Phonics is a cruel and incredibly valuable skill for our young learners to begin understanding reading by hearing sounds, sound patterns, letter recognition, and so much more. Children often begin learning phonics by sounding out letters and learning which letter represents that sound to that letter, like A is for apples. Children from ages 2- 4 years also learn from the world around them before entering formal education.
As defined, reading by using phonics is often referred to as decoding words, sounding out words, or using print-to-sound relationships. Phonemic awareness is a subset of phonological awareness in which listeners can hear, identify, and manipulate phonemes, the smallest mental units of sound that helps to differentiate units of meaning. (Wiki)
Bridge Phonics to Reading
Learning how to build words and blending sounds is no simple task like learning how to paint. There are art forms and techniques to understand how color and canvas work together. Learning is a similar process to phonemic awareness. Once children experience this understanding, they begin to feel confident in leaping reading.
Our reading tutors pair fun phonemic awareness activities to your child’s skill level because they understand every child learns differently. When your child understands the relationship between the sounds of words, the next step — reading — becomes a real adventure
Explore our phonemic awareness
Our reading tutors use phonemic awareness activities, personal instruction, and fun motivation to get our young learner excited to read:
- Understand the sounds associated with consonants and vowel letters of the alphabet
- Learning how to build words by blending sounds
- Recognizing how new words are formed with different phonics patterns.
When it comes to phonemic awareness "waiting it out" creates possible learning gaps!
1st Grade Phonemic Awareness
1st-grade reading tutoring lays the bricks down for your child’s next level to reading. They learn the following at a first-grade level:
- Letter recognition
- Consonants (B, C, D, F, etc.)
- Vowels Sounds (A, E, I, O, U and Y)
- Digraphs (OA like in boat)
- Diphthongs (OY in like in the toy)
- Blends (SL like in slip)
2st Grade Phonemic Awareness
2nd-grade reading tutoring continues the journey at a second-grade level or closes potential gaps in phonics understanding to ensure that your child is excited and ready to read:
- Letter recognition
- Consonants (B, C, D, F, etc.)
- Vowels Sounds (A, E, I, O, U and Y)
- Digraphs (OA like in boat)
- Diphthongs (OY in like in the toy)
- Blends (SL like in slip)
Tutoring and focus Subjects
Phonics and Reading
Our experienced reading tutors will begin with teaching phonics, necessary reading skills, vocabulary, and spelling.
Spelling and Vocabulary
Our experienced tutors focus on how words are spelled and pronounced and then focus on the meaning of the words by using them in context.
Testimonials
"Sarah Katrina is a unique and wonderful tutor. She is a natural with kids – they love her instantly and she is warm with them but she also is firm which helps them to trust her and to learn with her. I hired her to help my 6 year old son and I was so impressed by how sensitive she was not just to his learning deficits but also to him as a whole person. She used the information that she observed about his personality to help make their sessions fun and productive. Katrina is a gem! Highly, highly recommend her."
Batsheva Vaknin
Aharon Coffee & Roasting co., Beverly Hills, ca co-owner
"Sarah has a wonderful way with kids. She knows how to speak at their level with so much patience and care so the kids learn and have fun at the same time. She has been a great tutor to my daughter. If you are looking for a tutor you can trust, she is the one. I highly recommend!"
Rachel Soumekh
Heart and Soul Doula, Certified birth doula with dona, trained childbirth educator with ICEA.
"Working with children is not something that anyone can do. To connect to a child, you need to have compassion for the child and be able to really speak their language. On top of that, you need to know how to balance kindness with firmness, to get kids on task and help them achieve. Sara Katrina possesses all of these qualities. While working in an elementary classroom for the first time, I sought Sarah Katrina out as a mentor because I saw her amazing abilities, and she helped me achieve better classroom results and better relationships with my students. If there is anyone who can help kids achieve their potential, it is Sarah Katrina!"
Emunah Fialkoff
Former colleague, Blogger Worktalk
"Sarah Katrina tutored my 8-year-old son over the course of a few months during one summer as preparation for 4th grade. Every time he came back from their session, I felt that he had a good experience and that he felt accomplished and proud of himself. He told me that she was very helpful at explaining concepts because she gave individualized attention. He also said that she made it fun by splitting up the sessions with break times. Afterward, Sarah Katrina spent time with me going over how I can help my son and anything that I should look out for or support in his learning. I highly recommend Sarah Katrina. She has the patience and cares that all teachers should have plus the knowledge behind it to get the best out of the student she is teaching."
sasha brodsky
Mommy blogger Los Angeles
FAQ
Most frequent questions and answers
Are tutors trained and qualified to teach?
Yes, we provide both one on one and group meetings. Contact us to see if we have trained tutors or Certified teachers in your area.
Yes, we provide In-Person one on ones. Contact us to see if we have trained tutors or Certifed teachers in your area.
All our online sessions use Zoom. To attend the meeting, you will need a computer or tablet, internet connection and download the Zoom client. We recommend that you use either a headset, device mic, or speaker to talk to your tutor during the tutoring session. However, you can also use a regular phone number to connect to the meeting room by using a secure code in the case of slow internet.
Our prices and packages are reasonable. Prices vary according to the grades, test scores, and subjects you select. We allow our teachers and tutors to adjust their service prices based on skills, years of teaching, demands, and other factors. Check out our detailed pricing list.
Prices are base on the teacher’s skills, location, experiences, results, availability, demand, and other factors.
Not if it already been paid. However, We allow our teachers and tutors to adjust there service prices based on skills, years of teaching, demands, and other factors.
All sessions are between 50-55 minutes.
In most cases, requests need to be made in advance. The recording stays live for 48 hours to download the session to your local computer. After this period, the sessions will be deleted automatically from our account without a way to recover it.
Note: Parent/Guardians required to sign a waiver before this option can be activated.
In most cases, the package expires, and you can re-order a new package. Kids on the Yard does not roll over unused sessions. In matters related to our team’s unexpected events, such as sickness, change employment status, relocation, or others. We will reassign a new tutor/teacher/coach then extend the original package time to twice the length of the original package length. For more details, refer to our Terms of Service document.
Yes, please review our No Show and Late Cancellation policy.