"I have a masters degree and a reading endorsement from George Fox University plus fifteen years of teaching experience in a public elementary school, teaching reading to students in grades K-6.

My experience includes providing small group or individual reading instruction in the big five: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension.

I use a fluency assessment as a starting point for identifying reading instruction needs. If reading fluency is adequate, then we focus on vocabulary and reading comprehension instruction. If reading fluency is inadequate, then we assess phonetic skills and focus on reading fluency intervention. If phonetic skills are inadequate, then we assess phonemic awareness skills and focus on phonics intervention. If phonemic awareness is inadequate, then we focus on phonemic awareness intervention.

Interventions targeting one skill have the potential to improve other reading skills due to the interrelated nature of the reading process.

I am passionate about helping children become solid readers, and my teaching approach is to build on what the child already knows and to provide lots of support for learning and time to practice new skills." less...