FREE Consultation
Cost: FREE!
What you get:
- 15-20 min conversation done through email, Zoom, or over the phone
- Discuss my tutoring services, your child's needs and goals, and scheduling
25 min Lesson 1-to-1 Literacy Tutoring
(recommended!)
Cost: $45 per lesson
What you get:
- First lesson is FREE: Includes the start of the initial assessment
- Expert 1-to-1 Tutoring
- 25 min session that is individualized and designed for your learner
- Weekly updates on how your child is progressing and what they are working on
- Supplementary resources to use at home (decodables, homework, specific ways you can help)
**This option is best for younger learners**
**2-3 sessions a week recommended**
40 min Lesson 1-to-1 Literacy Tutoring
Cost: $65 per lesson
What you get:
- First lesson is FREE: Includes the start of the initial assessment
- Expert 1-to-1 Tutoring
- 40 min session that is individualized and designed for your learner
- Weekly updates on how your child is progressing and what they are working on
- Supplementary resources to use at home (decodables, homework, specific ways you can help)
**This option is best for older or more advanced learners seeking extra support**
FAQs
Got questions? We’ve got answers.
About Me
I use an Orton-Gillingham and a multisensory approach. My instruction addresses the five components of effective reading instruction that were identified by the National Reading Panel’s extensive research. These components include: phonemic awareness (sounds), phonics (decoding), fluency, vocabulary, and reading comprehension.
My lessons are organized in a very logical way and we will progress through a sequence of skills. The starting point is determined based on your child’s assessments. Then each one of my lessons builds on the previously learned concepts.
I have a master’s degree as a reading specialist along with two bachelor’s degrees in early childhood education and human development & family studies. With over 10 years of experience in education, I have been a child care specialist, a classroom teacher, a literacy and math interventionist, and I have developed an early learning program for a nonprofit.
My training focuses on Orton-Gillingham, the Science of Reading, English as a Second Language, and Structured Literacy. I have extensive education in online instruction and am a Google Certified Teacher.
Logistics
Zoom: I conduct all of my online tutoring sessions through Zoom. It is free for families to download and use! The same Zoom link will be used for each session and can be found in your calendar invite or on Tutorbird. Just click on the link and it takes you to our online session!
Tutorbird: Tutorbird is used to make payments, check invoices, schedule or change sessions, and store all of the materials/resources I use with your child. You will create an account after your FREE consultation.
Unless illness or an emergency occurs, sessions canceled within 24 hours will be credited as half a session. Please contact me ASAP to cancel a session, so we can try and reschedule.
If I cancel less than 12 hours in advance, I will provide one free session of tutoring on another date!
Life happens! I try to be as flexible as possible but the earlier we can reschedule the better.
I use a platform called Tutorbird. This provides electronic invoices for easy online payment. You can even set up automatic payments.
It is up to you! You can pay at the beginning of the month for a select amount of sessions, bi-weekly, or weekly.
All compensation is paid BEFORE sessions.
If we need to reschedule a session and you have already paid you will be given a credit for the following week.
You have the option to do automatic payments or pay once you receive the invoice.
- A fully charged computer, laptop, or iPad
- Recommended: Ipad or touchscreen computer with a stylus pen is ideal, as it makes it easier for students to interact on Zoom
- Not Recommended: Preferably not a Chromebook, they do not allow students to use the annotation features on Zoom
- Headphones or earbuds that can be plugged into the device. This lets learners hear my voice better and it blocks out any distracting noises. Bluetooth headphones can have problems with consistently connecting.
- A quiet place at a table/desk with a chair
- Dry erase board with a dark dry erase marker
- Other necessary materials will be mailed to you after the first three sessions!
- Optional (but helpful): Access to a printer. I send weekly resources that can be printed OR used on a device.
Getting Started
- Fill out the Ready For a Consultation? form and provide some information about your learner.
- I will contact you to set up a FREE consultation over email, Zoom, or over the phone to discuss your child’s interests, dislikes, hobbies, strengths, weaknesses, any concerns you may have, and any questions you may have.
