth in the last 2 months.

I am so blessed to be able to make a difference in kids lives whose parents have tried everything.  I get to be a solution to a very big problem that they are struggling with, which is helping their struggling reader increase his/her reading level.  This really is an exciting vocation.  If you are interested in learning more about how you can become an online tutor then you can go to www.tutorpreneurs.com/free-videos.  If you are interested in finding out more about getting tutoring services from me you can go to www.theskypingreadingtutor.com.  I still have a few slots open for this summer, but they are filling up fast.  If your child is struggling with reading, don’t wait to get help.  The longer that you wait the tougher the struggle becomes.  This could be the year that you start your child ahead of the curve instead of behind.

 

Filed Under: Fluency, increase reading comprehension, Reading Tutoring, Star Students, Struggling Readers, Summer Reading, Tutoring Sessions Tagged: , , ,
What is the Best Website to Teach the Alphabet?
January 5, 2013 2 Comments

What is the Best Website to Teach the Alphabet?

With the evolution of the computer, ipad, phones, and all of the technological toys out there parents have a plethora of ways to introduce the alphabet to their children.  I am not going to do a review of all of the technological devices and toys that try to teach the alphabet, instead I am only going to focus on one great one.  That website is Starfall.  You can also purchase it as an app for your phone or ipad if you wish.

What makes this website so great?  Well, it teaches the name of the letter and the sound of the letter in an interactive manner for kids.  When you get to the website click on learn ABC’s.

 

You will see a group of blocks on the next page.Alphabet_blocks

At this point you can click on any of the letters that you would like to learn about.  The program will show a capital letter and a lowercase letter.  Then it will make the sound the correct way when the sparkling letter in the lower right hand corner is clicked.

You may be wondering what the right way to pronounce letters is.  Well, often when different programs pronounce the sounds of the alphabet they will make the /uh/ sound after many of the consonants.  So instead of a pure /b/ sound, you will hear /buh/.  This can become a problem for kids as soon as they begin to put sounds together to make a word.  If a child was trying to sound out the word bat and sounded it out this way, /buh/ /a/ /tuh/, then when they put the sounds together it would sound like buatuh.  The child may think, “Hmmm, what does this sound like?” and blend it together as batu.  It will confuse the child and change the purpose of reading him/her.  You can see a quick demonstration of the letter sounds in the video below.

The Starfall website repeats each of the letter names and sounds throughout the demonstration.  Children are taught the letter names and sounds through a series of pictures and the names of the letters reiterated.  In order to see the next picture the child clicks on the letter again in the bottom right hand corner and this will result in hearing the sound again.

I love that the voice the child hears is the voice of another child.  At the end of the demonstration there is an interactive game that the child can play.  This game sometimes focuses on one letter, or is a review of other letters.

At the bottom of the main alphabet page that is featured above you will notice that the vowels are each listed.  When the child clicks on one of the vowels there is a little video that goes over the short sound of each of these letters using a song.  The songs are quick and easy to remember.

If one clicks on the ABC button you will hear an alphabet song that is linked to words that kids are familiar with.  This website has many other useful tools on it for beginning readers, but for now if you have time check out the ABC’s and let me know what you think.

Do you have a favorite website or app that you like to use with your child?  Share in the comment section below.

 

Filed Under: 1st grade, Alphabet, Phonics, Struggling Readers, Uncategorized Tagged: , , ,
It All Starts with the Right Reading Assessments Part I
January 2, 2013 4 Comments

It All Starts with the Right Reading Assessments Part I

For the next month you are going to get the first peak at my program called Phonics the Easy Way.  All of the content will be shared on these

http://mrg.bz/mtEqjd

http://mrg.bz/mtEqjd

pages and you will learn everything that you need to know about teaching children phonics.  Our English language can be quite complicated, so it is going to be my goal to demystify this complicated process into small bits and pieces that are easy to understand.

