Why Classical Start?

As an empty nester and "retired" homeschool mom, I returned to teaching high school English in 2015 to find that one-third of my 9th graders could not read at grade level.  They told me they had been pushed through the system without knowing how to read properly.  I knew the answer to their problem from my experience of homeschooling my two children: the 70 basic phonograms and the Spalding/Spell to Write and Read method. 

Yet, more was needed.  Struggling readers often have been fed the pablum of weak, boring, limited vocabulary texts but rarely any great literature to inspire them. 

Further,  reading programs often approach them as damaged and engage in clinical, mechanical lessons on decoding as if they were brain damaged. This is wrong.

Eventually, I convinced my principal to give me the chance to help younger students so that they would not be "left behind." 

All those years as a home educator, high school English teacher, and reading interventionist were invaluable in providing the background and knowledge to both assess students' reading skills and deliver customized literature-inspired reading lessons. 

After four years of part-time tutoring,  I left the classroom to tutor struggling readers and writers full-time.  Great literature opens each lesson.  

Now, I make it my life's mission, not a side gig, to bring that great children's literature with multisensory intensive phonics.  It all starts with a free reading assessment.