- After our initial conversation, a contract will be agreed upon by the child’s guardian and we will set up consistent session times!
- You will set up a free Tutorbird account, which will be used to schedule, access resources, and pay invoices.
- The first session is always FREE. This session includes the start of several initial screeners to assess where we will begin. This session will also allow me to get to know your child and show them all the fun technology features we’ll be using!
- We will start building a solid literacy foundation!
A student’s first session with me will be engaging and enjoyable! The goal for this lesson is for me to learn who your child is as a learner, to get to know each other, and explore all the fun tech features we will be using!
At the same time, this will be a time to begin to assess your student’s reading skills and assess what his or her needs are. Screeners would include a phonics assessment (letter sounds and reading skills), a spelling inventory, and a phonological awareness screener.
With an understanding of their likes and dislikes, along with their assessment results, I can plan for their effective lessons.
- Download Zoom on the device your child will be using.
- Click on the Zoom link in your calendar invite 2-4 mins before the lesson starts (a reminder is always emailed out 30 mins before a lesson). You will be placed in a waiting room and I will let your child into the class at the start time.
- We do a quick check in (update on how they are doing!), go over our expectations, and schedule for the session.
- All components of a typical Orton-Gillingham lesson are completed.
- Warm up: visual drill, autdiory drill, phonological awareness activity, and blending drill
- New Concept: Practice a new skill, word dictation, sentence dictation
- Red Word Instruction and practice
- Text: Read a decodable that practices our new concept and new red words.
- Game: Fun way to practice or review concepts
- Share: Special time for students to connect with me by sharing a toy, pet, story, etc…
*All materials needed will be shared by me via screen sharing or document camera.
*Your child gets to interact by using the interactive white board on Zoom, taking control of my computer (kids LOVE this feature, as it allows them to move things around on my screen!) the multi-sensory materials I send to your home, an actual whiteboard, and so much more.
I make online tutoring very interactive! There is no sitting and just listening to me talk.
Other Frequently Asked Questions
Reading is not a natural thing and hard for many children!
Check out my blog post to learn why!
Yes! There are so many benefits of tutoring.
Working 1-on-1 with students isn’t something that happens a lot in the classroom. Teachers are managing 25+ kids with 25+ different needs. Typically, students receive large/small group instruction.
When you tutor you get a 1-on-1 session that is geared towards your child’s learning needs. Your child will benefit from the undivided attention of a licensed Reading Specialist. Personalized lessons allow students to ask questions, participate 100% of the time, and have the lesson designed to meet their needs.
Remote learning did not work well for every child. However, 1-on-1 virtual tutoring will be a different experience. Unlike an online classroom where your child may find it very difficult to keep up, participate, or stay engaged, a personalized tutoring session enables them to learn at their own pace.
Online tutoring through the Early Learning Place is very interactive. Your child will not just be staring at a screen! They will be participating using multi-sensory materials, writing words, reading decodables, movement, playing games, etc..
This is not a simple answer and is based on several factors! Like your child’s specific struggles/needs, their age (there is a much smaller gap to fill for younger students and a much larger one for older students), consistency with tutoring, learning speed, etc…
Students must be proficient in one reading skill before moving onto the next. We will move as slow as we need to and as fast as we can to build a strong foundation. Luckily, with 1:1 tutoring your child can get exactly what they need at the exact right time. This allows for growth to happen quicker!
You already are! You clearly are invested in helping your learner! Helping at home can be challenging since the vast majority of adults have learned to read differently. Science of Reading reveals how our brains acquire and learn to read and spell, which is contrary to how most adults were taught (and sadly many teachers do not have the training to help students learn to read and spell)!
I will send you weekly suggestions on words to practice and how to practice them, a decodable to print and read at home, and other activities created just for your child (game boards, practice sheets, etc…)
Every three months, I reassess students to see what progress they have made and what changes are needed in the instruction to help continue their improvement.
You will also receive weekly updates on how they are doing and what we are working on!