It all starts with assessment, but not just any kind of assessment.  It starts with specific assessments that meets the needs of your child.  Another name for this is diagnostic assessment.  For instance, if you know that your child knows all of the letters of the alphabet, then it would be fruitless to test this skill.  Here is a list of skills to think about that children need in order to learn how to read.

1.  Rhyming

2.  Blending sounds

3. Segmenting sounds

4. Letter names – Capital and Lowercase

5. Letter sounds- lowercase

6. Sight Words

In order to be ready to read it helps to be able to do most of these skills.  Rhyming, Blending sounds without letters and segmenting sounds without letters fit into the phonemic awareness category.  These are prereading skills that help a child to start learning about the reading process.

Our brain is a pattern detector.  One of the first reading patterns that we develop is the ability to rhyme.  Later on kids will be able to use their knowledge about words they know to figure out new unknown words.  Kids that are in 2nd grade and are unable to produce rhymes and identify rhymes are at risk for reading at grade level.  So whether your child is just starting out in reading or is struggling with reading, you will want to check if they are able to produce and identify rhymes.  Here is a rhyming assessment I have created that you can use.

Another phonological skill that is useful for kids to master is blending sounds with out letters.  This is not an activity that is done with letters, it is only done with sounds.  For example, if I said /c/ /a/ /t/, then you would put it together and make the word cat.  Once one adds letter to this activity it becomes a more advanced skill.  So, in the beginning it is important to do this without any letters.  Here is a blending sounds assessment to identify if this is a skill that your child has mastered.

A more difficult task is to give the child a word and have her tell you each of the sounds.  This activity is called segmenting sounds.  Sometimes a child will get just the first sound and not the rest of the word.  This will count as a point for the child.  Here is a segmenting sounds assessment that you can use with your child.

Rhyming, blending, and segmenting are some of the pre-reading skills that kids need to master before they can learn to read.  These skills will help them with the more complicated tasks they will be required to do once they start putting letters and sounds together to make words.  If your child has not mastered one of these skills, then you will want to provide instruction in that area and reassess once you think that your child has mastered it.

Have you ever known a child that has struggled with these skills?  What was your experience.  What are some things that you did to help him/her to master them? Tell me about it in the comments section.

Tomorrow we are going to begin to take look at letter name, letter sounds, and sight word assessments.  You will also learn how to do ongoing assessment to determine how much each child has learned and if the instruction that you are providing is working.

 

Filed Under: Assessment, dyslexia, kindergarten, Phonics, Struggling Readers Tagged: , , , , ,
Starting Tough Conversations for Struggling Readers an Interview with Kat Kirst
December 15, 2012 Leave a Comment

Starting Tough Conversations for Struggling Readers an Interview with Kat Kirst

Today I had the wonderful opportunity to chat with an 8th grade English teacher that writes books for older struggling readers.  She keeps the reading levels low, so that all kids can enjoy the books and has had wonderful responses from her students.

Kirst has written two books, Surviving my Family and Snitch.   She has written these books to touch on difficult topics that kids can relate to.  These books can be books that parents can read with their children or their children can read independently.  The benefit of reading these books with your child is that you can have conversations with your children about these tough topics.

Here is the book summary for Surviving my Family.

 Thirteen year old Sharon Mason has become a master in damage control. Everyday she takes care of her alcoholic parents and protects her little sister from the unpredictable, dangerous life that they hide. Sharon has managed to keep everything running smoothly until things start falling apart faster than she can control. That’s when her school life, well-meaning friends, and a crush on that one special boy snowball into an unstoppable, threatening force that can easily rip Sharon’s family apart, separating them all, forever.

A young girl in Kirst’s classroom read this book and said, “This was the first book that I ever read.”  Another girl in her class had said that now she knows that her mom’s drinking is not her fault.

Talk about making an impact on your students lives.  To give a child a new perspective on the difficult things that she is dealing with is the best present a teacher could give a child.  What many people don’t know is that teachers do more than teach these days.  One role teachers play is that of a guidance counseler and Kat is playing this role well.

