Whether you are a teacher, parent who is homeschooling your child, or a reading specialist, your child can benefit from one-on-one reading instruction for many reasons:
- Instruction focuses on your child’s specific learning needs, such as working on short vowels or teaching word family patterns. It is individualized to your child’s unique learning style.
- Learning and mastery is much faster because the focus is on just your child. I have worked with both individual and groups of children to provide both enrichment and remediation. I can teach one child much more than I can a group. In a 45-minute session, I can teach a skill – such as “at” family words like “cat” and “bat” – and my student will master the concept by the end of the lesson – not likely with a group.
- Assessment is easier and goal setting becomes more specific, too. For example through one-on-one instruction, you might notice your child has mastered short “a” and short “i” vowel sounds, but is struggling with the short “u” vowel sound. Now you can set your goals accordingly and focus on just that sound. You might on occasion use a “test.” However with your individualized interactions with your child that follow your lesson plans, you can assess progress informally after each specific lesson – did your child learn the short “u” vowel sound?
- You or your child’s tutor can create a portfolio of specific work samples. One-on-one instruction makes this easy. Your child will love seeing progress and growth through the school year. Handwriting samples are a great way to motivate your child for example. Your child will see how hard work pays off. Imagine hearing, “Look Mom! My letters look like they’re all going in the right direction!” A portfolio makes this possible and is easily accomplished through one-on-one instruction.
These are just a few good reasons to consider one-on-one reading instruction for your child’s reading success.
How do you work with your child one-on-one to help them learn?
