Frequently Asked Questions

We support students from grades 4-12, including AP History students. Each program is designed to meet specific grade-level expectations and skill gaps. 

We offer three signature reading and writing programs for Grades 4-12:

• Foundations Through Times (Grades 4-6)

• Voices Through Times (Grades 7-8)

• Perspectives Through Time (Grades 9-12)

Plus our decoding intervention program, Foundations Rebuilt, is ideal for students needing intensive support.

All programs follow an academic calendar:

• Summer (8 weeks) — June & July (1 week off for July 4th)

• Fall (20 weeks) — August to mid-December (1 week off for Thanksgiving)

• Spring (20 weeks) — January to May (1 week off for spring break)

The core difference is the grade level and focus:

• Foundations Rebuilt: decoding and fluency (Grades 4-6+)

• Foundations Through Time: comprehension and writing (Grades 4-6)

• Voices Through Time: deep comprehension and writing (Grades 7-8)

• Perspectives Through Time: academic and/or historical analysis (Grades 9-12 & AP History)

You can explore full descriptions on the Programs page. 

Lesson pricing is based on session length and frequency:

• 25-minute lessons: $25 each

• 55-minute lessons: $50 each

• Lessons include a 5-minute grace period for transitions and check-ins.

All families must commit to the full semester. No refunds are offered. 

To learn more about the total cost per semester, please visit our Programs page. 

All payments are handled through TutorBird and require auto-pay:

• Weekly: Billed every Friday for the following week

• Monthly: Billed on the 31st or last day of the month, before the next month begins

• Pay-in-Full: Due before your program start date

Full semester commitment is required. No refunds. 

We begin with the QRI-7 (Qualitative Reading Inventory, 7th Edition), a research-based diagnostic tool used to assess a student's reading abilities in a detailed, personalized way. It helps identify not just what a student can read, but how well they understand, decode, and think through text.

Here's what it measures:

• Word Recognition: Can your child decode unfamiliar words?

• Fluency: Do they read smoothly and with expression?

• Literal Comprehension: Can they recall what the text says directly?

• Inferential Comprehension: Can they read between the lines and make logical connections?

• Listening Comprehension: How well do they understand when text is read aloud?

Unlike basic screeners or reading level tests, the QRI-7 gives insight into why your student may be struggling with comprehension or fluency. It's how I pinpoint exact starting points and tailor your child's learning plan from day one.

This one-time $10 fee is applied to your first paid session, and the results guide both your student's personalized goals and their journey through the Read Between the Lines method. 

Progress is tracked in two ways:

• Daily Skill Monitoring: After each session, I track how your student performs on specific skill-based activities and adjust instruction as needed.

• Weekly Parent Updates: You'll receive a progress update every Friday summarizing your student's strengths, focus areas, and wins from the week. 

We also use formal progress monitoring tools every 4 weeks:

• ReadTheory tracks reading comprehension growth through adaptive, leveled passages that measure key skills like inference, main idea, vocabulary, and Lexile.

• Quill.org supports grammar and writing development with targeted practice. 

Every student begins with a diagnostic assessment (QRI-7), which gives me a clear view of their decoding skills, fluency, comprehension level, and where gaps may exist. From there, I create a custom learning plan based on that data—tailored to the student's goals, learning style, and grade level. 

All instruction is built using my Read Between the Lines method—an original framework that teaches students how to:

• Preview and set a purpose for reading

• Break down complex texts into manageable chunks

• Identify key details, repeated ideas, and author's purpose

• Connect ideas across passages

• Think beyond the page and draw inferences with confidence

This method bridges the gap between surface-level reading and deep understanding—especially when tackling nonfiction, historical, or culturally relevant texts. It's not just tutoring. It's transformational literacy.

All sessions are held virtually via Zoom. 

Once you sign up, you'll receive a login to TutorBird, where you'll:

• Access the Zoom link

• Set up auto-pay

• Receive session reminders

Click here to Get Started.