Fit Learners see an average of 1-2 years’ growth in as little as 40 hours of instruction.
You want to see your child be a successful reader.
Your child’s self-esteem is suffering because they are behind in reading.
You know how important it is to get 1:1 reading help for your child so they can succeed in school.
Your child has been diagnosed with dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyspraxia, a processing disorder, a learning disability (LD) or learning difference, ADHD, or any other condition that makes reading especially challenging.
You suspect some grade inflation may be happening because — while your child’s reading grades are fine — their level of reading comprehension and retention aren’t where you would expect them to be.
In today’s world, being able to read is important. You see your child struggling to read, falling further behind their peers, and getting more frustrated with each passing month. It breaks your heart as a parent and you aren’t sure how to help. You’ve tried reading with your child. You’ve expressed your concern to your child’s teacher. At home, you try encouraging reading, rewarding reading, and just plain begging your child to read a little more. Perhaps you’ve even had your child tested for dyslexia or another learning disability. But they still struggle. The good news? If you’re ready to help your child catch up in school, learn to read more fluently, and feel more confident in school, Fit Learning is here to help.
Fit Learning’s Results Are Unmatched
Fit Learning’s reading interventions have helped countless students learn to read, and we can help your child can learn as well. Our method is currently the only in the world to combine the most highly tested and researched methods into one comprehensive, instructional approach. Therefore, the result is a profoundly transformative process that consistently produces one year’s worth of growth in as little as 40 hours. In fact, many students gain 2 years worth growth in just 40 hours. The graphs below show how the program has helped other students diagnosed with dyslexia, general learning disabilities (LD), and students in general. For more specifics on Fit Learning’s outcomes, check out our Results web page.
Graph #1 (left) shows the progress ALL Fit learners make on a standardized reading test, gaining an average 25 words per minute, in 40 hours. Graph #2 (center) shows the progress Fit learners diagnosed with a learning disability make on a standardized reading test, gaining an average of 29 words read correctly per minute, in 40 hours. Graph #3 (right) shows the progress Fit learners diagnosed with dyslexia make on a standardized reading test, gaining an average of 27 words read correctly per minute, in 40 hours. Note: Data represents 4th quarter 2019, all Fit Learning locations.
Fit’s Reading Tutoring Program Uses a Proven, Evidence-Based Method
You might be surprised to learn that some national tutoring programs have little, if any, research backing up their teaching methods. However, Fit’s approach is grounded in the concepts that science has revealed are most effective for learning.
- Backed by research. We use proven methods rooted in how kids actually learn best, including the Science of Reading.
- Truly personalized. Every session is one-on-one, so your child gets all the attention and support they need.
- Systematic. Your child builds a strong foundation by mastering the basics first, so they’re ready for the next challenge.
- Trains to fluency. We help your child become so confident with reading that it feels easy, automatic — even fun.
- Taught explicitly. We don’t leave learning to chance. Every skill is taught with purpose, intention, and plenty of guided practice.
Kids Love Fit Learning!
This is a biggie. Our fast-paced yet stress-free environment helps Fit learners develop a love of learning and makes them eager to come to each learning session. Not only does Fit Reading help children master core literacy skills, but they also have a great time doing it.
- High energy sessions. Our coaches move quickly to keep your child engaged. There’s no time to zone out or feel stuck.
- Rich in frequent feedback and encouragement. Just like great sports coaches, we offer nonstop praise and feedback to keep kids motivated and growing.
- Builds confidence. When learners master skills and beat their own personal bests, it boost their confidence — which, in turn, can help enhance their capacity for future learning and academic success.
- Multi-sensory. At Fit, kids don’t just listen or look. They move, write, speak, and interact to deepen their understanding.
- FUN! From high-fives to the prize wall, we celebrate effort, progress, and every personal win.
Fit’s Technique Strengthens Executive Function Skills
At Fit Learning, we go beyond just helping kids catch up in school. Our approach also strengthens essential brain-based skills known as executive functions, the tools students need to plan, focus, and problem-solve in everyday life and learning.