Now let’s take a look at Snitch.  This book is about cyberbullying.  Here is the review on Amazon.

Pinning the blame on someone is easy when all it takes is a fake Facebook account or one quick push of a button that sends a tweet so crazy the entire school picks up on it. But what happens when someone gets blamed for something they didn’t do? What happens when the truth plants itself smack in front of your face, and even though you don’t want to, you know you must tell someone? What happens when there’s no one there to tell? 

This book is based on a real situation that occured in Kirst’s neighborhood to a good kid with a good family.  It also incorporates important parenting tips like the dad rule.  The dad rule for Kirst is, “If you ever have a problem and you need a ride, I will come and pick you up without any questions asked.”  Wow, talk about support.

I asked Kirst how she goes through the editing process and she mentioned that she has her students go through the book.  Also, before a book is published she has read it over 50 times.  I get that, when I wrote my book 31 Days to Become a Better Reader: Increasing your Struggling Reader’s Reading Level I read it over and over and over again. You quickly are able to pick out your errors, especially when you read it out loud.

Kirst loves involving her students not only in the writing and editing process, but also on the covers of her books.  The grafitti that you see on Snitch is reall grafitti from her students.  Even the photos’s are of real students that she works with.

Kirst has mentioned that the kids that she works with feel that if their teacher can write a book, then so can they.  Sometimes she will come into her class and find kids writing away on the computer.  She gets to see the amazing impact she is making on her student’s lives on a daily basis.  I am so grateful for teachers like Kat Kirst that take their passions and dreams and make them a reality.  She is truly an inspiration.

P.S. If you are wondering if Kat Kirst is writing any other books, the answer is yes.  Her students are currently editing it and the title has not been decided on yet, so stay tuned.

Filed Under: Struggling Readers, Writing, Writing books Tagged: , ,
How the Reading Process and the Editing Process are Alike
November 24, 2012 Leave a Comment

How the Reading Process and the Editing Process are Alike

Over the holiday weekend I have been experiencing much joy in my life.  I have been remembering all of the things that I am grateful for and focusing on completing the editing stage of my book 31 Days to Become a Better Reader.  As I have been editing the book, it dawned on me how similar the self-monitoring tactics I teach to children in my online tutoring program are similar to the editing process.  Those strategies are:

  • Does it look right?
  • Does it sound right?
  • Does it make sense?

In my book I mention these strategies on Day 5.  Let’s take a closer look at what this looks like in the reading process and compare it to the writing process.

Does it Look Right?

In reading if I say a word that was not written on the page, then I need to think does that look right.  I can use the beginning of the word to make an initial decision and then move onto the end of the word and the middle.

As I was editing my book, thinking does it look right was extremely pivotal.  Amazon has expectations when a book is sent in about the size of the margins and font.  I even needed to pay close attention to the space at the end of a page and check with the alignment on the top.

My Table of Contents was one of those things that I saved for last because I knew that the page numbers would change.  However, I had difficulty with the page alignment with the chapter numbers and the chapter title.  I needed to call in my resource of call a friend and she helped me fix it.

Sometimes when we are reading we are able to fix our mistakes.  However, there are times when you just can’t figure out a word and you need to ask someone for help.

Does it sound right?

When we are reading we want to make sure that we are reading the way the author wrote it.  This means that the author needs to take special care to make sure that the sentences are grammatically correct.  If it doesn’t make sense, then we need to go back to read it if we are the reader, or go back and reword it if we are the editor/writer.

Does it Make Sense?

Many times struggling readers will read words that don’t sound like real words.  They need to think themselves if that is a word they have heard of or not.  The tricky part is sometimes the child reads the word correctly, but because she is not familiar with the meaning of the word, she second guesses herself.

During the editing process I found that I need to read my work out loud and check for any errors I may have made.  I found that I had several errors that I had not caught previously.  Thank goodness for that red squiggly line that alerts one to these errors.  I had a few spelling errors that are similar to the errors a reader makes when reading a made up word.

