Affordable Reading Tutoring Options
Free reading skills check
Tutoring Doesn’t Have to Cost and Arm and a Leg!
Some students have trouble learning in the classroom, and private tutors are sometimes the best option. Many private tutors provide tutoring services at an affordable price. Viva Phonics is a high-quality instructional program that is affordable when compared to other reading tutoring programs.
Tutoring for the purpose of reading involves teaching and learning important reading skills, the many skills that each individual student must possess in order to read fluently and with comprehension. To fill a learner’s reading gap(s), tutoring options might be recommended. But isn’t a reading tutor for my child expensive?
It’s a tough time to be a struggling reader or a smart kid who’s simply having difficulty reading. Imagine a youngster learning the basics of reading having to learn all required subjects online. It’s just not natural! Yet, this is a consequence of the virtual schooling scenario. And some kids are really missing out. You might be asking, “Is there an affordable tutoring option for my child?”
Tutoring can be expensive, but there are some excellent tutoring options and configurations available for parents of struggling readers, for which we describe the benefits—and possible disadvantages—below.
Weigh your options
Private Tutor
A one-on-one reading tutor is an effective option. Hiring a one-to one tutor provides your struggling reader with a professional whose sole purpose is to meet the reading needs of your child. This is important because the private reading tutor knows how to adapt instruction to your child’s needs.
Private reading tutors are priceless because they’re professionally skilled to teach reading. Similar to the schoolteacher, they’ve likely devoted years to reading instruction, and they can spot the gaps quickly and efficiently. They can plan and carry out strategies to improve the skills of your struggling reader most effectively. The investment is well worth the time and money!
The difference between the schoolteacher’s instruction method and that of the 1:1 tutor is the varied needs of the schoolteacher’s class; with so many levels and needs, teachers tend to instruct towards the middle, leaving some kids craving more and others confused, even frustrated. The private reading tutor, focused only on your child, can bring content-rich transformative learning to the table. The tutor is a great cheerleader, too.
Small Group Tutoring
Cheering for a small team of struggling readers can be a more affordable tutoring option, however. Often, reading tutors can ability group struggling readers into small groups of similar age and reading needs. This occurs in the classroom setting, too, but the groups are usually larger, and the tutoring time may be abrupt or interrupted.
The small reading tutor group configuration has been around longer than those old-time Dick and Jane books! There’s a good reason for this. Learning is a social activity, so the group tutoring option takes advantage of peers, learning is enriched with each student’s perspectives. And, as a team, the struggling readers compete while they also cheer one another’s successes.
Possibly more affordable than a one-on-one reading tutor, the small group tutoring option can be great as long as your child’s needs are truly being met. Even in a small group, growth can be uneven from child to child, and targeted lessons will be difficult when needing to meet the needs of multiple students at a time.
DIY Approach
Because parents know their kids best, an affordable and fun tutoring option is teaching your struggling reader at home. Parent tutoring is also more convenient. Further, parents and family members can draw on their kids’ interests. After all, learning and practicing various reading skills is most fun when the subjects hold lots of interest.
While fun, teaching your child might not be as simple and easy as we might hope. This is especially the case when there is a struggling reader involved. Frustration can set in on both sides. This is the time to reach out to a professional for help in teaching your child to read.
Take the first step
Initially, a reading assessment should be administered to determine where a struggling reader may have needs. The assessment can be conducted online, and to save money, it’s good to know that many tutors and tutoring schools conduct free assessments. A reading assessment gathers reading information regarding a student’s skills—and needs—based on a student’s age and/or grade level. The reading assessment reveals sight word recognition—or, rapid recognition—phonological awareness, nonsense words, fluency, and also silent and oral reading comprehension. Typically, tests for comprehension ask students to read and respond to several passages.
Once the assessment determines a struggling reader’s needs, a systematic approach to teaching and learning is devised. Armed with your child’s needs, this is a good time to decide on the tutoring option. Tutoring options for struggling readers typically include parent tutoring (going at it yourself), group tutoring, or a personal tutor.
It’s helpful to know there’s plenty of affordable tutoring options we parents can turn to for help with our struggling readers. Finding the right option for you and your reader simply requires you understand your child’s needs and likes, and the time and costs involved.
Evaluate your options and make a decision before it gets too hard to catch up.