- Planning, or learning to map out steps, organize tasks, and set priorities to reach a goal
- Problem-solving, or spotting a challenge and figuring out the best way to tackle it
- Working memory, or holding on to key information long enough to complete a task or follow directions
- Attention, or staying focused and filtering out distractions; closely connected to memory and task completion
- Reasoning, or thinking critically, making sense of ideas, and applying what’s been learned in new situations
- Cognitive flexibility, or adapting quickly when things change or when a new strategy is needed
Fit Reading Is an Investment in Your Child’s Long-Term Success
At first blush, the tuition for a 50-hour enrollment might seem higher than reading tutors you have researched. That’s because our reading program is different. Here are a few reasons why we are worth it.
Fit Provides the Foundational Skills Needed to be a Life-Long Reader
Think about how much we, as parents, spend on sports training for our kids. I know it can be a lot. My daughter is a D1 competitive swimmer, so our cost of investment in her athletic success includes her suits, gear, team membership, banquets, travel meets, hotels, restaurants, gas, meet fees, etc. Most of us, though, would say that academic success is just as important, if not more important, than athletic success. So, isn’t it worth the investment to teach your child the skills they need to be successful readers? I think so!
Fit’s Approach to Reading Intervention is Personalized and Efficient
Other programs might look less expensive until you factor in the length of time your child will participate in them. For example, some popular programs clearly state that they take 2-3 years to complete! Yet, data collected over our 20+ year history demonstrate that kids in our program gain an average of 1-2 grade levels in just hours. By paying a little bit more, your child will learn to read much faster. In the long run, this will not only save you money, but will also help your child’s self-esteem when they feel better about their reading sooner rather than later.
Fit Provides So Much More Than Homework Help
Traditional homework help or reading tutoring programs help your child with the things that are easy to see they are struggling with right now. They often focus on helping your child be successful on their assignments and the reading units currently assigned in class. Fit Learning goes deeper, identifying exactly where your child’s problems with reading begin and filling in those gaps. We work our way up, beginning first with basic reading skills and then moving onto the more advanced skills currently being taught in your child’s classrooms.
Fit’s Method Builds Strong Thinkers
Fit doesn’t just help kids get better at reading or school; it helps them become better learners overall. Our fun yet intense method strengthens thinking skills like memory, processing speed, and focus, while also building confidence and resilience. For younger children, it supports essential life skills like listening, following directions, taking turns, and managing emotions, all of which are critical for success in and out of the classroom.
How Fit Reading Works
The program begins with our no-obligation comprehensive skills assessment designed to tell us what component (or building-block) skills your student has not mastered yet. This allows us to create an individualized curriculum that targets exactly what your child needs to learn to be a masterful, competent, and confident reader.
One way we do this is by providing reading fluency training. Fluency training will give your child the chance to go back and learn the reading skills they missed in earlier grades. We will keep working on these skills over and over in a fun, encouraging way until your child has mastered them. And, once a learner is a fluent reader, they are ready to apply the skills automatically, without having to think about it. They’ll feel confident and excited about reading. These skills will set them up for success in other subjects that require them to read to learn. For example, being able to read well will help them be successful in learning history, science, and math. It will also help them improve their processing speed and learning retention.
For a more detailed breakdown of the Fit Learning process from beginning to end, check out our Parent’s Guide to Fit Learning St. Louis.
Frequently Asked Questions About Literacy Tutoring at Fit Learning St. Louis
What skill areas does Fit Reading cover?
Some of the broad reading skills covered in Fit’s reading curriculum include:
- Letter names and letter sounds
- Phonological awareness and phonemic awareness
- Auditory analysis
- Segmenting words
- Learning to read words in isolation
- Nonsense words
- Sight words
- Passage reading
- Comprehension
- Spelling
- Morphographs
- Word analysis
- Vocabulary
I’ve heard a lot about the Wilson Reading System and the Orton-Gillingham method. How does Fit Learning’s approach compare?
Like the Wilson Reading System® (WRS), Fit Learning is a curriculum based on teaching phonics and phonemic awareness. This is the only empirically validated means of training effective reading repertoires. Other similarities include the use of nonsense words, incorporation of spelling strategies, and segmentation, and blending of words. All three approaches — Fit, Wilson, and Orton-Gillingham — are multi-sensory, structured, and sequential.
