MURRAY, Utah — Sometimes students need a little extra help to boost their reading skills. A free resource in Murray not only provides one-on-one support for readers, but teachers in the classroom as well.
Lucero Bello is a mom to two students who can attest to that.
“As they were learning sounds of letters, they were having a hard time putting them together,” said Lucero. “They were struggling recognizing the sounds and it wasn’t easy. Their decoding, as I got told, wasn’t there yet and they had to learn.”
But that all changed when Lucero found help in her own backyard.
“We got in and I crossed my fingers. They were able to do the intervention and tutoring through the University of Utah Reading Clinic,” she saod.
The University of Utah Reading Clinic was created by the Legislature in 1999 as a way to support families and educators in students’ quest to not only read, but read well.
Through offering in-person and virtual tutoring, families have options to get their readers help tailored to their needs.
“We use some different assessments than the schools are typically using,” explained clinic director Kelly Patrick. “Some of ours are informal. Others are referenced, standardized assessments and some are screening instruments, so we just provide a wide view of the students’ reading capabilities.”
Patrick says the readers they work with are typically performing just below grade expectation or significantly below expectations.
“Sometimes our students are just not noticed as easily when they’re struggling. We have more assessments these days, but these are some developments that have come along in the last 10-15 years, so we just still are developing the system itself to try and catch as many kids as we can.”
And that’s why the clinic’s work isn’t just limited to its building in Murray.
“We go out and work with educators and that’s become something where we go directly to the schools do general practicum. That last typically a school year and it includes ongoing coaching for those educators to learn new, instructional, research-based methods that will help support literacy instruction in their classrooms,” said Patrick. “That’s really what has expanded our outreach even more broadly.”
As for Lucero and her new and improved readers, she says they’re looking forward to coming back to the clinic and learning new things and new ways they can continue to get better.
“It’s helped them so much, through their school, their homework, their reading. Their ability of comprehension with what they’re reading has come so far,” said Lucero. “They are so confident now.”
For more information on the U of U Reading Clinic, CLICK HERE.
If you’d like to donate to the Scripps Howard “If You Give a Child a Book” campaign, text FOX13READS to 50155 or CLICK HERE.
You can also donate in person at any Cyprus Credit Union branch.