Writing a book from start to finish opened my eyes to the entire reading/writing process more than it ever has before.  In the schools many people are utilizing Lucy Calkins method of teaching writing.  This woman is spot on and she teaches children to edit for one thing at a time.  I found that in editing my book that I needed to focus on one part at a time.  For example, I looked for page alignment throughout the whole text, matching table of contents with my chapter titles, and so on and so forth.

The reading and the writing process are so closely aligned that it is important to marry the two and only focus on one thing at a time.  If we try to focus on everything, then eventually our minds will become frazzled.  Sometimes we need to take it one word at a time, one sentence at a time, one page at a time, or one chapter at a time.  However we decide to go about we always need to remember to keep it simple.

Filed Under: 31 Days to a Better Reader, 31 Days to Become a Better Reader, Asking Questions, Struggling Readers, Writing Tagged: ,
What Really Motivates Boys to Read?
November 14, 2012 Leave a Comment

What Really Motivates Boys to Read?

Dan Gutman knows how to make me laugh.  He also knows how to make my 9 year student that happens to be a boy laugh as well.  Dan Gutman starts with a great title and from there it just keeps getting better.  One of my favorite series includes My Weird School Daze.  The book my student and I are reading is called Miss Mary is Scary.  On the cover of the book is a scared little boy and an upside down teacher hanging like a bat.  If you think that kids don’t judge a book by it’s cover then you are very wrong.  The cover needs to be just as engaging for boys as the title.  Otherwise, they may decide they don’t want to read it.

 

I was reading an article in the Reading Teacher today that inspired me to write about today’s topic.  The article title is “Effective Approaches to Motivate and Engage Reluctant Boys in Literacy.”  Since I work with a ton of these boys, I wanted to see if there was something that stuck out as new information.  I didn’t find new information, but it seemed to put a whole bunch of ideas together to make the topic complete.  The article touched on choice, men as readers, non-fiction books, purpose, and technology.

 

Choice

 

I am a huge advocate of choice when it comes to boys and reading.  One of my students that I work with just finished a book and it was time to choose a new one.  So, I took his interests into consideration and pulled a bunch of books that I thought he might enjoy.  He picked his book based on if it included pictures and how long it was.  That was what motivated him the most.  Guess what?  He is loving the book that he chose and wants to read more from the series.

 

All in all it doesn’t matter what a child’s motivation to read is if it motivates him/her to read.  If you can hook a reader on a series then you can hook a reader for life.  So far this student is hooked on the My Weird School Daze series and Diary of a Wimpy Kid.

 

Men as Readers

 

The article suggested that boys need to see men as readers.  This can be done in one of two ways.  Boys can either witness their fathers or other men reading or read books that are written by men.  In order for boys to see reading as a task that boys do, they need to have role models.  One place that you can go to see boys reading is http://www.storylineonline.net/.  This is a website where actors actually read engaging books.

 

Non-fiction books

 

Boys are naturally curious beings.  Their favorite question when they are young is why.  They want to know how everything works and they love taking things apart to figure that out.  But, what we have recently found out, is that boys love to read about how things work as well.  It is really important to surround our boys in non-fiction books and talk about information in those books with them.

 

Purpose

 

The article talked about how boys really like to have an authentic purpose tied into their literacy.  This past summer I had a boy that had gotten a hermit crab as a gift.  This little boy wanted to know everything that there was to know about hermit crabs.  When his hermit crab started becoming slow and isolating himself, the little boy wanted to know if his hermit crab was sick or if it was molting.  We read about the molting process and learned that he was probably fine.

 

This little boy was super engaged to write his own book on how to take care of hermit crabs.  Although he hated the idea of having to go back and edit his work, he enjoyed learning all there was to know about hermit crabs, taking notes, and writing his own book.  He was so motivated that he wanted to get his book published and sell it on Amazon.

