No, your child does not need to have a diagnosis of dyslexia or a specific learning disability in reading and writing before starting with Kids Up Reading Tutoring.

- Only about half of the kids we work with have a diagnosis

- Many families choose to start with tutoring. Tutoring usually solves the problem.

Yes! About half of the kids we work with at Kids Up Reading Tutors have dyslexia. The other half just didn't get enough good reading instruction, often because of COVID. The Science of Reading methods we use work for all kids, regardless of why they're struggling with reading and spelling.

Whenever you discover that your child is struggling with reading, that's the best time to start with Kids Up Reading Tutors.

- We work with students in grades 1-12, plus some college students

- 1st grade is ideal, but it's never too late

- Surprisingly (to us), high schoolers often get caught up more quickly than elementary school kids

We recommend 3–4 sessions per week for most students. This frequency helps your child build reading and spelling skills quickly without feeling overwhelmed. Our goal at Kids Up Reading Tutors is fast progress and graduation, not years of slow-moving tutoring.

Our tutors and leadership team (who also tutor students) are certified educators, speech-language pathologists, or linguists with deep expertise in how kids learn to read. Each one is fully trained in the Science of Reading and the Orton-Gillingham approach — the gold standard for helping students with dyslexia and other reading challenges. Kids Up Reading Tutors ensure your child gets structured, research-based instruction that works.

When you work with Kids Up Reading Tutors, you’ll always be in the loop:

• Students track skills they’ve learned on their Progress Chart (you'll have a copy at home)

• Your child’s tutors will send you weekly updates
  

• Sit in on a session any time, or listen from the next room

It varies, but most students catch up in 4–9 months.

Factors that affect progress:

• Age and grade level
  

• Existing phonics and phonological skills
  

• Learning differences (memory, processing speed, ADHD, etc.)
  

• Session length and frequency (most students do sessions 3–4x/week)
  

Spelling takes longer than reading, so goals matter — tell us yours and we’ll guide you.

-Kids Up Reading Tutors

Yes, we'll match your child with a tutor based on their needs and personality, any special requests you might have and your schedule. Most of our students form strong bonds with their tutor and stay with the same tutor until they "graduate." Occasionally students switch and work with a different tutor - usually because a new sports season has started up and they need a different schedule. All of our tutors have the same training and use the same materials, to make switching to a different tutor on our team as easy as possible for our students.

No. Kids Up Reading Tutors does not assign homework.

• Most of our students are already overwhelmed by school
  

• If your child wants more, we can suggest:
  

  • Audiobooks to build vocabulary, grammar, background knowledge, etc.
    

  • Fun extras like word searches or phonics games
    

Once reading becomes easy, they’ll start picking up books on their own — no “homework” required.