English Essentials Tutoring: Exercising English
When I don’t know the core vocabulary of a subject or how to use the facts and information skillfully and fluently, I can become discouraged and think there must be a problem with me as a learner.
However, when I am explicitly and incrementally instructed in the facts and use them to consistently practice the skills, I know mastery can be achieved.
My goal for each English Essentials “graduate” is for the student to leave with the confidence that they have grasped the essence of English, have mastered the foundational skills, and now have an eagerness to keep learning about and using our rich English language.
English Essentials Tutoring: Exercising English
ABOUT THE COURSE
English Essentials: Exercising English Foundations is a 20-lesson individualized tutoring course that provides the foundation a student needs to use our language of English confidently and effectively. In these 20 interactive, multi-sensory lessons I provide the student all the essential facts and skills necessary for basic English literacy. This includes:
Penmanship: Cursive handwriting is explicitly taught and mastered first and then print, in these tutoring sessions, because BOTH methods of handwriting are necessary and useful.
Phonemic/phonological awareness: Written language is a visual representation of spoken language, but the connection between the spoken and written forms of English are not obvious. So, I provide clear explanation and explicit instruction about this critical skill to empower the student.
Spelling: The core of these tutoring sessions is built around the strong foundation of Romalda Spalding’s “Writing Road to Reading” program. (I used this program to teach all my children how to read, write, and spell in the 80’s and 90’s. WRTR was foundational to the growth of their overall giftedness with language and communication.)
Now, in my tutoring classes, I continue to use WRTR method, but in its updated format created by Wanda Sanseri: Spell to Write and Read/SWR. This program still follows Romalda Spalding’s systematic process of presenting each new spelling word to the student via structured dictation.
First, the student hears the teacher say the word.
Together, they analyze each word by breaking it down into its syllables and sounds and match the correct phonograms for each sound using the sound code, not the letter names.
Then the student says the sounds softly while writing and dictates it back to the teacher, who then writes it on the board.
A special marking system is used to serve as a visual signal to help connect the written symbols (phonograms)to the speech sounds (phonemes). These markings promote quick word recognition and reading.
The student reads the word he just spelled.
Throughout the course, the student will be building his own Flight Folio that will contain his lists of analyzed spelling words and the original sentences he has written using many of them. Then, in the spelling rule reference page section of his Flight Folio, he will collect spelling words to illustrate most of the twenty-nine spelling rules.
To expand your student’s confidence and fluency in reading and writing we work systematically through various activities to build his mastery in these complex skills. This process not only results in enhanced reading comprehension and engaging and cohesive writing, but it also builds the student’s logical and critical thinking skills. These skills will continue to serve him well in a variety of other subject areas and life skills.
Home Practice Pages will be sent home with the student each week. These packets will take the student approximately 10 minutes a day to complete.
Whether your child is just starting to learn their ABCs, or they have reached a point where they are struggling with reading, spelling, and writing—these tutoring sessions will give them what they need to first understand the facts and then practice the essential skills using those familiar facts. Then reading and writing becomes something they can excel in, fluently use, creatively play with, and keep building on!
LOCATION, COST, & SCHEDULE
I teach English Essentials: Exercising English in the learning space in my home in the Beverly Hills area of Huntington, WV. (Please note, we have indoor cats.)
The cost for the course of 20 individualized tutoring sessions is $1284 (includes state and local sales tax). Each session is 90 minutes long.
I only offer this Foundations course from the first full week of October through the second week of March every year. The dates for 2025-2026 school year are:
First lesson starts the week of October 6, 2025.
No lessons the week of Thanksgiving, Christmas, or New Year’s.
Last lesson is the week of March 9, 2026.
Registration deadline: September 15, 2025.
Payment due: September 22, 2025
I only have two spots available for the 2025-2026 Exercising English Foundations course:
Tuesdays @ 1:00 pm - 2:30 pm
Thursdays @ 1:00 pm - 2:30 pm
HOW TO REGISTER:
Before signing up for Exercising English: Foundations, I require a Meet and Greet. This is a free, no obligation chance for you and your child to meet me, the learning space, and the curriculum. Because the curriculum is incremental, each student, regardless of their current abilities, is taken through the complete course, some at a slower rate and some at a faster rate, but none at a '‘skip over that part rate”.
If we both decide this course is the right next step for your child, I’ll ask you to fill in a Registration Form and sign a Parent Agreement.
Payment of the full course cost is due September 22, 2025. (NOTE: I am an approved Hope Scholarship Educational Service Provider. You can find me in the Marketplace by searching “Amy’s Learning Nest.”)
English Essentials: Electives
In the spring, I offer electives in English. These are 90-minute sessions and cost $60 per session (plus state and local taxes). The number of sessions for each elective course will depend on the content/topic. Check back in December 2025, to see what electives I’ll be offering in Spring 2026.
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