However, Orton-Gillingham and WRS are missing the science of learning that is the backbone of our curriculum at Fit Learning. Science guides how we measure learning, evaluate mastery, make immediate instructional decisions regarding learner performance, and adjust our teaching practices to maximize skill development.
As stated by Rhonda West, a speech-language pathologist who is certified in Wilson Reading System® and in the Fit Learning method: “I’ve never seen reading learners make progress the way they do at Fit Learning. It adds the science of learning to an Orton-Gillingham foundation to promote accuracy, speed, and self-confidence. It’s the difference between teaching someone to read and developing someone who loves to read—and that transformation happens within a few months. It’s like Wilson on steroids!”
Can Fit’s reading tutoring be done online or just in person?
Fit Reading is available via online instruction as well as in-person at our Creve Coeur learning lab. For more information about our distance learning option, see the Online Services webpage … or give us a call.
My second-grader has always been a good student, but lately seems to be falling behind in reading. Can Fit help?
Yes, and know that you’re not alone; other parents have expressed the same concern. Your student may be struggling because they haven’t mastered the building blocks of reading. The traditional educational approach and many reading curriculums expect your child to learn to read without first determining if he or she has mastered basic reading skills. For example, they may not have mastered early phonics such as letter sounds, vowel combinations, and the rules of reading. They have to have this knowledge to do things like decoding unfamiliar words out of context.
Schools usually shift the focus from “learning to read” to “reading to learn” around the third or fourth grade. So, if your child is behind in reading at this critical stage in their education, they likely aren’t going to be able to “close the gap” with their peers without intensive reading intervention. Reading becomes more and more frustrating for your child.
However, when your student truly masters these early literacy skills, then they will be able to develop reading skills at their grade level and beyond. Then, they will have the skills to read well and understand the things they are learning from the text. This is critical for their academic success. The bottom line is, learning to read now can make a huge difference in your child’s education.
What are some other sources of information about reading education?
Here are some articles and resources that can be helpful to parents seeking reading help for their student.
- Hard Words: Why aren’t kids being taught to read?
- Ending the Reading Wars: Reading Acquisition From Novice to Expert
- National Reading Panel report on teaching children to read
- Why Johnny Still Can’t Read — And What to Do About It
- Teaching Children to Read: What Do We Know about How to Do It?
- Knowledge and Practice Standards for Teachers of Reading
- For articles on reading and dyslexia, please visit The Yale Center for Dyslexia and Creativity.
And, be sure to check out our blog posts, which cover topics such as Fit’s summer camp, helping students with ADHD succeed, kindergarten readiness, and much more.
Does Fit Learning offer any other tutoring programs besides reading?
You bet! Sometimes, students struggle in more than one area, so you may be looking for more than just help to increase your child’s literacy skills and confidence. Fit Learning St. Louis offers help in a variety of areas, and sometimes learners may enroll in more than one program. Our school-age services include Fit Math, Fit Logic, Fit Penmanship, Fit Writing, Fit Spelling, Fit Homeschool, and Fit Study Hall. Additionally, we offer a preschool program, Lil Fits, for our very young learners, a program for gifted learners, and support for children with special education needs. Contact our St. Louis precision teaching clinic to learn more about our learning coaches and our educational programs.
Get Reading Tutoring for Your Student in the St. Louis Area
Your child doesn’t have to keep falling behind their peers in reading. They don’t have to be frustrated every time you ask them to read at home. If your child is struggling to keep up with their reading lessons and the homework they are given in school, help is available in our Fit Reading program. Our certified learning coaches are skilled in providing individualized instruction based on the latest learning and behavioral science. We approach learning to read in a new way that will help your child make real progress and feel great about their reading.
To begin Fit Reading and get reading help in St. Louis, follow these steps:
- Contact Fit Learning St. Louis and speak with our Director, Janice Smith.
- Schedule an intake assessment for your child.
- Begin Fit Reading and watch your child’s reading abilities and confidence grow!