If your child has been paired with an ALP Tutor, that’s great news! Our tutors have gone through extensive training to assess their students’ reading skills and to build lessons designed to address their particular needs and ensure their success.
How to Help Your Child Become a Power Reader
Be a reader! It is important that your child sees that reading is valuable to you, that it’s an activity to enjoy! So when your day allows it, schedule reading time for yourself.
Read with your child. This should start before your child is old enough to read independently. Talk about the story through the illustrations. Ask him questions about the story – let his imagination embellish the narrative, if it takes him that way. After a few pages of reading, ask him what happened in the story? What do you think will happen next? Why?
Take turns reading to each other. When your child is ready to read, she’ll want to read to you. However, she may not have the endurance to read more than a little bit at a time. Take turns reading and again, discuss what you’ve read together.
Ask your child’s teacher for a list of sight words. Practice these words together. You can make a game of matching word cards, using index cards cut in half on which you have written the word on both halves. Spread the cards on the table, face down. As you and your child alternate turns, the turned card must be read aloud before trying to find its match. The one who collects the most matches wins! If your child is just getting started with reading, only use 8-10 words to begin. As she gets more confident in her ability, add more matches to the game.
Use a dictionary or dictionary.com. When your child asks what a word means, look it up together in a dictionary or at dictionary.com. This will teach him how to use a very powerful tool.
Use apps! There are some great reading and spelling apps available for free on all mobile devices. We have used “Sight Words” by Maelstrom Interactive, “Sight Words Games & Flash Cards” by Terasoft and “Sight Words” by 22Learn.
If You Suspect Your Child Has a Reading Issue
These are some signs that your child may be struggling with reading:
Problems with phonological awareness: understanding the differences between sounds; that words can be divided into sounds; or that letters make specific sounds. This accounts for up to 80 percent of early reading problems.
Poor word recognition. Slow to learn words seen frequently, forgetting words seen many times, difficulty learning sight words (this is a very common problem).
Weakness sounding out words. Can’t easily learn and apply decoding skills. Tries to guess at words or use context clues. Weak at sounding out words with 2, 3 and 4 syllables (by 3rd grade).
Poor spelling, both on tests and in written compositions. Frequent misspellings, guesses.
Weak reading fluency and comprehension. Child’s reading pace is halting and slow, making it very difficult to remember or understand the meaning of the text. Has trouble finishing tests.
Excessive time spent on homework. Parents may report trouble with assignments.
Self-esteem issues. Sees him or herself as “stupid;” is “down” about school, cries easily, avoids reading, appears not to care, easily frustrated when reading.
Who Qualifies for an ALP Tutor?
These are the eligibility requirements for a student to be assigned to an ALP Tutor:
- Qualifying for free, or reduced-price lunch
- At least a year behind in reading
- No significant behavioral or emotional issues that would impact tutoring
- Good attendance at school
ALP Tutors are typically matched with first- or second-graders at our partner-schools. If you are interested in having your child work with an ALP Tutor please speak with your child’s teacher.