Sharpen Reading is a  high-quality online program that is a result of high-quality and evidence-based research to gather a multi-dimensional understanding of a child’s reading problems. This comprehensive reading program includes multiple elements:

*The instruction is oriented from speech to print (and not from print to speech)
*The instruction is systematic and comprehensive
*The instruction provides ample practice for students to develop advanced skills to identify 
 and manipulate individual speech sounds (phonemes) in words
*the instruction provides ample practice in reading extended texts
*Systematic and explicit instruction in phonics
*Advanced phonemic awareness
*Decoding, and fluency
*Handwriting and spelling practice


***These elements are explicitly presented in Sharpen Reading.

This program is effective for struggling readers because it incorporates multi-sensory components (visual, auditory, and kinesthetic/tactile) that can help to better process and retain information, as well as strengthen their reading skills. Additionally, students with learning difficulties such as dyslexia, attention problems, and general cognitive impairments or delays need comprehensive and direct instruction. Carefully sequenced lessons and instructional language that is simple but precise are also very helpful. Sharpen Reading provides all of this. Multi-sensory, structured literacy benefits all students, not just struggling readers.

Sharpen reading instruction is carefully designed and sequenced to ensure that all relevant skills are being properly integrated in a systematic and structured approach. By utilizing interactive and engaging activities, children remain attentive and the reading experience is more effective. This program offers extensive progress and performance monitoring, resulting in data-driven insights that will be given to parents to keep up with the progress of their students.

******What principles are behind the Science of Reading?
Sharpen Reading is designed around the principles of the science of reading. Proven to be effective with all kinds of readers, including those with reading problems or dyslexia, Sharpen Reading incorporates research from various disciplines to facilitate the reading acquisition process. Sharpen Reading focuses on four key elements:

Phonemic Awareness: Understanding that words comprise individual sounds.
Phonics: Knowledge of the relationships between letters and the sounds they represent.
Explicit Instruction: Systematic teaching of reading components to nurture proficient readers.
Varied Practice: Frequent exposure in multiple ways to words solidifies their memory.

The Program is divided into 4 levels: 

In level A-Kindergarten/Mid-first grade Learn how to: 

*Think about the individual speech sounds of words
*Learn consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) words, with some beginning work with CCVC and CVCC words
*Practice letter/sound correspondences in a variety of exercises
*Read, spell and manipulate words and their parts
*Read sentences and simple texts with words containing only the letter-sounds students have studied
*Sound out consonant-vowel-consonant words like mop, sat, and big
*Spell these words
*Read simple words and sentences with these words, such as "The cat ran to the rug."


In level, B-Mid First/ Second grade focuses on these skills:

Level B1
Grade 1
*Learn advanced vowel spellings such as ea, ar, and ow
*Practice reading words with these vowel spellings
*Practice reading two-syllable words such as finish, and number
*Blend and segment words with five sounds such as stamp
*Read connected text
*Read first-grade level trade books series such as Frog and Toad and Amelia Bedelia, and works for beginning readers by Dr. Seuss


Level B2
Grade 2
*Learn advanced phonics
*Learn simple yet effective techniques to read three-, four- and five-syllable words
*Read simple chapter books like The Magic Treehouse series and Step 3 books like Hungry, *Hungry Sharks in the Penguin Random House Step into Reading Series, or Level 3 books in the HarperCollins I Can Read series, such as The Josefina Story Quilt
Level C [print only]


Third/Fourth-grade students will:

Grades 3–4
*Learn Latin roots, prefixes and suffixes
*Be prepared for success in decoding more complicated single words and text
*Read longer chapter books at a third-grade level, such as Louis Braille by Margaret Davidson
Level D [print only]


D-Fifth/ Sixth grade will focus on these skills:

Grade 5–6
*Learn Greek roots, prefixes, and suffixes (combining forms)
*Be prepared for the success of decoding more complicated single words and text
*Be engaged in fast-paced exercises to help them read and spell these words easily as well 
  as to learn what they mean
*Read any grade level material, including more demanding non-fiction reading in science and grade-level


**There will also be handwriting and spelling practice. 

**** There will be a pre-assessment to determine which level students will start at.
Each lesson will be tailored to the student's needs and assessment results. 

***Students will meet twice a week and each session will be 45 mins.


What does a typical tutoring session look like?
Tutoring sessions are held over Zoom and are 45 minutes. Parents help their Learner log into Sharpen Reading, our purpose-built digital platform, and then share their screen. Once a session begins, parents are only needed if the Learner experiences computer issues. With Kindergarten students, we ask parents to sit with their child for at least the first few sessions.

I will guide the Learner through a series of carefully sequenced activities built on the Science of Reading. Activities are paced to optimize student engagement and deep learning and include sounding out words and word parts, performing tasks with letter tiles while connecting those sounds to letters and letter combinations (decoding). Activities are designed to leverage the most proven, most effective ways to teach core decoding skills. With fun names like Word Puzzle, Tap and Say and Breaking Words Apart, students are actually building their foundational orthographic map and practicing critical skills like sound discrimination, phoneme manipulation and phonemic awareness.


How will I know how my child is progressing?
Ensuring the success and progress of students is a top priority. I use a comprehensive approach to monitor and assess your child’s progress through a combination of personal feedback and technology-driven assessments. Here's how.

I maintain detailed notes on each student's learning journey. After every tutoring session, I complete session feedback forms that include observations and insights. This personalized feedback highlights the student's strengths, areas for improvement, and any significant milestones reached during the lesson.

Evaluation Activities:
We also utilize the advanced capabilities of Sharpen's digital reading platform. The Sharpen Tutoring Platform includes specific activities to evaluate a student's grasp of the skills they have been learning. Activities such as Flash Card and Sound Game are scored, providing objective feedback on the student's performance


* I offer 8-45 min sessions every 4 weeks. Sessions are twice a week. You are welcome to continue enrolling your child every 4 weeks, until they have reached the desire reading level all or until all reading gaps are filled.  Most students will improve a grade level in three months.