Carlos Gets a Boost From Online Tutor
By Eric Steckel | July 6, 2021
Eager student overcoming COVID-related learning loss with online tutor
Your support of Children Rising programs helped Carlos recover from loss of learning caused by the closing of schools last March.
Carlos has a smile and infectious personality that lights up a Zoom meeting room. He is an eager second-grader who enjoys learning. However, Carlos has struggled with distance learning since schools closed last March. To help overcome his learning loss, teachers enrolled him in Succeeding by Reading Anywhere, the online version of our proven reading tutoring program.
“When I was first reaching out to Carlos’s family to arrange for pre-testing, Carlos’s mother told me that she knew that her son needed help with reading. But she didn’t know how to help him. She didn’t know what to do to help him develop reading skills,” explained Rebecca Buckley, Director of Succeeding by Reading.
A literacy diagnostic indicated that Carlos was indeed significantly behind grade-level reading for a second-grader. He began working with reading tutor Anne Yamada midway through the school year and quickly won her over.
“He has a positive outlook. He doesn’t hesitate to seize the moment and celebrate when he’s learning something new.” Anne told us. “I hear him laughing and giggling, and that is just a wonderful thing to experience with him.”
The Succeeding by Reading program starts by working with a child based on the skills they already know. This creates a solid foundation and builds confidence in themselves. We then start adding new skills, little by little. Despite working with a tutor for less than half of the school year, Carlos has made significant gains.
“I also feel that it’s one of the most meaningful ways that you can spend 55 minutes of your week — helping a child with reading and changing a life.” – Anne Yamada, Succeeding by Reading online tutor
Online tutors like Anne are helping students overcome learning loss and get back to grade level.
“He’s increased his sight word vocabulary by 95 words.” Anne was happy to report. “We’ve read through five levels of books and have progressed to the next learning tier. His comprehension is really starting to take hold in that he reads with expression, he self-corrects, and he’s enjoying the storyline so much more.”
Although the 2020-2021 school year has ended and Carlos is still significantly behind grade-level reading, this determined lad’s journey with us isn’t finished yet. Because of our development of online tutoring, we can work with students outside of the normal school calendar, and train and place more caring tutors for the upcoming year. That means Carlos will continue his tutoring twice a week during the summer and can reenroll in Succeeding by Reading in the third grade.
“I think it’s just amazing and remarkable that Children Rising was able to pivot so quickly and design this wonderful online program that enables regular people like me to tutor the children,” Anne said. “I also feel that it’s one of the most meaningful ways that you can spend 55 minutes of your week — helping a child with reading and changing a life.”
With hard work and the extra support from a caring tutor, Carlos should overcome the learning loss he has experienced and reach grade-level reading next year. That transformative experience will be a springboard for him to reach his God-given potential in elementary school, middle school, and beyond.
* Names changed to protect the identity of the students
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