Meet Some of Our Students!

Thomas (4th grade) is all caught up and graduating after only three months!  I was impressed, over and over again, at how focused and engaged Thomas was in our work together.  He especially loved the word games - can you say "candy" backwards?  Thomas can!  All of that hard work really paid off, Thomas - Congratulations!!! 

Congratulations, Lexi! Do you remember? When we first met you, you REALLY wanted to learn to read with us because your school doesn't teach kids to read until second grade.  We started with s-blends and r-blends, learned the magic e and lots of vowel teams, and now you're reading The Boxcar Children on your own, for fun.  You always wanted to learn more and more and more, and it showed.  Thank you for all of your hard work.   We are so proud of you, Lexi!!!  -Daniela and Fabi

In April, towards the end of 2nd grade, Abbi was reading at a kindergarten level and started working 1-on-1 with Daniela. She worked hard, 5 days a week all summer long, and then switched to twice a week sessions with Kerry during the school year. Abbi is now in third grade and loves writing short stories about her family pets and reading Magic Tree House books. Go Abbi!!!  We're so proud of you!

Sylvana got an IEP in 3rd grade and had just started getting extra help with reading in school when the pandemic hit.  Schools closed down, but Sylvana worked with Daniela online  over Zoom the rest of the school year and over the summer. Then, in the fall, Sylvana started working with Kerry three times a week.  Sylvana's made TREMENDOUS progress!  She now loves to read in her free time, especially the Phoebe and Her Unicorn books. Way to go, Sylvana! 

Isabel is in 5th grade.  She has an IEP and was receiving speech and reading/writing help at school when schools shut down in the spring. Isabel worked hard with Daniela all summer long, and then continued with Kerry in the fall.  Isabel's reading, spelling, and confidence have improved SO much!!  She's now learned all of the major phonics patterns and loves reading the Narwhal and Jelly series.  Great work, Issy!

Shreya is in second grade. When she started working with Daniela at the end of October, she wasn't sure about a few of the short vowel sounds, and a lot of the long vowel sounds were confusing too.  Shreya made great progress in just a few months, and now (at the end of January) she's reading Dory Fantasmagory!  Congratulations, Shreya!!! 

Vivian worked with Daniela and later Amber in kindergarten, just 30 minutes twice a week.  Not because she was behind in reading, but because her mother wanted to make sure she got good reading instruction.  Vivi soaked it up like a sponge throughout the fall and winter and she's now reading at a mid-to-late first grade level!  With spring and outdoor playtime approaching, it's time to stop the lessons and spend more time outdoors!  Have fun, Vivian - Amber and Daniela will miss you!!!

Gabe started tutoring with us when he was in 3rd grade. He had a voracious appetite for hearing stories, but was frustrated he wasn't able to read them himself. Gabe worked hard with Amber for almost a full year to learn all those tricky phonics patterns. Now he's able to read those chapter books he was so excited about, including some Magic Tree House books! He is excitedly reading anything he can get his hands on. Congratulations, Gabe!!

Sully is in 3rd grade, and has always loved reading. In 2nd grade, he started working with Kristina on phonics patterns and breaking apart long words. He worked hard all spring long, and then continued with Sasha in the summer. Now (in the fall), Sully is reading above grade level, and his confidence has soared because he knows he can learn any tricky pattern with enough practice. Congratulations, Sully! -Kristina and Sasha 

When Clara started first grade, reading was hard and not a lot of fun.  Just a few months later, she was so confident that she volunteered to read a long word math problem to her whole class, and didn't miss or stumble over a word!  Clara is now all caught up, she loves to read Dr. Seuss books, and she's almost finished her first Magic Tree House book (with just a little help from Daniela).  Congratulations, Clara!  We are all so proud of you!!! 

Congratulations Alicia! You’ve come a very long way since the summer when we first started. Back then we were learning about the different vowel teams, but now you can play reverse blending board like a pro! Your hard work has paid off, and now you’re blazing through Phoebe and Her Unicorn! We’re very proud of you! - Rachel and Max

Addison came to us as a 5th grader who enjoys reading books like The Hobbit, Lord of the Flies, and Dove, the true story of the youngest person to sail around the world alone. However, he needed a little bit of help with some advanced phonics patterns and spelling rules. After about a month of tutoring, he’s all caught up! You’ve done great work Addison! Congratulations!

-Max

Eitan is a rising 6th grader with a great sense of humor who loves coding and reading about superheroes, especially the Arrow and the Flash. In 4th grade, he started working with Kristina on all his phonics patterns. Eitan worked hard, and then continued in 5th grade with Sasha for spelling practice. Eitan loves to cheer up his friends and now even knows how to help them with tricky patterns. We're so proud of all your hard work! Congratulations! -Sasha, Kristina, and Daniela 

Congratulations, Bekalu! When you began, we started reading Ricky Ricotta. You worked hard to finish all your word games and learned all your phonics patterns so we could read more and more interesting books like George's Marvelous Medicine.  Now you're reading Harry Potter for fun!  You have been diligent in finding and noticing patterns.  You've even learned about roots and affixes!  You have accomplished so much.  Thank you for all of your hard work.  We couldn't be more proud of you!  Sasha and Daniela

Maya is in 6th grade and graduating from KidsUp tutoring with so much knowledge and confidence in reading and spelling! Beginning first with Daniela and then later Caitlin, Maya showed so much progress throughout her time at tutoring. We worked on learning phonics patterns and breaking apart long words in order to be able to read and spell them. Maya was always up for a challenge, especially going all the way to the most challenging word game levels! She can do reverse vowel charts like a pro and came up with a story to remember her diphthongs. I am so proud of your hard work and am going to miss working with you! - Caitlin  

I am so proud of you, Walker (4th grade)! You’ve shown tremendous growth over these past few months! I was always so impressed by how hard you worked, and the questions you would ask regarding the history and derivation of words. Often, you stumped me, and I had to get help before I could answer you! I LOVE how your brain works! Now, through all your focus and dedication to learning the phonics patterns, spelling strategies and how to decode multisyllabic words, you’re reading books like the Track series on your own! Congratulations, Walker! Amber and I both loved working with you! -Crystal 

Congratulations to Savannah for graduating from Kids Up Reading tutoring! Savannah has made so much progress while in tutoring and is now a more confident and skilled reader! Savannah loves reading books including the Babysitter’s Club series and Catstronauts. Throughout tutoring sessions, Savannah always exhibited great curiosity and interest in the topics we were working on. She always came up with amazing questions about the patterns and words she was learning! Savannah developed strong phonic and phonological skills and often refers back to previously learned patterns when learning new ones. Savannah has always been a joy to have in sessions and always had great stories and successes to share from school! I am so proud of all your hard work and I will miss working with you! - Carly