If you have a child who is a struggling reader, it can be hard to know what to do to help. Varsity Tutors can help you connect with a skilled reading intervention tutor who can help them work towards their reading goals. Students of all ages can struggle with reading. While some of these students have been diagnosed with a learning difference that may be known to affect reading ability, many more are undiagnosed and are left with inadequate support in the classroom.
Reading is perhaps the most essential skill in today's classroom. It is the skill upon which all other subjects are built, and students are expected to master and grow more rapidly in this area than in any other. Learning to read is similar to building a house in that you must first prepare the building site, lay a foundation, and then continue adding structural features until it is fully functional. Once reading competency is achieved, additional skills can be added in. This can include reading poetry, technical reading skills, or reading in a second language.
No matter the age or current reading level of your child, if they are struggling to read effectively, it is important to provide them with the support they need to work on strengthening their skills. Reading intervention tutors can help at any level, from building phonemic awareness to understanding Shakespeare. Continue reading to learn how reading intervention tutoring can help and how easy it is to get started.
What skills can a reading intervention tutor near me help students develop?
Reading intervention tutoring can help your child work on developing the skills that are appropriate for their current reading level. It's important to start at the student's current level since reading competency is built one skill at a time. For many students, missing one of the early building blocks has come to result in challenges in their present academic career. For example, difficulty with fluency in elementary school may result in a lack of interest in reading grade-level appropriate books or avoiding reading assignments. This could ultimately lead to greater difficulty in reading comprehension for grade-level selections. To address this type of issue, the reading intervention tutor might begin with selections that are below grade-level but have a high interest value for your student. Fluency techniques can be implemented and built upon, which could then be utilized in other learning environments.
Reading intervention tutors can work with your child on any of the specific areas which are considered critical for effective reading. These include phonemic awareness, fluency, phonics, spelling, and vocabulary. In addition to working with your child to help them reach grade-level appropriate goals with these skills, a personal reading instructor can also help your student to build their reading comprehension level by bolstering skills including inferring, summarizing, questioning, and more.
As the interventionist gets to know your child, they will discover their unique learning strengths and weaknesses. This will help inform the structure of the sessions and make it possible for the instructor to create lesson plans that are designed to help your child work towards their reading goals.
Do reading intervention tutors only help with language arts classes?
Reading is a foundational skill, which means reading intervention tutoring can benefit students in all subject areas. It is not limited to those directly in the sphere of language arts. Through high school and into college, most social science and science classes rely heavily on independent reading. If you believe your child is struggling in other classes because of their reading skills, working with a private reading instructor could be one way to address those other academic areas.
Is working with a reading intervention tutor like being in a classroom?
During the first several years of formal education, reading skills are the focus of many classrooms. If your child is an early learner, it's natural to wonder how working with a reading intervention tutor would be different. No matter what grade your child is in, however, working with a private instructor is dramatically different from the instruction they might receive in a typical classroom.
When a classroom teacher is working with students, it is with the group as a whole. Skills are laid out in lessons according to strict timelines to provide each student within the group exposure to and practice with the skills necessary to build their reading comprehension. Unfortunately, not all students learn in exactly the same way or at the same rate. If your child learns a little differently or needs additional time to review new concepts, they may quickly fall behind. If they also have an undiagnosed learning difference, the disparity can become even greater.
No matter what the root of the reading difficulty may be, working with a reading intervention tutor ensures your student will have the undivided attention of their instructor. This means that whichever skills your student needs to work on during a session, that will be what they work on. This might mean going back to skills that are typically mastered in previous years, or it might mean using tactics that aren't regularly implemented in classroom settings because they aren't as effective with groups.
What are some of the benefits of working with a reading intervention tutor near me?
Beyond helping your child work towards literacy goals which will support all areas of their academic career, reading intervention tutoring can also help them build confidence in themselves and their ability to learn and work through difficult situations. Not all children find reading to be a skill that comes naturally. When it is more challenging, children often feel like that means there is something wrong with them or that they just aren't 'good' at school. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Reading intervention tutors can not only make the process of reading more engaging and personally accessible, but they can also demonstrate to your child that just because something isn't easy for them does not mean that it's impossible. With every reading milestone a student achieves by adding a new skill to their literacy repertoire, students learn to think differently - not only about reading, but also about themselves and their relationship to academics.
Additionally, a reading intervention tutor can help provide tactics, reading recommendations, routines, and strategies you can implement on a regular basis that can further support your student in working towards their reading goals. Helping a child improve their reading skills isn't something parents are taught to do, so if you have questions with how you can best help your child, you can always ask their private instructor.
Are private reading intervention tutoring sessions convenient?
Working with a reading intervention tutor is more convenient than you thought was possible. We love the process of learning and understand that strong reading skills are key in helping students reach for their full academic potential. Unfortunately, we also know that in many areas, it is difficult to find someone who is skilled in reading intervention. Even when reading instructors are available, it can be time-consuming for parents to find them on their own. That is why we work so hard to help parents connect with highly qualified instructors.
One of the ways we do this is by providing students and instructors a place to meet with our secure online Live Learning Platform. With this resource, the only thing your child needs when it's time to meet with their reading intervention tutor is a reliable internet connection and their digital device. Once they log in, they will find themselves face-to-face with their instructor. This type of learning environment has all of the benefits of real-time communication and personalized instruction, but with easier access to qualified instructors and more scheduling flexibility.
There are several tools within the platform that make it possible for your child's instructor to share research-based instructional strategies that are applicable to your student's learning style and needs. The digital whiteboard makes it easy to create a virtual word wall to work on sight words, vocabulary, mind mapping, and various other strategies. The document sharing functionality allows your child and their instructor to work on the same reading passage together, which facilitates modeling, echo reading, and turn-based reading to improve fluency.
Of course, if you'd prefer your student work with someone in person, that option is also available.
How can I find a reading intervention tutor near me?
Varsity Tutors makes it easy to get started with private reading intervention tutoring. Whether you want your child to work with a reading intervention tutor in person or in an online environment, we can help connect you with an experienced instructor who can help your student work towards their learning goals. Reading is a skill that most adults take for granted and that far too many students struggle with in silence. If you'd like to schedule a private reading intervention tutoring session, or you want to learn more about your options and the process, reach out to Varsity Tutors today. We look forward to working with you and we're excited to help your student build their reading skills!