Progress is Made....

Tutors submit notes following each tutoring session. Reading these notes has become a much loved obsession of mine. They illustrate the small victories and defeats on the upward climb. For example,

"Had a lot of internet connection issues today which was frustrating. Introduced alt"

Or

"Learned ue says /u/ . He has a lot of great energy and I thought he was super excited about tutoring then I realized he was drinking a can of coke lol. That was funny to me. But either way it was a great session."

Other updates show the connection tutors have with families and how tutoring isn't only about providing reading instruction, but also understanding the feelings impacting reading success.

"We skipped drills today in order to read the book that M received from The Indy Learning Team: Jack and Jill and Big Dog Bill. Mom has told me that M is very shy at reading/ gets frustrated when he doesn’t know a word, so I picked a very simple text. M is quieter than I’ve seen him before, like he doesn’t want anyone in the house to hear. He reads much more difficult texts every lesson! Still, it was good to see him hold the book, turn the pages and show me the pix. We went on to review c/k spelling rule with spelling. M does well. I intro new unvoiced th digraph. M has a hard time sticking his tongue through his teeth, so we will keep practicing. On his first word, he thought I was saying /f/ not /th/. He spells red word “only” just barely, with the help of his arm. We’ll keep reviewing this and make time for more red words next time. No sentence today. M finishes his haunted house story. His next request for a book his spiderman/peter parker; for a story that I write, he’s interested in Christmas as a topic."

Reading these small updates remind me how progress is made in small consistent steps forward and hope requires connection, love and a good book!