A reading tutor can be an important academic resource for struggling students. This article will walk you through what the role of a reading tutor looks like and what benefits a reading tutor can provide.
What are the benefits of working with a reading tutor?
Reading tutors meet regularly with students either online or in-person to help them reach their full academic potential. Many students struggle to grasp important topics in school because they have difficulty focusing for long periods of time or need more one-on-one attention than schools can typically offer.
This is where a reading tutor will help! With a reading tutor, students are able to meet individually with a knowledgeable, friendly tutor who can help them navigate the challenge of learning to read as well as comprehending what they’ve read.
Learning to read can be an overwhelming process—especially for students that struggle to maintain their attention and/or have a learning disability. Many typical school curriculums are designed with a group of average students in mind. They will then cater their teaching styles to those students, which means others might have more difficulty learning and staying motivated.
Here are some of the academic and non-academic areas that reading tutors work with their students to improve:
· Breaking down words and sentences into understandable units
· Higher-level reading skills
· Engagement with the material
· Motivation to learn
· Attention and focus for longer periods of time
· Overcoming barriers to learning related to learning disabilities
Reading tutors rely on a variety of academic methods to help their students achieve success in school and beyond. Specific plans, timelines, and curriculums depend heavily on the student’s unique, individual needs and challenges. With individual curriculum-planning, students are more likely to see success in the classroom and to feel a personal sense of accomplishment, which can translate into better grades and higher academic motivation.
In what ways can reading tutors help students learn to read?
Reading tutors can be critical assets for young students who could benefit from extra learning outside of the traditional classroom. What methods, teaching styles, and platforms do reading tutors use to help their students navigate the process of learning to read?
Reading tutors rely on a wide range of methods to help students overcome barriers to learning and to meet the challenge of academic success. Here are some of the different options available for students who might benefit from the one-on-one attention of a reading tutor:
Online reading tutoring
While many people are hesitant to introduce more technology into a student’s learning environment, online tutoring and learning services have been shown to produce excellent academic outcomes for many students. Online tutoring can also be especially effective for students who struggle to focus or who may have additional challenges like ADHD.
Online tutoring takes place in the student’s home environment, which means fewer distractions and a more comfortable learning space for students who may be more overwhelmed or distracted in a busy classroom. Background noise and the activity of other students is often a major source of distraction for students, especially those with ADHD.
With online reading tutoring, students can learn at their own pace in their own environment. Virtual tutoring further helps students develop their motivation and personal discipline. Without the classroom and fellow classmates, students are encouraged to work more independently to meet their learning goals.
In-person reading tutoring
Some students may learn better from in-person reading tutoring. In-person tutoring offers its own range of benefits that can help students learn to read and focus.
While the classroom or in-person instruction can be a source of distraction for many students, technology can be distracting to others. In-person reading tutoring can help students who would benefit from multi-sensory input and stimulation while learning. The focused one-on-one attention of the reading tutor can also help students more easily return their attention to the task at hand.
Reading tutoring for students with special needs
Many students struggle to learn to read or to maintain their attention because of special needs or learning disabilities that interfere with their academic success. ADHD and dyslexia are common conditions that can make learning to read more difficult for students, which, in turn, often leads to lower motivation and engagement.
Students with special needs often need additional academic support beyond what the traditional classroom can offer. Reading tutoring can be the extra boost a struggling student needs to feel more comfortable and at ease as they navigate the process of learning to read.
Reading tutors offer individualized curriculums that meet the unique needs of each of their students. Unlike large classrooms that tend to provide a one-size-fits-all curriculum, reading tutors tailor their specific methods and teaching strategies to the student they are working with.
The Orton-Gillingham approach is one technique that has been shown to help students with ADHD engage more meaningfully with words and letters. Instead of learning about letters as abstract signs, students learn to connect letters to different sounds using all five senses, which helps them maintain their focus and learn on a deeper level.
Reading tutoring with My Tutor Anywhere
My Tutor Anywhere is a critical resource for many struggling students living in the Chicago area. With My Tutor Anywhere, students can get personalized curriculums that meet their needs and offer them the attention they need to succeed academically.
Learning to read isn’t easy and can be complicated even more by learning disabilities or conditions that make it hard to concentrate. My Tutor Anywhere provides the guidance, instruction, and support that struggling students need to perform at their best. You can count on our reading tutors to offer compassionate, developmentally appropriate tutoring lessons that will help students start seeing improvement.If your child or student is struggling to learn to read, contact us right away to start working on an individualized plan that will help them get back on track and enjoy learning again!
