Tutoring Is It Worth The Aggravation?

[MamaBear]

YES!! I understand that tutoring can be expensive, time consuming and hard to justify, but I believe the one on one work is invaluable. My son has been tutored for four years by the same wonderful woman who works with him on his reading using the Orton-Gillingham method. The biggest bonus has been our tutor's genuine concern for our son and her knowledge of the educational system and development. She helps us navigate many of the choices we have to make for our son about school. She sees him four times a week and has a real sense of when things are becoming too difficult, what is too easy and where he is both educationally and emotionally. She is a wise friend who really knows him, teachers work with him for only nine months at a time, she has worked with him for four years. She doesn''t start fresh, having to assess what he knows. She can jump right in reinforce what he knows and work on what he needs to strengthen When we talk to the administration or his his teachers, she speaks THEIR language and helps get them up to speed about his particular issues.

As for the Orton-Gillingham method, if you look over his shoulder you might think it is dull and repetitive, but it WORKS. Our tutor finds ways to reward him for doing the work. By all tests he is reading just below grade level, I am amazed he is reading at all. Although able to solve complex math problems in his head and blessed with a huge speaking vocabulary his dyslexia is SEVERE. None of the traditional reading programs they used at his school was working and he really couldn't read until he started to work with his tutor. Does he miss a few activities yes, does he want to reduce his time with his tutor, yes, does he make beautiful Christmas cards for her yes. At our last teacher's conference she remarked what a great reader he is in class, how he reads with gusto and expression. I am so thrilled and happy this was a child who couldn't read a STOP sign at the end of first grade. Seeing him pulling out a Harry Potter book we are listening to on CDs because he wants to race ahead is a real joy, and we owe so much of it to the patience, persistence and ingenuity of our tutor.

[smdorvilliers]

I have 3 kids. Two are most likely dyslexic, however, the school system has been using a hodge podge of reading systems to meet their needs. My daughter has recently started at Learning house and although it is a great deal of work, in the short time she has been attending she has seemingly been better able to identify sounds etc.

My son is older and unfortunately I did not find out about Learning House or orton gillingham until this year and hope to have him enrolled in summer program. I would appreciate any other information on other educational systems

[peggylive]

My son who is 7 has been attending Dyslexia Institute of America in
Shelton CT since April. We have been amazed by his progress.
In four weeks, he went up a DRA level in reading and went from getting no words right on his spelling tests to getting 100% of them correct.

[marielle]

[Morning]

I think it is great to have a tutor. But, I have found many people will say that they are OG trained or Wilson trained. Yet, they are not. Always check with the OG or Wilson Language Training to get a list of certified tutors and still you have to watch the implementation and fidelity of the tutoring.

The Masonic Group has OG trained/ certified tutors for free. A child is in the program for about two years. It would cost a parent $5,000 a year for this program out of pocket and it is free.

I want the majority of my son's academic learning to take place in the school system. BUT, the challenge is to make sure that it is the right type of program for a dyslexic child. The school district paid for an evaluation.

[pioconnor]

As both a teacher AND a tutor (Orton Gillingham) I can assure you that the needs of a dyslexic learner can't be met in a large group situation.

[Weldon]

I am a tutor that uses OG exclusively and am an OG Associate. I also work in a public elementary school. I tutor after school. Typically, I see my dyslexic students 2x/week for 2 years. During school hours, I have an occasional opportunity to meet one on one with struggling students- I have to modify my OG in this scenario.
I will not make any generalizations regarding dyslexic learners based on just five years of intervention. However, I am passionate about the sense of "failure and second-class self-image" that erodes a dyslexic's self esteem. By the time I get them, they're virtually destroyed by comments made by their teachers and fellow students.
OG works and it's also useful in teaching ESL students the English language which I discovered quite unexpectedly at the school. It isn't that the OG phonic structure is so remarkable; it's the slow, remedial pace- it reconstructs the language from its smallest components and incrementally builds from there through encoding and decoding exercises and drills.
One last comment- no program is effective until the student and THE PARENTS take ownership of the assessment of dyslexia.