The Learning Center

The Learning Center | Reading and Spelling Tutoring

Our goal is to help all students with hallmarks of dyslexia who struggle with reading and spelling. We provide tutoring to Lighthouse Christian students, as well as those attending other schools in the broader community. 

We screen for hallmarks of dyslexia, but cannot provide a diagnosis. Students are not required to have a dyslexia diagnosis to be eligible for tutoring.

One out of five individuals struggle with dyslexia. Students with dyslexia are very bright, with clear and significant strengths in other academic areas, but their unexplained difficulty with reading is holding them back from achieving their potential.

In the fall of 2017, Lighthouse began offering tutoring to struggling readers using the Barton Reading System, a widely respected Orton-Gillingham based program. We have eight Barton-trained tutors who work with over 50 Lighthouse and non-Lighthouse students. Tutoring is offered both during and after school, with optional summer tutoring available.

The Value of an In-House Program

Available Resources

• By participating in tutoring at Lighthouse, the distance between noticing that there might be a problem and getting the child working on a solution is much shorter. We offer screening and consultation. Working with the support of teachers, parents, and tutors is vital to our students' learning journeys.  

Community Within a Community

• Kids from public schools and other private schools often must meet with tutors late in the evening or on weekends, along with tutors and other students they don’t know. There is drive time at the end of an already long day, during a time when homework needs attention. But, our kids stay within the familiar surroundings of the Lighthouse campus. Tutoring is seen as “just another class they take.” They see their tutors walking the hallways. They see other tutored kids around school. Everything is familiar. It is simply an efficient extension of their current school dynamic.

Works Well with Existing After-School Care

• We have tutoring available after school, as well as during the school day. This works particularly well with the already popular Lighthouse after-school care program. For students who participate in the many activities available after school, coming over to The Learning Center for tutoring is just a few steps away. 

We Can Add a Christian Message to the Process

• One thing kids will learn here that they will not learn elsewhere is that they are not defective and were, in fact, created by God with a specific and wonderful plan in mind. We believe God will use their experiences, including their struggles, for some amazing good. We also believe that they are not less than their peers, but simply benefit from learning in a different way. Our goal is that students will use the tools they learn to continue their education journey to become better readers, writers, and communicators.