When is enough, enough?

Should you find a private teacher/tutor to work with your child in reading?

I recently had a friend and parent of a struggling 3rd grade reader ask me if I felt her daughter would benefit from additional reading instruction in addition to what she receives at school. This little girl is in special education for reading and has gone from a kindergarten reading level to a 3rd grade reading level in the past 5 months of school. Wow, what amazing growth! She is not formally diagnosed with dyslexia, but displays many of the signs and symptoms and has vision difficulties. She is very task oriented and diligent about completing school work to the best of her ability. That being said, it was suggested to my friend, by other educators, to not seek out additional reading instruction for her daughter because she is working so much harder already than the other students. So, what do you do? When do you know when enough is enough? Being a parent of two elementary aged children myself, I'm familiar with this dilemma. I think in this situation, the answer is going to be different depending the child. Here are some questions I suggest thinking about when you are trying to decide whether or not to add more instruction to your child's plate.

1. Is the student coming home exhausted, grumpy, or agitated because of the amount of focus they are putting into their work at school?

2. How much gain in reading have they made this school year?

3. Is fluency the only problem, or is comprehension also an issue?

4. How big of a gap is there to close before they reach grade level?

5. Are they receiving quality scientifically based reading instruction at school? Orton Gillingham based instruction?

6. Is the student coming home exhausted, grumpy, or agitated not because of feeling overworked, but because they feel unsuccessful at the work they are being given?

These are the questions I would ask myself if I were considering whether or not my child needed more reading support in the form of private instruction. It's wise to carefully weigh the advice of educators you are working with AND outside advice. Then, make an educated decision. One that will be best for your child in the long run.

Thank you!