 

Technology

 

Technology engages boys.  This was one idea shared in the article.  This is no surprise since technology is everywhere.  This is one of the reasons that skyping and reading tutoring mix so well.  It is giving instruction to boys in their language.  It is more engaging.  Not all boys prefer this method, but the boys that I have worked with so far love it compared to other methods.

 

Conclusion

 

From this article we can see that boys enjoy choices.  They tend to like shorter passages than longer ones and would rather read non-fiction vs. fiction.  Boys want to read with a clear purpose in mind and if you can incorporate technology then you may have a winner.  Don’t forget that boys need to see other men reading, so involve dad in the process in any way that you can.

Filed Under: Motivating kids to read, Read Aloud, Reading Tutoring, Struggling Readers Tagged: ,
My Mom’s Experience as a Struggling Reader
October 17, 2012 Leave a Comment

My Mom’s Experience as a Struggling Reader

After I shared my post about my own personal struggle with reading, my mom shared her story as a struggling reader.  It was so inspiring that I decided to share it with everyone with her permission.

I was put in a reading improvement class my freshman year with one girl and 20 boys who constantly threw spit balls a

Spitballs

t you every time the teacher left the room. I never even started enjoying reading until I graduated from high school when I could read books that I wanted to read and not the required reading in school. We always had to read a book a month in high school but did not get to pick the book.

I even got placed lower than my twin because of my reading ability. I guess I read to you a little bit, but back when I was growing up my mom or dad never read to me. My grades did not suffer as I always was an a and b student so no one would have guessed I had a reading problem. Like you I never scored well on tests because I was a very slow reader and it took me a long time to complete a test. I guess they realized this when I was in high school but there was not a lot available.  I totally felt like I was being bullied in that reading improvement class especially with 20 other boys throwing spit balls at me all the time.
I guess this is one of the reasons why I never wanted to go to college as I had had enough with going through high school and never getting any better grades than my sister. Although I did have my winning personality back then and it helped me get by.
When we went to Scottsdale Arizona and I read that Frank Lloyd Wright accomplished more than 50% of his lifetime work after he turned 65 it made me feel as though I still had a lot to accomplish for the rest of my life.
It is experiences like this that have inspired me to continue to do what I do, which is to teach children from around the world to read via my online tutoring program.  I know that I can’t stop experiences like this from happening, but I can make myself available so that the amount of time people suffer does not have to be so long.
P.S.  Did you ever struggle with reading?  What are some of your first experiences with reading?
Filed Under: Online Tutoring Program, Struggling Readers Tagged: ,
Overcoming Dyslexia an Effective Tutoring Program for Struggling Readers
October 16, 2012 1 Comment

Overcoming Dyslexia an Effective Tutoring Program for Struggling Readers

There are so many fantastic books out there that discuss what dyslexia is and provide awareness of this learning disability.  But, the one that sticks out the most for me is Sally Shaywtiz’s book Overcoming Dyslexia because it doesn’t only identify what dyslexia is, it provides solutions to how to overcome it.Sally Shaywitz

 

As an online tutor that is constantly helping struggling readers I have read this book, listened to it on audiobook, and have read it again.  Not many books get my attention for me to do this, so that is a clear indicator that this book is special.

 

Sally Shaywitz has spent her entire career learning about Dyslexia and teaching people with this disability.  (I just want to quickly mention, that just because someone has this disability does not mean he/she is not capable in many other areas of life).  In her book Overcoming Dyslexia she discusses cutting edge teaching practices that make an impact on learning.  These same teaching practices I found out were the same exact principles that I spent 5 years learning about while I was part of the Reading First Grant program at the Milwaukee Academy of Science.

 

The Reading First Grant focused their attention on phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency and comprehension.  Sally discusses ways to teach children with dyslexia in each of these areas.  It seems to come down to best teaching practices.  This is why the Reading First Grant focused on educating teachers in these best teaching practices.

 

If you are a parent or educator who has a need to know more dyslexia, then I highly recommend this book.  There is a lot of information to soak up and some very deep theoretical language, but if you are persistent and allow the information to soak up by taking it in you will be able to learn what to do for dyslexics.  In my own online tutoring program for struggling readers I incorporate the strategies she talks about and use the information to enhance my students learning engagement.  Thank you Sally Shaywitz for adding so much to the awareness of dyslexia.

