We are a tutoring organization serving families in Central Pennsylvania and nationwide. We provide both online and in person one on one tutoring. As trained and experienced tutors, we specialize in helping those who learn differently. We help our students ‘tap into’ reading, writing, and spelling through a multi-sensory approach.
Accepting
Students Now for
Summer!
We teach students to read by using a variety of approaches suited to our students needs. We are certified to teach both the Speech to Print method, using components from both EBLI (Evidence Based Literacy Instruction) and Reading Simplified and the Orton-Gillingham method, drawing from Foundation In Sounds , traditional O-G, and Barton Reading and Spelling program. We teach reading and spelling to children and adults through a proven, systematic, phonological, EBLI or Orton-Gillingham approach. These programs help those who learn differently by incorporating a multi-sensory, and even full body approach when necessary. We utilize a combination of formal teaching, games and activities with purpose to encourage learning and discovery in a ‘no pressure, no judgement’ atmosphere. Students are initially screened to determine the best path of study which is then mapped out and discussed. Tutoring is no less than 1 hour per week with the recommended schedule of at least hours per week to see faster improvement.
René has a love for teaching and homeschooled her 4 children, throughout most of their k-12 experience. Teaching and a genuine love for children and music have directed her career choices leading her to teach in multiple co-ops, children’s church, tutoring and as a Music Together teacher. It was when her own two younger, normally developing children, were having trouble with learning to read that she became involved as a Barton Tutor. While other interventions did not seem to accommodate the needs of her children, the Barton Reading and Spelling System was the first program that opened up the pathway to reading. René believes that all children can learn to read and is extremely patient and welcoming with her students. With her easy going manner, she helps her students feel valued, at ease and positive about working to learn to read, write and spell.
Rene is proficient in teaching the speech to print methods of EBLI and Reading Simplified and the more traditionally recognized Orton-Gillingham method. She has also taught students through all 10 levels of The Barton Reading and Spelling System, Foundation in Sounds, Kilpatrick and Heggerty Phonemic Awareness Curriculums and has also generated a large number of games and materials for online and in person work. She received both her EBLI and O-G certification in 2023 and has been teaching the Barton Reading and Spelling System since 2009. Rene has had success teaching various types and ages of students, even with students dealing with anxiety, autism and ADHD. Her easy rapport and genuine care for each student sets the stage for a positive learning experience
Cheri spent thirty-six years in public education. She recognized that there were children who would graduate but were unable to read. Upon retirement, she discovered a family member with the same inability to put sounds on letters. As she began to research this phenomenon, she realized that there was a name for this collection of reading, writing and spelling difficulties. It is called dyslexia. Although the term had been around for a hundred years, and she suspected that it might be an issue in her family, she was unaware that there is a reading methodology titled Orton-Gilligham that is successful with dyslexic students. After watching Susan Barton’s video presentation entitled Dyslexia: Symptoms and Solutions she realized there was a way to successfully teach these children. This was the beginning of her journey to establish a tutoring group that was trained in O-G methodology and could work with struggling readers. She established the Red Dog Reading Therapy in Madera, PA in 2013 and the group has grown to ten tutors in Central Pennsylvania, Illinois and California. She is certified at the Advanced Level in the Barton Reading and Spelling System.
Students who demonstrate a deficiency even as young as kindergarten can be remediated. In fact, if they are already showing signs of having more trouble than their peers it is highly recommended that they receive intervention as soon as possible in order to close the gap more quickly. We will work with students from age 5 and a half and up.
While intervention at school does help some students, there are others who need instruction in a more systematic phonological progression. Studies have proven that a lack of ability to progress in reading can often be linked to ‘holes’ in foundational skills that were not mastered. Often, these holes are not addressed by repeated reading without additional teaching and practice. Our program retrains the brain by taking the student through the initial skills, filling in the gaps while building on the reading process step by step.
Please contact our office anyway. While our tutors have a good deal of experience to draw on in tutoring students in this method, we may be able to direct you to pathways that you can take to work with your own children.
Your Professional Online Reading Specialist!