Virtual Literacy Tutoring- Getting Creative During a Pandemic

The Benefits of One on One Literacy Tutoring:

Our Fall session for 1:1 literacy tutoring has required patience, flexibility , hard work and of course, has included  a whole lot of fun for both students and their families and our volunteer tutors.

As the pandemic continues, we have had to get very creative when it comes to our programming!  Not being able to meet in person has been challenging but it’s also allowed us to reach many more people than we typically would.

Tutors and students are meeting virtually via Microsoft Teams. They have a lot of digital resources to access as they work on word recognition, phonograms and comprehension. Every session is customized for each student so they can master a skill before moving on to the next step.  Our process empowers our tutors to get to know their student and our ‘purposeful progressions’ help our tutors to know what to focus on for their lesson. Each of our tutors goes through hours of training prior to meeting with a student.  Our playhouse has a mix of retired people, educators, students, and working professionals who were looking for a way to give back. We do not require any prior tutoring experience because of the extensive training we offer.

I’d like to introduce you to Charley, Annie and Pat- two sisters and their tutor who are working hard with their virtual tutoring.

The students live close to our Playhouse, but our tutor lives about 4 hours away. Technology has allowed this trio to be able to connect and work together.

Pat shared her perspective as a first time GiGi’s tutor:

“I got involved with GiGi’s after learning of an opportunity to tutor virtually. As a retired Exceptional Ed teacher, I would love to be involved physically, but living in North East WI prevents me from doing so.

In the weeks I’ve been involved virtually I have been introduced to & gotten to know three amazing people. Two of them, Annie & Charley quickly found a spot in my heart.  I look forward to our Tuesday’s together, interacting with their vivacious spirits filled with an eagerness to learn & sometimes moments of silliness!  Their attention spans are unlike any I’ve seen & my highest respect goes to their mom, Ginna for working so hard with the girls.

These three have given me so much, plus their patience with my still shaky computer skills on Microsoft Teams continues to amaze me!  Seeing these three together even if on screen is to experience pure love & joy. I look forward to meeting them post-Covid.”

Virginia, mom to Charley and Annie shared “My girls Annie and Charley love our Literacy sessions with Pat. Even though they are in the “pre-literacy phase,” our time spent with her has been very helpful. The online books, repetition, and fun activities that we are able to print (working on letters) have helped them with their speech. Pat has been wonderful giving me suggestions for things to work on during the week. As a former Special Education Teacher, she has been a great resource and very supportive for me as a Mom of two girls with special needs. I am very happy we are participating. ”

The flexibility and willingness to try new ways of doing things for both participants and tutors is the reason our 1:1 tutoring sessions are so impactful!