READING
Students learn to read in a number of different ways. No reading program is best for all students. When a student is struggling with reading, a phonic based program has the greatest likelihood of being successful. However, a number of students learn to read quite well with little phonetic knowledge. Often, they find learning the structure of reading words to be unnecessary. College Nannies and Tutors chose the Sonday Reading Programs. This is a highly structured phonetic program that was designed to be used with students who are struggling with reading. Students who need less phonetic structure to learn to read can benefit from this program as well provided they do not spend too much time on phonic instruction. Since My Learning Partners motto is "Follow the Child..." we know the student is able to tell whether they should be spending instructional time learning phonetic structure or whether they should be spending instructional time developing fluency. The one minute daily tests that are monitored by My Learning Partners are how the student lets us know how to focus instruction. We have developed a testing process to use with the Sonday System. This process aids the tutor in placing the student into the proper instructional level. Student progress is monitored daily through one minute tests. These tests assess reading words lists and reading sentences. The sensitivity of this process is designed to keep students learning at their optimal level.
Older students often balk when presented with elementary reading programs because they see them as childish and insulting. These students are saying, "Don't put me in this". While the materials may contain skills the student is lacking the likelihood of success is diminished if the student sees the materials as beneath them. REWARDS is a reading program that addresses this concern. It uses multi-syllabic words (grown-up words) for instruction. Students find the content of the stories interesting and the use of large words can lead to a sense of pride for many older students who struggle with reading. Like the Sonday System, My Learning Partners has developed a testing process to use with REWARDS. Student progress is monitored using a one minute daily test of (new) word lists, cumulative word lists and passage reading.
Reading is often divided into decoding and comprehension skills. Our major emphasis is on decoding skills, although supplemental comprehension materials are available. While strategies can be taught to improve comprehension, for most students, the ability to decode words quickly and accurately leads to improved comprehension. Students who struggle to decode the words in a sentence or paragraph are unable to devote enough focus time to comprehend the topic. My Learning Partners has developed strategies to help students improve comprehension and these are available upon request.
Finally, we are continually expanding our services and part of that expansion involves developing adjunct processes that can be used with other reading programs. There are many excellent reading programs available and through our efforts we tweak them to ensure they can be adjusted to meet the needs of individual students.