The Learning Center for Dyslexia | Dyslexia Tutoring

Reading struggles affect between 10-20% of any student population. These kids are often 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, we began offering tutoring to struggling readers using the Barton Reading System, a widely respected Orton-Gillingham based program. We were instantly busy and have grown ever since. As of May 2023, we have nine Barton-trained tutors and deliver 109 hours of tutoring each week to 54 Lighthouse and non-Lighthouse students. We offer tutoring both during and after school.

The Value of an In-house Program

Shorter distance between point A and B
The distance between noticing that there might be a problem and getting the child working on a solution is much shorter. The necessary parts are already established, all in one place—here at Lighthouse. Screening, additional testing, a readymade solution, teachers, parents, tutors, everything coexists on one campus.

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 afterschool care
We have tutoring available after school, as well as during the school day. This works particularly well with the already popular Lighthouse afterschool 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. It couldn’t be easier.

We can add a Christian message to the process
One thing kids will learn here that they will not learn elsewhere. . . 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, even their struggles, for some amazing good. We also believe that they are not less than their peers, but rather simply different. We often say, “They have a MAC brain in a PC world.” They simply use a different processing system. The privilege we have as tutors in The Learning Center is to teach them in the way that they learn.