Expert Reading Tutor

Rita S.

Reading a book when you find it hard to recognize the words is not fun. Watching your child struggle to read is agonizing. You need a tutor who can help your child quickly so they don't get further behind.

I’ve helped families just like yours. I have 20 years experience as a reading interventionist in a public charter school and as a private reading tutor. Whether your child has a formal diagnosis of dyslexia or needs a different approach to reading instruction than what they are receiving in school, I can help.

Learning to read is not a natural process like learning to talk. It must be taught explicitly and systematically with time for practice and review.

I teach reading using a Speech to Print approach which means we use the sounds from the words we speak and match them to written symbols (letters). Reading, writing and spelling are taught; improvement in one skill results in improvement of the others. Instead of memorizing spelling rules, sight words, or syllable types spelling patterns are learned and applied to read words. This allows younger students to read complex words like "ski" and "creature" instead of only simple words like "cat" and "hen".

Speech to Print offers several advantages: learning is quicker since we start with sounds students already know; it is effective with students who struggle with traditional print to speech methods commonly taught in schools and students with dyslexia and other diagnoses; (3) it’s less taxing on the brain since it focuses on patterns, not rigid rules; integrating reading, writing, and spelling reinforces learning all school subjects; using sound-letter relationships gives students confidence to attack unfamiliar words instead of guessing; (6) reading a wide range of texts results in progress more quickly than limiting texts at a specific reading level.

My approach may be different than what you and your child is used to. However, if the current instruction isn't working, then maybe it’s time to try something else.