Caroline Edgar Literacy
Reading Specialist & Tutor
About
I help children find the gift of reading! Whether your child needs targeted intervention, extra support or enrichment, I provide one-to-one private reading instruction that will meet students in Pre-K-3rd grade where they’re at and help them reach their full potential.
I offer tutoring in a dedicated space in Westport, CT while also offering the flexibility of tutoring services in your home.
In my spare time, you can find me outside enjoying an activity in nature or engrossed with a good beach read in my beach chair at my happy place in Maine!
Hello!
I'm Caroline and I am an educator with over 15 years of experience in the field of education teaching Pre-K- 3rd grade in various educational settings throughout Fairfield County, CT and New York City.
I am dedicated to helping students become confident, joyful, and independent readers! I believe that every child can succeed with the right tools, strategies and encouragement. With specialized training in multi-sensory, research-based instruction, I design lessons that engage a variety of learning styles by tapping into multiple senses where students strengthen their decoding, fluency, comprehension and writing skills in ways that stick and make sense!
Throughout my years of teaching, I discovered what I really LOVE to do is foster a love for reading in young children and help them build their foundational literacy skills to support them becoming fluent readers! More than anything, I want students to feel successful and capable along their literacy journey!
Why Choose Me?
- Certified Elementary Teacher in Connecticut and Maine
- MAT Childhood Education & Early Childhood Education
- MSed-RS, Certified Reading Specialist/ Literacy Coach (in process)
- Private Reading Tutor, Orton Gillingham Trained, UFLI, Handwriting Without Tears, PAF, Wilson FUNdtations
All Students Learn Differently
Understanding students' unique learning styles, I aim to tailor instruction to meet their individual needs where they're at in their literacy journey. Having worked with students with learning differences, such as dyslexia, difficulties with spelling and comprehension, my approach for supporting individual learning styles is grounded in evidence-based practices, including structured literacy and Orton-Gillingham influenced strategies. These evidence-based practices have been proven to support lasting growth in reading.
Foundations of Reading
The 5 Elements of Reading
My strategy road map to get your child to read is addressing the 5 elements of reading. The progression of the elements is the road map to literacy and learning to read! These elements are layered upon the next and I meet your child where they’re at with these skills to support their reading development. My goal is to incorporate each element into a child’s literacy journey and this is the progression of their journey.
Phonemic Awareness
The ability to hear, identify and manipulate individual sounds. This element is when readers develop letter recognition and sound identification, rhyming and syllables.
Phonics & Decoding
Phonics is the relationship between letters and sounds. Decoding involves breaking words into individual sounds (phonemes) and blending those sounds together to read a word.
Fluency
Fluency is the ability to read text accurately at an appropriate rate and with prosody (expression) which allows the reader to comprehend and focus on reading for meaning.
Comprehension
Comprehension is the process of constructing meaning from written text by using background knowledge, making predictions, and understanding vocabulary. This is when a reader is reading for meaning!
Vocabulary
Vocabulary is essential for reading comprehension as it helps readers to understand text, grasp the message (semantic building blocks) and make inferences. Developing vocabulary and understanding more words makes it easier to understand written text.
Additional Literacy Support That I Offer:
Spelling
Spelling is a literacy skill which includes the relationship between letter sounds and phonics patterns. Effective instruction includes identifying phonics patterns & rules, orthography (written symbols) and morphology (word structure).
Handwriting
Handwriting is a fundamental skill for early readers and writers! This is when they learn to form letters of the alphabet correctly, using correct strokes and directionality. Letters are formed with directionality using curvy lines, straight lines and diagonal lines.
Handwriting is also an essential literacy development as it includes fine motor skills, proper pencil grip and spatial awareness.
Writing
Writing strategies are developed to support writers with sentence structure, expanding ideas and paragraph writing while organizing thoughts and ideas to express themselves in an organized structure using transition (First, next, finally) and expanding (and, because) words.
Contact Me
Whether you’re ready to dive in or need some further information for supporting your child with reading and writing, please feel free to send me a message.
I look forward to connecting with you!
Caroline Edgar Literacy
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