Filed Under: dyslexia, Online Tutoring Program, Reading Tutoring, Struggling Readers Tagged: , , , ,
Joanne Kaminski’s Journey as a Struggling Reader
October 15, 2012 10 Comments

Joanne Kaminski’s Journey as a Struggling Reader

Skyping Reading Tutor

My name is Joanne Kaminski, the Skyping Reading tutor, and this is my journey as a struggling reader.  My very first memory of reading was when I was 5 years old.  I was sitting in my living room and we had all of our family over the house for Thanksgiving.  I brought out a book and I asked my mom to teach me how to read.  Well, I bet you can imagine, she was a little bit busy that day and she said, “no.”  I didn’t give up there.  I went on to my cousin Cathy and asked her to teach me to read.  She was 5 years older than me and she had the same response as my mom.  I was heartbroken that no one would teach me how to read.  So, I longingly looked at the words in the book wishing that they would somehow jump off of the page and into my brain so that I could hear the story that was written.  No one really ever read to me, so I didn’t know that this was an option.  All I knew was that the words on that page conveyed a story and I wanted to know it.

 

I would like to tell you that I kept asking and found someone that would help me learn how to read, but I gave up that day.  My mom saw how much I loved stories and eventually she got my some books on tape.  Yes, they were tapes back in those days.  She must have signed up for a Disney subscription because I remember Sleeping Beauty and Brer Rabbit very clearly.

 

When I began learning how to read in school everyone was ahead of me.  I was in the lowest reading group, the Blue Jays, and I knew it.  All I wanted more than anything in the world was to become a better reader.  I mean, didn’t these people know what I was going to do for the rest of my life? Didn’t they know that one day I would own my own e tutoring company and that I just wanted to get a head start?  Apparently I knew my calling from a very early age, everyone else just was not on the same page as me.

 

I remember when we would have to read out loud in class in round robin style.  When I would read out loud, I didn’t sound like the other kids.  The teacher would give me advice about making my voice go up and down in front of all the other kids.  The other kids never got this kind of advice and this made feel more self-conscious about my reading.  Back then they didn’t have reading fluency interventions.  So I felt like there was something wrong with me.

 

As school continued I scored poorly on the state tests and continued to get put in the lowest reading group.  I remember in 6th grade kids started to take a foreign language, but because of my reading comprehension scores I was denied this and put in another reading program for struggling readers.

 

I felt less than, devalued, and diminished.  Even the kids in the reading class made fun of me.  I felt stupid and worthless.  I continued on my middle school years this way, which were some of the toughest days of my life.

 

One day a teacher at a parent/teacher conference suggested to my mom that she read with me.  My mom took her up on this suggestion and began reading Anne of Green Gables.  She would read a page and then I would read a page.  This was my most prized memory of reading with my mom.  It built a feeling of being loved and accepted all while being immersed in Anne’s world inCanada.  I found out later on in life that my dad’s whole family came fromPrince Edward   Islandwhere the story took place.  Anne of Green Gables became a series and I read every single book in that series.  This is were I got my mantra, if you hook a reader into a series, then you hook him/her into reading for life.

 

This was the first book that I ever read over and over again.  I remembered the beautiful trees that were described in the beginning of the story when Anne was first arriving at Green Gables.  It captured my heart.  I remember how talkative Anne was and fell in love with this imaginative little girl.  I could relate with the character and I longed to experience life in this book as Anne.

