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Unlocking Your Child’s Reading Potential: The Power of Structured Literacy

Parents often feel stressed and unsure when their child struggles to keep up in reading, fearing this will impact their child’s confidence and future learning. I offer tailored and explicit lessons building foundational skills step-by-step,
Miss Sue MA MLIS
Average rating:
5.0
Number of reviews:
(8)
Class
Play

What's included

Meets on Demand
schedule meetings as needed
25 mins
per session
Teacher support
Homework
1-2 hours per week. Children need to read aloud at least 20 minutes four times a week under the supervision of an adult, who is catching mistakes and giving corrections so errors are imprinted on the brain.
Grading
Student will read a short story of his/her choice to someone in the home.

Class Experience

US Grade Kindergarten - 3
The A to Z of beginning reading includes the sounds of letters, an understanding of syllables and rhyme, and practice in reading stories. Young readers will progress from sounding out and decoding words, reading sentences in books, and to focusing on understanding the meaning of the word and the sentence, thus laying the groundwork for reading comprehension. They will learn sight words like as, a, is, are, one, two, said, again, been, could, he, and words that do not follow a pattern and cannot be sounded out. Writing letters and spelling are linked to reading. Early readers should feel good about themselves. 

Tutoring progresses from simple one-to-one letter-sound relationships focusing on consonants, and then vowel sounds. Complex letter patterns come next, called digraphs: sh as in ship, ch as in chip, -ng as in sing or thing, wh as in when. There are also trigraphs like -dge in wedge. Students are taught the rules, like the silent e and what determines whether Cs and Gs are hard or soft. Serious spelling instruction begins in the middle of first grade according to Shaywitz. Students will learn how different types of syllables determine pronunciation. They will divide long words between two consonants like kitten kit-ten. 

My teaching includes informal assessments, lots of interaction with the student, the preparation of an individualized program of study, feedback, guidance, and modeling. I will be sharing my lessons on a slide deck. It is helpful for the student to have a student-sized white board.
Learning Goals
1st: To know that spoken words come apart and that letters represent the sounds
K:To easily name the letters of the alphabet both lower and upper case
learning goal

Other Details

Learning Needs
I am self-trained in Overcoming Dyslexia, by Sally Shaywitz, co-director of the Yale Center for Dyslexia & Creativity. The science of reading and structured literacy are the foundation of my tutoring. I have 5 years experience.
Supply List
Elementary school wide lined paper and easily gripped pencil.
External Resources
Learners will not need to use any apps or websites beyond the standard Outschool tools.
Joined May, 2024
5.0
8reviews
Profile
Teacher expertise and credentials
Washington Teaching Certificate in Secondary Education
Master's Degree in Information Technology from University of Washington
Master's Degree in Theatre Arts from University of Washington
Bachelor's Degree in Education from University of Washington
MA Theatre Arts; MLIS Library Science; K-12 certificated
Retired teacher librarian with 30+ years of public school classroom teaching, working in school libraries, directing school plays and musicals, tutoring struggling readers with and without a dyslexia diagnosis, standardized test preparation, and enrichment in classic literature and acceleration as requested.  The last three years I have immersed myself in the science of reading and structured literacy, and have seen growth in my students which you will see below. A lifelong learner, I turn to are the University of Washington Reading & Dyslexia Research Program (Go Dawgs, 3 degrees from UW); Anita Archer’s program Phonics for Reading;  Sally Shaywitz, codirector of the Yale Center for Dyslexia Creativity; and the University of Florida Literacy Institute. 

I have my own tutoring business, Threshold Tutoring, located in Washington state and I am new to Outschool. Here are some testimonials from my business students and parents.

Excellent tutor! So thankful for how Sue educates and the breadth   of material she covers. Above and beyond!! Parent of 5th grade girl at Cincinnati Country Day creative writing and drama.
Fabulous, thoughtful, insightful tutor! Same parent of 8th grade brother at Cincinnati Country Day receiving enrichment ELA tutoring focusing on literature and academic writing.

Sue, thank you so much for your time and for sharing your expertise with our team and students! I appreciate your dedication towards finding the strengths and motivations for each of our students.

Teacher at the Seattle Children's Hospital School.

Ms. Sue is a very helpful tutor. She helped me pull up my grades. When we started a year ago I was below average. Now I am advanced. My reading scores went up. I have more confidence. She helped me become a better writer.  It was fun to read play scripts with Roderick. She also taught me better coping skills. I don’t burst out crying now. I don’t always think I’m gonna fail stuff anymore. Without her I don’t think I would have made it to where I am now. I’m ready for middle school. Most definitely ask if Ms. Sue can help your kid.
5th grader from Washington D.C.   (note: This student’s scores on “The Reading Inventory” given by her school 8/31/22 and 1/18/23 went from Lexile 788 to 1162; Percentile Rank 47 to 95; NCE (normal curve equivalent) 48 to 85; and Stanine 5 to 8.

Ms. Sue is kind and loving and smart. I could hardly read in 2nd grade and I just took the STAAR Reading and felt confident. I feel fine to read out loud in class. I’m sure you will like Ms. Sue as much as I do. She is forgetful sometimes and that makes her cool and so fun. 

4th grader from Texas who I have worked with for two years on word recognition using explicit, systematic instruction in phonics, spelling and sight recognition; and  teaching language comprehension including background knowledge, vocabulary, grammar and syntax, verbal reasoning, and reading fluency.

I highly recommend Ms. Sue as a tutor. Her exceptional skills and experience in test preparation helped my son improve his SSAT score from 1490 to 1941 in just five months. Ms. Sue's dedication and ability to create an engaging learning environment have made a significant impact on my son's academic progress. With Ms. Sue's help, my son was able to get into his preferred school, which speaks to her effectiveness as a tutor. I strongly recommend Ms. Sue's tutoring services to anyone looking for academic support that can make a significant impact on their child's educational journey.
 Parent of 5th grade male SSAT Prep student
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Reviews

Live 1-on-1 Lessons
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$28

per session
Meets on demand
25 min

Completed by 1 learner
Live video meetings
Ages: 6-10

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