Years ago, when Steph began Redwood instruction, reading was so challenging – and his desire to match his peers’ academic performance was so great – that he was often near tears during his lessons. Morale was low, and though he was improving, the progress was slow enough that his motivation fluctuated from day to day. 

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Vowel sounds were especially hard – it was so difficult for him to retain the knowledge he’d acquired the day before. But after a few months, everything began to stick. Once the vowel sounds were firmly planted in his mind and he became fluent with simple, single-syllable words, he told his teacher, “These words are easy.” Once he’d tasted that achievement, he became hungry for it. Learning to read was changing the way he saw himself. He came to his sessions excited to tell his instructor about seeing text out in the world and reading it independently. 

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Once Steph believed in himself as a reader, his progress took off. Now he’s reading challenging three-syllable words with ease. He’s building up the tools of a fluent reader — noticing the different syllable types, reading words one sound at a time or one syllable at a time — and reading words that would have been beyond his ability just a few months ago. 

Reading instruction is not typically a fast process — we’re re-wiring the brain, and that requires a lot of repetition — and for students like Steph who have more pronounced barriers to literacy, it can take a while for the progress to feel meaningful. Steph’s story illustrates how essential it is to pair literacy instruction with self-esteem cultivation, emotional growth, and relationship building. The internal work is the foundation for the academic work. 

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Once Steph understood his intelligence and his value are not dependent on his reading fluency, challenging sessions no longer derailed his motivation because he knew that struggling with the word “ocean” doesn’t mean he isn’t learning; ocean is a crazy looking word. 

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This young man who once dreaded literacy instruction now anticipates his lessons eagerly. (Once, he woke up frantic in the middle of the night, thinking it was morning and feeling terrible that he’d slept through his lesson.) After years of working together, Steph and his instructor have inevitably become good buds — nurturing that relationship has been a crucial part of keeping him invested in growing as a reader. Steph likes to talk, and when his instructor lets him go on about the merits of certain cat breeds or the best way to cheaply repair small engines, he believes he’s cleverly diverting the lesson to avoid work. Little does he know, these tangents are a teaching strategy: they keep his energy up. He’s grown so much, but still he isn’t always in the mood for reading. He is, however, always in the mood to chat. 

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