“Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.” — Richard Steele
What Should I Know About Online Reading Program for Struggling Readers?
Sarah Katrina, the founder and the driving force behind Kids on the Yard, grew up in Southern California with her immigrant parents. She knows too well about reading struggles since English is her second language. Her life experiences made her understand firsthand reading difficulties. Everything changed for her when her parents were introduced to resources such as Highlight Books, the local library programs, and tutoring. She would not have made it to school otherwise.
What stuck with her the most was her one-on-one experience learning English as a child. This journey developed an understanding of how reading contributes significantly to child development, quality of life, wellbeing, and overall academic success in school.
We developed an effective one-on-one program and small group learning to significantly change the child’s quality of life and overall academic success in reading with this understanding in place.
Did you know?
Reading is a necessary skill for children of all ages since it improves their learning and knowledge throughout their school years while also improving their communication skills. Strong reading skills provide an essential building block for learning. Unfortunately, over 40% of students struggle with reading.
Reading struggles affect your child’s general learning
Are you suspecting that your child is struggling with reading? Don’t hesitate to talk to their teacher among other professionals. There are numerous reasons behind reading struggles that you may not determine outright.
Why the Kids on the Yard online reading program is the best for struggling readers.
What are reading skills?
Reading skills are the abilities relating to an individual’s capacity to read, interpret, comprehend, and decode written texts and language. Good reading skills are beneficial since they make it possible to assimilate and respond to written communication like letters, phone messages, emails, and other texts.
Reading skills are essential in school since they help students to learn. However, they also encompass other aspects such as comprehension, vocabulary, and strategies that work together to develop literacy skills and interpret the meaning of texts.
What skills does your child need to read effectively?
Learning to read requires various skills. Some of those skills that your child needs to learn reading include the following:
Phonemic awareness: The ability to hear and manipulate varying sounds of words.
Vocabulary: Your child must understand the meaning of words, their context, and their definitions for compelling reading.
Fluency: Fluency is reading aloud with constant speed, accuracy, and improved understanding.
Reading Comprehension: This is the ability to understand the meaning of words in information boos and storybooks.
Phonics: This is the ability to recognize the relationship between letters and sounds.
What are reading struggles?
Reading is a common problem. A report by National Centers for Learning Disabilities indicates that one in every five children in the US struggle with learning-related issues that include reading efforts. In addition, reading works can cause problems in other learning areas, including writing, spelling, comprehension, and fluency. These problems highly affect a child’s performance and lower their confidence.
What are the expected impacts of reading struggles?
Acute stress during homework time:
· Insecurities to participate in class or group discussion
· Lower-self esteem and lack of confidence in reading
· Anxiety or depression
· Low self-concept
Signs of a struggling reader:
A struggling reader’s reading ability is mostly below expectation based on their age. Such children barely understand or process what they hear. They can’t find the right words to answer a question or remember the order of things. In addition, a struggling reader may struggle to pronounce unfamiliar words or spell them.
Here are more signs of reading struggles:
1. Lack of Fluency: A child can read words separately but will have a problem reading them fluently in a sentence. Their reading may sound choppy, causing their reading comprehension to be poor.
2. Delayed Decoding Skills: This can lead to difficult reading and hesitation between words. They may fail to master sounds and letters despite regularly practicing them in school and home.
3. Inability to Sound-out Words: You may notice that your child cannot sound out words correctly. A child with this problem fails to decode words regardless of phonetically correct. They mostly omit or add sounds in terms when reading. Such children mostly exhibit stress and frustration whenever asked to read out aloud.
4. Trouble with Rhyming: Inability to rhyme words can signify a reading struggle among younger readers. You may realize that they don’t appreciate rhymes and avoid reading them aloud.
5. Sight Words and Reading Problems: Children with reading problems may have trouble understanding sight words. In addition, when sight words appear so often in a sentence, they can significantly hinder fluency. A child with a reading problem cannot recall sight words even after repeatedly practicing them.
Other signs of reading problems:
· The child may mention words that don’t exist on the page they are reading.
· They may hate to read and reject any form of practice.
· They may write words to match the sounds of the actual words. e.g., write “Kxtsi” to mean ‘cats.’
· Skipping or guessing words when reading.
· Trouble narrating or re-telling a story
Interventions:
A struggling reader is as intelligent as other kids. However, many factors contribute to their struggles that have nothing to do with their intelligence. Understanding why your child is struggling can help develop the right skills and make them more confident and skilled readers. Early interventions also help struggling readers overcome their challenges.
Investing in a quality online reading program can significantly affect your child’s reading confidence and ability, mainly when the intervention is applied within the early stages of reading.
