The Struggle

When her mother first reached out, she was honest: "I never thought my daughter would start reading at her grade level."

Her daughter had been receiving special education services for reading. She could recognize some words, but when it came to sounding out new words—or understanding what she'd just read—she'd shut down. Books felt intimidating. Homework turned into frustration. Confidence was low. 

But her mother saw something in her. And she wanted more than "good enough" or "just passing." She wanted her daughter to believe she could learn. 

The Approach

Our 2 weekly, 25-minute sessions focused on building fluency and decoding strategies first, with supportive repetition and confidence-boosting wins. 

But I also made sure ever lesson tied into real content—we read stories about indigenous foods and ancient civilizations, short nonfiction texts with vibrant vocabulary and real cultural context. 

She was engaged. Curious. And when she made a mistake, I reminded her it was part of growth—not failure. 

Over time, we layered in comprehension, focusing on questions that pushed her to pause and reflect:

• Why do you think the author wrote this?

• What do you notice about how they described that character?

• What's happening behind the scenes here?

She began reading between the lines—not just reading the page. 

The Breakthrough

By the end of our spring semester together (a total of 16 weeks), she had:

• Gained nearly 25 words per minute in fluency

• Answered inferential questions with minimal prompting

• Expressed excitement about what she was learning

• And most importantly—believed she could read

This is why I do what I do.