LEARNING CENTER TUTORING EXPANDS

Learning Center Tutoring Expands Its Reach

As the world rapidly shifted in March, the tutoring program at the Learning Center (LC) committed to continue to provide the high-quality individualized instruction that students and their families have come to expect. COVID-19 inspired the tutoring program to expand its reach through virtual instruction so that regardless of their location, each student’s needs continued to be met by a LC tutor’s compassion and expertise.

Virtual One-to-One Tutoring Kristina Schatz, Tutor and Summer Program Manager, moved quickly to gather materials, tools, and provide the training that was essential to set up not only the tutors but their students for success. Groves curriculum and literacy experts Ellen Engstrom, Jean Hayward, and Katharine Campbell shared best practices and tips and tricks from the field. Listening sessions were held with the 32 LC tutors to learn from them what was working and what additional support was needed. The tutors’ creative thinking, and ability to adapt their routines, has led parents and students to share stories of progress and success as they navigate the new world of virtual learning.

COVID-19 Positions Tutoring to Reach Farther The COVID-19 crisis has positioned Groves to now offer individualized tutoring via Zoom for students regardless of where they live. Often it is a challenge for a family living outside the metro area to find a tutor that specializes in learning disabilities. As stay-at-home guidelines lessen, families will have the option to resume inperson tutoring, or stay with the virtual sessions. Regardless of the choice made, all students will receive the support needed to be successful in the classroom and beyond.

Tutors and Students See Results The families who were tentative about moving from in-person to virtual tutoring are now reporting that they continue to see progress with their child, and are interested in continuing with the virtual sessions as long as the current stay-at-home guidelines are in place.

More than ever Kristina is hearing parents express worry about their child’s ability to keep up or make progress post-virtual learning. She shares, “If we can take one worry off our families' plates, that is what we want to do. We are here and we want to make sure each student is taken care of.”

Do you have a struggling learner? Groves prides itself on doing its best to match each student with the right tutor for their needs, and we will create an individualized plan to serve your student.

Please contact us. We are ready to answer all your questions. Email at learningcenter@grovesacademy.org to start a conversation!

Groves Introduces New Literacy Curriculum for Partner Schools

Groves is proud to announce the development of Groves Method™ curriculum. This new literacy curriculum is being written and designed by Groves and will be available exclusively to our literacy partnership schools for their K-3 general education classrooms.

Groves Method curriculum is designed to help all students learn to read and spell using an explicit, systematic, multi-sensory approach based on reading science and nearly fifty years of literacy expertise at Groves Academy.

Groves has always brought quality literacy curricula into partner schools, but there have been drawbacks. Some curricula are too complex to quickly master and teach with fidelity. Others require extensive prep time for teachers who are already stretched too thin.

As our program has grown, we recognized the need to create our own curriculum which aligns with our program and better meets the needs of our partner schools. As a result, we began writing Groves Method and rolled out a beta version in over 40 kindergarten classrooms this school year. Next year, kindergarten will be finalized and a beta version for grades 1 and 2 will be available. Grade 3 will come out the following year. The beta test with the kindergarten curriculum this school year is well received. Prior to schools moving to distance learning, we asked kindergarten teachers to tell us about their experience with the Groves Method curriculum, and responses were very positive. Over 85% of kindergarten teachers believe using Groves Method curriculum makes them more successful at teaching their students to read and spell, and 90% are either satisfied or very satisfied with the curriculum so far.

When distance learning began in March, teachers in several partner schools found using Groves Method curriculum kept their students engaged and learning reading and spelling, compared to their other subject areas.

“I absolutely LOVE teaching with The Groves Method! I love the repetition of it for both me as a teacher and for my learners. It is predictable and I [can] easily set up routines to make the most out of our 30 minutes of Groves time! The repetition has made my learners letter and sound experts!”

“I feel like Groves has been very beneficial for my students, especially at the kindergarten level when they are just learning their letters and the sounds. In comparison to the class that I had last year, my students seem to be much more confident in their ability to read and write.”

We are grateful to the generous donors whose investment in Groves is helping change the way literacy is taught, one student, one teacher, one school at a time.