 

Today, I am no longer at the bottom of my class.  I graduated fromMarquetteUniversitywith Suma Cum Laude.  I went on to get my masters and graduated as a Reading Specialist with a 4.0.  I struggled to get where I am today and reading was never easy as a child, but I love reading more than anything else in the world.  I love to learn and immerse myself in learning new things and above all I love teaching kids to read.  I take into account the feelings that kids struggling go through because I was one of those kids.  I incorporate positive reinforcement techniques and make kids feel like they are good enough, smart enough, and wonderful enough to accomplish the things that they want to accomplish in life.  I tell my students that it doesn’t matter what level they are reading at right now.  I will get them far beyond where they need to be.  I have tips and tricks that have gotten me through school and I had to learn the hard way.  I teach them these tips and tricks and make learning easy for them.

 

No child should be made to feel less than because he/she does not learn the typical way that is acceptable in schools.  All children have a right to an appropriate education whether they are a struggling reader or not.  I am here to speed up the learning curve for kids and to find that path to educational success.  Whether a child is struggling a little bit with reading, or whether he/she is in need of a dyslexia tutoring program, I am here to help.  This is my passion and my path in life.

Filed Under: Motivating kids to read, Reading Tutoring, Struggling Readers Tagged: , , , , , ,
Renee Love’s Story of Dyslexia and an Effective Dyslexic Intervention Program
October 14, 2012 3 Comments

Renee Love’s Story of Dyslexia and an Effective Dyslexic Intervention Program

20121014-133857.jpg

October is National Dyslexia Awareness month, so there will be several posts this month dedicated to understanding this learning disability. Today I have interviewed a client that is an adult that has suffered from Dyslexia and what her experience was a result. Her name is Renee Love and she enlisted my services about a year ago to help increase her reading level.

Skyping Reading Tutor: What was your first experience you remember with reading?

Renee: My grandmother reading Rumplestiltsken. I remember being fascinated with the idea of spinning gold.

Skyping Reading Tutor: Were you read to a lot as a child?

Renee: Yes, I Remember being read to fairly regularly by lots of different people.

Skyping Reading Tutor: When was the first time you knew something was different?

Renee: I was reading with my grandmother and it seemed like I was understanding everything. I remember her asking me to continue reading a sentence over and over again. I didn’t understand why she kept having me reread it. I thought that I was reading it correctly. She kept telling me that I was reading was as saw. I kept thinking, why would I do that.

Skyping Reading Tutor: How did your experiences effect you?

Renee: When It was explained to me that I was dyslexic I was relieved that there was a reason. At the same time a lot of people assumed I had more limitations than I actually did.

Skyping Reading Tutor: How did dyslexia affect your overall school experiences?

Renee: It really made school miserable. I was constantly teased and felt singled out a lot because they would put me in special reading classes. It didn’t seem that people really understood what the problem was and what my limitations actually were.

Skyping Reading Tutor: You graduated from high school and got a masters. How were you able to accomplish that?

Renee: Belief that I was intelligent enough and a lot of late nights. Some very cooperative and helpful teachers also guided me through my studies.

Skyping Reading Tutor: What was your experience online like with the Skyping reading tutor?

Renee: Amazing, enlightening, and extremely helpful. She found what I needed to improve on and helped give me the confidence to discover things that I didn’t know I could do.

Skyping Reading Tutor: What would you like to say to kids who are struggling with this today?

Renee: You are not alone and don’t get discouraged there is still lots you can do.

Skyping Reading Tutor: What is some advice that you have for parents that are going through this with their child?

Renee’s mom: Patience and continue to have a positive attitude and praise. Still read to them.

Renee: My mom made herself available consistently to get through material. Recognize that it is not your child’s fault. It needs to be dealt with in the best manner possible.

Today Renee has focused on what her talents are and shares them with the world. The picture that you see above is a water color painting she did of my children. You can check out her work at http://reneelovepaints.weebly.com/. She is also going to be illustrating the cover of my new book 31 Days to a Become a Better Reader. Just because Renee has dyslexia does not mean that she is not a very accomplished woman. She has a bubbly personality and has a unique talent to capture people’s essence through her painting.

Filed Under: dyslexia, Online Tutoring Program, Reading Tutoring, Struggling Readers, Tutoring Sessions Tagged: , ,
«Older Posts
s2Member®