Frequently Asked Questions

  • Capable Readers Literacy Services provides personalized literacy support designed to help learners at all levels succeed in reading. We offer intentional, explicit, and effective strategies to meet the unique needs of each learner.

  • Our services benefit children, teenagers, and adults who struggle with reading. We also support parents, caregivers, and educators by providing tools and strategies to help learners improve their literacy skills.

  • We use evidence-based techniques, the Science of Reading, and a Structured Literacy approach to select programs that motivate and inspire learners. Based on the data we receive from informal assessments, we can base it on each child and on what strategies and techniques we need to focus on to support each individual.

  • No, it’s never too late to learn how to read. We believe that with the right support and strategies, any learner can become a confident and capable reader at any stage of life.

  • One-on-one reading coaching involves personalized literacy instruction that focuses on the learner’s specific needs. This customized approach helps build confidence and improves literacy competence through targeted support.

  • We teach evidence-based strategies that cover phonological awareness, word recognition, decoding, comprehension, fluency and writing. Our goal is to equip learners with tools that enhance their literacy skills effectively.

  • Yes, we provide comprehensive tools and strategies for parents and educators to help their learners reach their literacy goals. Our resources aim to build confidence and competence in teaching reading and writing.

  • You can get started by contacting us through our website or email. We will schedule an initial consultation to understand your needs and design a personalized literacy plan for your learner.

  • Early literacy lays a strong foundation for future learning. Children who develop early literacy skills are more likely to succeed academically and have increased confidence and independence.

  • We provide specialized reading programs that cater to the unique learning styles of learners with developmental disabilities and neurodiverse needs. Our strategies are designed to be inclusive and effective for all learners.

  • Yes, by equipping parents, caregivers, and educators with effective literacy tools and strategies, we can collectively improve literacy rates and close the reading skills gap within our community.

  • We support ALL children, not just neurotypical children - any individual who has tried to seek out support and hasn't always been able to get the help they need.  We specialize in helping those who need a little bit of extra/different/personalized support.

  • Capable Readers partners with learners and their families who have unique needs and abilities. We work with learners who have:

    • Dyslexia

    • Down syndrome

    • Autism

    • ADHD

    • Speech and language delays

    • Learning Disabilities in reading, writing, and language comprehension- hyperlexia, dysgraphia

    • Developmental Language Disorder

    We also support:

    • Homeschoolers

    • Older and adult learners

    • English language learners

    • Preschool and emergent readers

    • Learners who communicate with different modes of communication (i.e., American Sign Language and AAC)

    • Learners who do virtual learning

    We use the Science of Reading and Structure literacy approach to provide explicit and systematic intervention in the areas of:

    • Phonics

    • Phonemic awareness

    • Morphology

    • Vocabulary

    • Fluency

    •  Language comprehension

    • Reading comprehension

  • We recommend a 50 minute reading coaching session 1-2 times a week.

  • We offer ongoing parent education workshops on key topics in the Science of Reading, we are always happy to have a client return to work on next steps like reading comprehension or fluency after the initial goals have been met. We are here for you!

  • Some common signs to watch out for in young children are struggling to differentiate between speech sounds, associating sounds with letters, struggles with phonemic awareness (blending sounds and breaking words into their sounds), and often guessing at words while reading. Older students may be slow readers, skip words in sentences, have to sound out the same words multiple times, have low engagement when learning, struggle to understand long passages and struggle with writing and spelling. Even though your learner may have some of these struggles, it does not necessarily mean it is a serious problem. Each learner is unique, so if you see these warning signs, talk with their teacher to see if you need to investigate further and seek more support. If these struggles persist into adulthood, you may see signs like challenges with understanding, limited vocabulary, memory problems, limited background knowledge, low motivation to read, and difficulty understanding what they read. It is never too late to improve your literacy skills, so seek out a professional to support your literacy learning! 

  • If you notice that your learner is struggling while reading, the first step is to observe what your learner is specifically struggling with. Are they having a hard time sounding out words? Do they struggle to connect letters and sounds together? Are they a slow reader? Refer to the list of common signs for more ideas of what to look for. Once you have a list of concerns, talk with their teacher. See if their teacher is also noticing any difficulties in their reading, writing, and/or understanding. The teacher can be a great resource to support with small group intervention in the class or can refer your learner to a reading interventionist or speech-language pathologist. If these concerns persist, the next step would be to ask your learner's principal for a psychoeducational assessment with a Psychologist. This assessment will show you in-depth where your learner is struggling and some strategies on how to support them. 

  • If your child's school reports reading issues, that is your cue to start digging into extra supports for your child. Some schools have a literacy specialist that can provide extra help for your child, maybe providing an assessment to see where the deficiencies in reading are located. The speech language pathologist assigned to your child's school may also be a good resource to tap. Beware that not all reading supports are created equal. You want help for your child that is based on best practice. Today, this field is known as the Science of Reading (SOR for short). This approach starts with phonemic awareness, sound to symbol recognition and progresses to decoding. Does your child struggle in spelling as well? This may be an indication that the foundation of their reading journey needs to be bolstered, maybe some steps were missed along the way.

  • Home reading is the most common home practice that is recommended by teachers. If your child is struggling with reading, you already know that home reading is a struggle as well! Start by going back to the basics, ensuring that your child knows all the sounds represented by the symbols - note that some vowels represent up to 4 sounds! Then progress to vowel and consonant teams. If your child's sound - symbol relationship is weak, this can lead to struggles in decoding and fluency. Teach Your Monster to Read is a great (free) app that can help get the basic foundation in place. Our reading program also has some parent coaching to help you help your child at home, between sessions.

  • Our one-on-one reading coaching is absolutely suitable for all ages! It is never too early or too late to learn how to read! We also offer a variety of different programming that will meet the needs of all ages. Some of our programs are age-specific, so please pay attention to registration. For more information on what programs we offer, check out our services page.

  • We have recently added group reading coaching sessions to our services, where your learner can be with two other students in a reading session. Learning with peers is a powerful tool and can be the key that unlocks the motivation your learner needs to work on their literacy skills. We also offer parent and educator workshops that target learning about the Science of Reading and tips and tricks to support your learner's literacy skills. Contact us for more information about our workshops!