Reading tutors on Learnmate work on the three things that go wrong separately: sounding words out, reading at a comfortable pace, and understanding what was read. Kindergarten to Year 10.
Reading breaks down in three different places and each needs different work.
Decoding is sounding words out. Fluency is pace. Comprehension is meaning.
A child can read aloud perfectly and understand almost none of it.
Tutors work from Kindergarten to Year 10, including students below year level.
Writing and spelling have their own tutors under literacy on Learnmate.
Reading fails in three separate places and the wrong help wastes a term. A child who cannot turn letters into sounds needs decoding work. A child who reads accurately but slowly needs fluency. A child who reads aloud perfectly and remembers nothing needs comprehension. Profiles state which of these a tutor works on and which year levels they teach.
Reading is not assessed as a subject, so most families arrive with a teacher's comment rather than a mark and no clear idea which of the three is the problem. Sorting that out is usually the first session's work. Most tutors give a first lesson free, there are no lock-in contracts, and payment is processed automatically after each lesson. If writing is also a concern, we recommend you peruse literacy tutors instead.
Learnmate is Australia's leading online tutoring marketplace, and its reading network covers decoding, fluency and comprehension from Kindergarten to Year 10, including students working below year level.
Profiles are open to browse, so a family can see which part of reading each tutor works on before making contact. There is no intake call to get through, no term to commit to, a free first lesson with most tutors, and automatic payment once a lesson is done.
Decoding, fluency and comprehension fail separately and need different work. A tutor who treats reading as a single skill will spend the hour on whichever part is easiest to teach. Profiles say which of the three each tutor actually works on.
A child can sound out every word and take in none of it, and most parents only find that out when a teacher says so. It is one of the most common reasons families come here and it is a specific, teachable gap.
A student who reached Year 7 without secure reading struggles across every subject. The work at that age looks different, and is more sensitive, than primary reading help. Tutors who do it say so.
Reading tutors on Learnmate include a Teacher Librarian holding a Master of Education in Teacher Librarianship, who specialises in reading engagement and works with reluctant readers, alongside postgraduates with a Master of Education and a Master of Writing, and registered primary and secondary teachers with twenty-five and thirty years in Australian classrooms.
Below that sit NESA accredited teachers, a departmental coordinator leading literacy and numeracy intervention, and CELTA qualified EAL specialists teaching reading comprehension to students and adults. Coverage runs from Kindergarten to Year 12 and into adult learning. For writing rather than reading, or for both together, the writing tutors and literacy tutors pages list tutors working there.
Jimena is a very patient tutor who also has a vast knowledge on the English subject. She effectively analyses and explains language techniques in a way that is understandable. Overall would recommend.
Jaye is a really helpful tutor who helps identify your weaknesses and strengths as a student and guides you efficiently towards improving them!
Professional, kind, organised and patient. Am so grateful to find Nanditha. Such a great resource and help during our year 12 studies. Can’t recommend her any more highly. Has been a seamless experience and I know it will continue to be. Very reliable.
Tania has a lovely way of teaching. She is calm, patient and succinct without ‘over teaching’. She was able to very quickly identify what worked with our year 12 son and gain his trust and respect. She has helped him grow in confidence in his English analysis, text and article responses - and his enjoyment of English. He also draws on these skills in assessing media reports! We have had such a fabulous experience with Tania and would come back to her in a heartbeat for any future tutoring needs. Thank you so much, Tania!
Sophie is a reliable and organised tutor. She is responsive and has assisted our son in various subjects, including Science, History and English. We highly recommend Sophie as a tutor.
I think Atifa is really helpful and understanding. I have been doing alright with English and tutoring with Atifa has helped me improved. Through my persuasive writing, there is a clear improvement and it has been more visual through my marks as well. She is friendly and kind and is a great help when revising overwork and assignments. She is honest when it is needed and provides constructive feedback. She is a great tutor and to be her student is an honour.
Decoding, fluency and comprehension, and where to start
Decoding is the mechanical part, turning letters into sounds and blending them into words. Fluency is doing that quickly enough that attention is left over for meaning. Comprehension is what that spare attention is spent on: following, inferring, remembering. They fail in that order and they are taught in that order. A tutor working on comprehension with a child whose decoding is insecure is building on nothing, which is why the first session usually establishes which layer has stalled.
Reading support is generally treated as a primary school concern, and Years 7 to 10 fall through the gap. A secondary student with weak reading struggles across every subject, since science, humanities and even maths word problems all assume fluent reading. The work also has to be handled differently: faster paced, with age-appropriate material, and alert to the fact that most students this age have built elaborate strategies for concealing the difficulty.
Reading rarely arrives on its own. Spelling and writing usually lag behind it, which is why literacy tutors cover all four together and are the better starting point when the gap is unclear. Writing tutors take over where the difficulty is production rather than intake. Where a formal diagnosis is involved, dyslexia tutors list experience with structured, explicit approaches to decoding and spelling.
Compare reading tutors by year level and by which part of reading they teach.
If you opened your child's NAPLAN results recently and saw the word "Developing" - or "Needs Additional Support" - it's...
READ MORE
Finding and engaging the right tutor in Australia Finding and engaging a tutor is one of the most effective ways...
READ MORE
If there's one study habit that consistently separates high achievers from the rest, it's completing practice exams. Not reading notes....
READ MORE
