Reading Tutoring

Excellence in Academics Tutoring knows that reading tutoring is worth its weight in gold; reading is a learned skill, as there is no part of the brain specifically wired for it, unlike the brain’s two areas specifically programmed for speaking.  Reading tutoring at Excellence in Academics Tutoring is based on three major components of instruction; a brief description of each follows.  Melissa M. Loukas holds a reading endorsement and is certified as a Susan Barton certified tutor for levels one through three, holds a level one Spalding certificate and is currently continuing research in the fields of reading and continuing in researching helping kids with Dyslexia.

• Susan Barton’s Reading and Spelling System: Susan Barton’s Reading and Spelling System is a multi-sensory approach to learning the skills of reading and works wonderfully for students that struggle with Dyslexia. 

However, because its components include:

• a strong base in phonemic awareness
• the skills of decoding
• reading for fluency
• spelling
• the rules of spelling

the reading tutoring done with the Susan Barton Reading and Spelling System can help any child struggling with the skills of reading.  However, if your child exhibits the following traits:

• terrible speller
• is a slow or inaccurate reader
• writes some letters or numbers backwards
• can’t memorize multiplication tables
• has trouble telling time on a clock with hands
• has an unusual pencil grip and unusual letter formation
• has difficulty in learning to tie his or her shoes

he or she will especially benefit from being tutored in the Susan Barton system, as it is the only tutoring instruction specifically designed for kids with Dyslexia.

Please visit: www.bartonreading.com and www.brightsolutions.us  to learn more about this effective reading tutoring program. Excellence in Academics Tutoring has been using the Barton system for over a year, and Melissa M. Loukas is a certified Barton tutor. Her Barton students have seen leaps and bounds of improvement in their reading and spelling skills.

• The Spalding Method:  This integrative Language Arts approach to learning how to read is nothing short of amazing, as its results are amazing.  Excellence in Academics Tutoring tutors kids who attend Spalding schools and has practice in expertly going through all the components of Spalding instruction.

Children are taught and tutored in reading by integrating the following methods:

• having absolute mastery in learning the sounds and the rules of the 70 phonograms of the English language
• writing – both in manuscript and cursive
• vocabulary instruction
• practice in reading and spelling instruction
• practice in reading comprehension
• practice in identifying text structures
• practice in identifying the mental actions that are connected to reading instruction
•  grammar instruction
• writing instruction

Please visit www.spalding.org to learn more about the Spalding method.

• The Excellence in Academics Tutoring Reading Method:  Melissa M. Loukas takes the knowledge she learns from the Spalding instruction, the Susan Barton instruction, and her years as an English educator and reading tutor to outline reading comprehension techniques to her tutees.  Excellence in Academics Tutoring has observed many students and the processes they use for understanding how to break down a reading passage.  She notes where students falter, whether due to a lack of understanding or a lack of structured practice in breaking down reading passages, and creates concrete steps and actions the students incorporate into their daily reading – whether it’s for school or for their own personal reading—that enable them to read with comprehension and success.  Here is a brief overview of what Melissa Loukas uses in her own instruction for reading comprehension and appreciation:
• A combination of discussion and written brainstorming that engages the student in accessing the higher level thinking skills needed to understand what they’re reading.
• A variety of graphic organizers that reinforce discussion of the text during the tutoring session that also use a multi-sensory approach to reading, while simultaneously compelling the student to monitor their own comprehension of the text.
• Instruction that focuses on teaching students to identify the meaning of words and comprehending reading passages through understanding affixes, context clues, and text structures.
• Students are instructed through written expression—essays, poster projects, and various writing assignments—that solidify the recently read text, while simultaneously reinforcing their understanding of it and receiving writing instruction at the same time. 

The most successful thing about EAT’s approach is that it can be used for any type of reading.  Please visit www.readingtutorblog.blogspot.com to read more on reading tips.