Starting with where your child actually is
A child who struggles in school reading is not always struggling in the place you think. Some children decode words slowly, some read aloud well but lose the meaning, and some understand everything but cannot get thoughts onto a page. The first session is a gentle diagnostic: the child reads a short passage aloud, talks about it and writes a few sentences. From that we decide where to begin.
Elementary school (grades 1 to 5)
In the early grades, the goal is fluent, accurate reading and the confidence that goes with it. We work on sound and word patterns, sight words, reading aloud with expression, and talking about what was read. For writing, we start with complete sentences and move to short paragraphs with a beginning, middle and end.
- Decoding and fluency: practice with age-appropriate text, with an emphasis on accuracy before speed.
- Comprehension: asking and answering questions about who, what, why and what happens next.
- Vocabulary: learning words through reading and conversation, not flashcards alone.
- Writing: from sentences to paragraphs, with spelling and punctuation corrected kindly and specifically.
Middle school (grades 6 to 8)
Middle school asks for more: longer texts, evidence-based answers and multi-paragraph essays. A student who coasted through elementary reading may suddenly find a seventh-grade novel unmanageable. We teach active reading, such as annotating, summarizing a chapter in a sentence and tracking a character's change, and we teach the structure of an essay: a claim, evidence, explanation and a conclusion. These are the same skills that later power success on the ELA Regents and the SAT, so they pay off for years.
What a session looks like
Sessions are live and interactive. The student reads, answers questions, writes with the tutor watching and revises one piece at a time. We check for understanding throughout, so a child does not nod along and fall behind. After each session parents receive notes covering what was practiced and what to try at home, such as fifteen minutes of reading aloud, a short journal entry, or a list of words to use in conversation.
We keep the pace encouraging. Children learn faster when they feel capable, so we choose material that is challenging but reachable and celebrate specific improvements.
Format, price and location
Reading and writing tutoring is $100 per hour. Younger children often do well online with a parent nearby for the first sessions, and in-person sessions are available at your home or a nearby public spot in Westchester, Queens, Brooklyn and elsewhere in the area. In-person sessions carry a travel fee based on location, quoted before you book. For help with a wider range of schoolwork see homework help and study skills.
We are not a diagnostic or clinical service. If a child shows signs of a learning difference such as dyslexia, we recommend talking with the school and your pediatrician about an evaluation, and we can work alongside whatever plan results.