Reading Tutor

L. C,
My best friend emailed me about your posting. I would be happy help you out in any way. I am currently staying home with my 5 young children, but prior to that, I taught special education, working mostly with children with learning disabilities (in all academic areas). If your daughters reading level is one and a half to two grade levels behind, it might be prudent to have her tested. If she is found to have a learning disability, the school must provide her with services to remediate her difficulites.

My husband (a clinical psychologist) and I are part owners of a business located in the downtown area of Plainfield. The services we offer include providing educational assessments (typically covered by your insurance), tutoring services,consulting services, etc. Feel free to email me directly if you have any specific questions that I can help you with, or you can visit our website www.bhes.us to find out more information if your are interested in tutoring.

Also, I would be happy to help walk you through how to request testing to be done on your child through the school district if you are worried she may have a learning disability. However, independent evaluations are sometimes helpful, especially if your insurance provider covers the cost for you. Good Luck and let me know if I can help! S. S.

Hi Libby,

I feel your pain with the Plainfield Schools. I have had my share with both good and bad teachers since we moved to the area 9 years ago. Here are a few suggestions:
First, is it that she truly doesn't understand, or she just does not like to read? If it is that she does not like to read and it is just plain boring, then maybe find books that she enjoys reading. How does she do on her placement tests? If it that she truly does not understand, then:
Sylvan Learning is a good program. You an go and talk to someone there, and have your daughter evaluated. If you do not want to go that route, you can contact her teacher and ask for tutors. When I had to go the tutor route, I found one teacher that was out of Lockport HS and she was great. Unfortuneately, she was pregnant and had to go on bedrest. I then found another one through Plainfield HS, and this woman tutored out of her home (she was a stay at home mom). She was okay.
There are sometimes college students who are going for a teaching degree that can help out as well. Maybe try Lewis or University of St Francis academics department.
Hope this helps, good luck!

I have a fabulous tudor that I have referred people to and they love her. She has been doing this for 20 years. Her office is in her home as well as a church after school. It all depends on your daughters needs.

Her location is on the very south side of Naperville between 111th and 104th off of Naperville Plainfield Road. Need more info, let me know I can' then give you her name and number if you have an interest in knowing more.

Hi There!

I am a certified teacher (K-9) and I am a former English teacher for intermediate grades....I am currently a stay at home mommmy...but over the summer I did tutor a sixth grade student in math and english and enjoyed it! I am located in Manhattan and if you want to set up some tutoring sessions with your daughter....I think that I could help her out with english and hopefully inspire a love of reading. I know how expensive Sylvan and Huntington Learning Center are, and the student that I tutored over the summer went there for six months prior to coming to me with no results.....so clearly paying more does not ensure results!

You can contact me at ____@____.com or you can call me at ###-###-####

Take Care!
D.

Dear L.,

Have you ever had your daughter tested for dislexia? (Not sure if I spelled it correctly.) Children with this condition have difficulty in reading because they don't see words normally. Someone with Dislexia sees workds backwards and letters upside down. This is something I would definately look into. If she has this she may not have realized it, and that would be why she is struggling so much with reading. This is a very common disorder, and is typical of children who have trouble in reading. If her difficulty can be traced to something specific, there are programs that can help her.

I wish your daughter the best.

J.

hi i would first ask if your childs school has a list of tutors. if you go through a private tutor you'll be paying less and typically getting great results. you can put an ad on craigs list seeking a tutor.

Hello I have a 9 year old son that was tested and has been getting help through the Oswego school dist for 2 years now. He is now in the 4th grade and they have a program called reading 180. He is taken out of class during the day for about a half hour everyday just for reading and they help him on his reading. I cant believe Plainfield doesnt have a program like this. But I do know my sister got etc help with my neice and nephew with math and reading through a tutor during the summer hours to keep them on track through our libary our libary. So you also might want to call your public libary system to see if they have a program that is after school or weekends for this. Good luck you are not alone.

Both my daughter and son (13 and 10) were challenged in reading in second grade, my daughter so much that the teacher had her tested to see if she qualified to get help from the State. She didn't qualify. That was then. Over the summer, my daughter in the first two weeks of summer vacation, read 19 hours. (I'm probably the ONLY parent during summer that said...."You put down that book and go out and play!") She is an avid reader and loves it. Just read the whole series that Stephanie Meyer's wrote. My son, is 5th grade and is still finding his niche. Doesn't love it but doesn't hate it anymore.

Point being....find a series or book that she likes to read. Do you read yourself? That is so important. That's what the teachers told me. I love my magazines but a teacher once told me that kids are more apt to read when they see readers in the house. Let her read something that is a little under her level to build her confidence. Read with her (been doing that with my son a lot these days.) In sixth grade, my daughter loved "Marley & Me". "Tale of Despereaux" was an easier reader, intended for 5th grade and one of my daughter's favorites. My son loves the series "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" (two books in the series but one is coming out soon). I loved reading that with him. Very funny. The best thing that she can do is read, read, read with you at this point so that you can gauge what her strengths and weaknesses are. Read TO her - thirty minutes a day. That's something I still do with my son. This last book, entitled, "Room 1" I have read a good portion of the book to him but he must follow along. Just trying to build that confidence in his reading ability and I'm seeing some results. Hope this helps. Good luck.