Wise Words From Tutoring Student

Josefa Beyer, TILT Reading Specialist

B told me that at his previous schools, teachers rushed him. When it came to reading, they just would not slow down for him. Wise words. How many classroom teachers are given the time or training to find out why one child does not read as expected. And how many have the resources to teach a struggling student individually, day after day?

I met B when he was 14 and in seventh grade. He could not blend even very short words. He guessed and mumbled his way through lower-level texts. It was soon clear that B had significant auditory and processing challenges. I am not surprised that he did not learn to read in class or in small groups. 

The Orton Gillingham method, one to one tutoring, and time and patience could be very, very good for B--even at 14. But could B be patient at 14 and now 15? Would he have the confidence (after years of reading failures) to learn separately from his peers and revisit letter sounds that he had learned incorrectly? Could he embrace that his brain works differently than others but it does work?

Certainly, B makes progress. However, it is not easy. The toughest part may be B’s lack of faith in himself and in school. Every time that I work with B, I try to prove to him that reading is a critical life skill that is also full of meaning and delight. It is for him. Because of TILT, I have a chance to reach B, one day at a time. Because of TILT, many other tutors are slowing down for students long before they reach middle school.  These students will not face high school in B’s shoes.