The Sound Reader

These are just a few of the potential signs of dyslexia and dysgraphia. If you suspect your child might have one (or both), early intervention is key!

Dyslexia and dysgraphia are both learning differences. Dyslexia primarily affects reading. Dysgraphia mainly affects writing. While they’re different, the two are easy to confuse. They share symptoms and often occur together. This table can help you tell them apart. For more information visit this link: https://www.understood.org/.../the-difference-between...

Infographic via and Spell Blog ❤️

Let's talk about spelling...an often overlooked, yet vital skill in mastering the written language.

I often hear, from students and adults alike, that spelling is no longer a necessary skill because we have tools like spell check nowadays. Let's get something out in the open right now-this is not true at all!

Think of a person's spelling ability as a window into how well they truly know the words of the language. If someone can read a word, but cannot spell it, then they only have a partial grasp of the word. While many people do get by just fine without knowing how to spell words, it is not ideal. Ultimately, the better a person's spelling is, the more easily they can read those same words.

So what can we do to help? Spelling skills can be supported from the moment a child begins to learn to read! When learning new sounds, we can have students practice writing those sounds and putting them into short words right away. The key here is to use the sounds the letters make, not the names of the letters. As adults, we spell with letter names, but when learning to spell and read, it's the sounds that count. So when you're trying to work with your child on spelling, say the sounds, not the names, and encourage them listen for each sound in the word as they write.

If you'd like to see more tips on learning to read and write, make sure to like and follow! 😊

Four years ago this month, I turned down a job offer at a good school in order to start tutoring full time. It was a tough choice, but absolutely the right one! Even at great schools, teachers are told how and what to teach, even when it's clear that a student (or students) need something different.
So, I stepped way outside of my comfort zone to do just that...offer what struggling readers actually need, not what a program or district tells me they need. It has been four wonderful, very busy, years, and I have not looked back since!
For the first time in years, I have one opening available, so if you were thinking about finding help for your child in reading, now's a great time to get started!

My oldest daughter gave me her birthday wish list the other day. This may not seem like much, but we have fought hard to get her here!

When she entered school, none of my coworkers seemed all that concerned about her reading and writing abilities. I kept mentioning to her teachers throughout her K-2 years, but no one gave it much thought because she wasn’t the MOST behind in her class, and she was doing OK technically. It didn’t matter that we were working over time at home to remediate her gaps.

It wasn’t until she was in third grade that I was finally able to make some headway and get her diagnosed with dyslexia. Throughout that time, and until very recently, spelling has been the hardest task for her.

In fact, until we started homeschooling in 4th grade, her writing was mostly unintelligible because of her inability to spell. Unfortunately, most public, charter and private schools do not value or teach spelling appropriately. But now, after diligently, systematically and explicitly going through the spelling program I created with her in mind, she can do it!

I am so proud of how hard she has worked to overcome the struggles she has had due to dyslexia. There isn’t a quick or easy solution, but dyslexia absolutely can be fully remediated! 🥳🥰

Exciting news! I am now a direct pay provider through Step Up! If you are a scholarship recipient, you can now search for The Sound Reader under the providers tab and your lessons can be paid directly from your scholarship funds.

In-person time slots are FULL, but I do have a few openings for Zoom lessons (and yes, online tutoring is just as successful as in-person, even with neurodivergent and/or young learners. ☺️).

If your student is struggling to read, please reach out! I'd love to help your student become a strong and confident reader!

The absolute best part of the work I do is getting to work directly with children and watch them grow into happy, confident readers. But another awesome piece of this work is creating interactive and engaging games, puzzles and activities that children actually enjoy doing. Learning to read may be hard for many people, but it certainly doesn't have to be boring! 😃

Due to increasing demand, I have added a few more openings to my Zoom availability. Please reach out with any questions or if you'd like to schedule an initial assessment!

I get asked a lot how parents can support their preschool aged kids and make sure they are prepared for school. This can be a complicated question and very much depends on the individual child, but I always start with this: kindergarteners do not NEED to enter school knowing how to read, knowing all of their letter names and sounds, etc. Focusing on academics too early can have the opposite effect from what is desired and intended.

But, I follow up with this: what IS an excellent use of academic time at that age is to play games with the sounds in our language. Kids love it and it is invaluable to their future reading skills! For example, you can have the child guess the word you are saying when you only say the sounds of the word, e.g., you say, "/f/ /i/ /sh/" then ask the child what word you just said. They have to figure out how to blend the sounds in order to know what the word is.

Training the ear to hear the separate sounds in words is the first step to being able to read successfully and this is an easy and fun way to do it. It also works very well for older children who are still struggling to learn how to read. They likely need the practice just as much!

Middle of the year state testing has recently wrapped up and I couldn’t resist giving a shout out to two of my students!

Congratulations, Braeden for moving from a one to a two in reading!

And congratulations to Avery from moving from a one to a THREE in reading!

You guys are working so hard and I am so proud of how far you have come! 😊🥳