Here is why we are the best online reading program for struggling readers:
- At Kids on the Yard, we assess your child’s reading level rather than just placing them in grade-level reading.
- Our team keenly identifies your child’s individual needs before determining the best reading help that aligns with their needs and learning style.
- At the end of the reading programs, we ensure that your child has improved their fluency, comprehension, and reading competence.
- Our personalized approach for your child’s reading program is what they need to grow.
- Our practice keeps the child engaged in learning throughout their schooling and accelerates results.
- We hone the right skills for school Skills! Our reading curriculum aligns with your child’s school standards and curriculum.
We are the best because we have a workable reading program for every grade level:
Kids on the Yard’s Pre-K and Primary Reading Program – The Best Online Reading Program for Struggling Readers:
Your Primary level child is graduating from “learning to read” to “reading to learn .”Strong reading skills are essential at this level since they form a building block of learning.
Our reading tutors improve Pre-K learners’ reading skills by:
- Teaching your child how to sound out unknown words
- Helping them develop strong vocabulary
- Helping them master spelling.
- Introducing reading games
- Improve the practice of sight words
- Practice letter recognition.
We also assist elementary learners to:
- Understand word meaning
- Develop critical thinking skills
- Improve their reading comprehension
- Learn how to create opinions about a story.
Kids on the Yard’s Middle School Reading Program:
Middle school students are growing up and developing more independence. Yet, many changes occur at this academic level, including increased expectations from their teachers, a more complex curriculum, harder classwork, more tests and quizzes, and increased homework.
While it may seem like your middle schooler requires some space, the truth is that they need more attention and support. The once nurturing environment of Elementary School is now a distant memory they head into high school or campus. They also encounter different teachers with different interactions and teaching methods. Parents should be available to provide the direction, motivation, and love needed to guide their children at this crucial level.
What’s more? Your middle schooler may also need extra support in reading.
During middle school, vocabulary goes beyond simply memorizing words and definitions. Reading evolves into figuring out the word’s meaning based on usage and understanding the roots. Students are expected to read more profound content and better understand and comprehend the material as they get introduced to a more challenging level of literacy and scientific texts.
Besides reading more complex text, students are also expected to express their thoughts through writing longer pieces and critically analyzing reading material. Reading and writing fluency helps middle schoolers to thrive in all subjects. On the other hand, reading and writing struggles can cause low confidence and more learning gaps.
We got you!
Our individualized tutoring services are the perfect solution to your child’s struggles in reading and writing. At Kids on the Yard, we believe that every child has the potential to become a strong reader and writer, regardless of their struggles with spelling, reading skills, handwriting, and vocabulary.
Our teachers lead engaging tutoring sessions personalized for your child, whether you choose the in-person or online. And, rest assured, our online is different than what students experienced this year in large, online classrooms.
How does Kids on the Yard Tutors Support Dyslexia Kids?
Dyslexia is a learning disability involving difficulty in reading due to the inability to identify speech sounds and how relate words with letters. The condition affects the part of the brain that processes language. Children with dyslexia can succeed in school through specialized education programs or tutoring.
At Kids on the Yard, we believe that successful Tutors build strong, personal relationships with their students and families. We offer personally tailored instruction and support to students with learning differences. We are keen on providing positive and gentle feedback to encourage imagination and creativity among the special kids.
Dyslexia kids, just like other kids, love positive feedback on their writing and reading efforts. Besides giving positive feedback, we offer dyslexic children structured literacy. This involves systematic, explicit, and diagnostic teaching methods.
Under systematic teaching, our tutors help your child to read logically. Here students master simple skills before moving to complex skills. Explicit instruction is clear and direct, without any form of guesswork. Lastly, diagnostic teaching is where the tutors constantly assess children o ensure that they effectively master a concept before going to the next.
What types of tutoring do we offer special needs learners?
Kids on the Yard tutors offer extra instruction outside of the classroom to help your child work on different skills, prepare for tests and get better grades. Tutors are often former or current teachers. Sometimes they’re older students skilled in certain subjects, such as geometry or biology. There are also online tutoring services and learning centers that hire certified teachers to provide tutoring.
Not all tutors specialize in working with kids who learn and think differently. Depending on your child’s needs, you might consider using an educational therapist or a special education teacher instead of a tutor.
Parting Shot:
Kids on the Yard tutors who are State Certified Teachers prepare customized lessons for their students based on their academic and emotional intelligence growth. We work alongside school curriculum and state standards to ensure learners’ educational development is aligned with their classroom.
We are the best…
All our tutors have in-classroom experience and have worked with students with varying abilities and learning styles throughout their careers. In addition, our tutoring services are specially designed to meet your child’s personal needs.
Don’t hesitate to get in touch with us for more information!
