Award-Winning Elementary School Reading Tutors
serving Chattanooga, TN

When a passage feels confusing, the issue usually isn't vocabulary — it's that a young reader hasn't learned to pause and check their own understanding. Eileen teaches active reading strategies like predicting, summarizing, and asking questions mid-paragraph, skills she sharpened through years of close reading across science and humanities at Vanderbilt.

Early reading instruction lives right at the core of Mary's expertise as a speech-language pathology graduate student at Vanderbilt, where she studies how children acquire and process language. She tackles foundational skills — sight word recognition, fluency building, and reading comprehension strategies — with methods grounded in current literacy research. Her 5.0 rating speaks to how well young readers respond to her approach.

Building fluency at the elementary level means connecting phonics skills to real comprehension — not just sounding out words but understanding what a sentence means and predicting what comes next. Ruiy's cognitive science training at Vanderbilt gives her insight into how young brains develop reading pathways, and she uses that knowledge to match each student's current level with the right mix of decoding practice and story engagement.

Leanna breaks reading down into the specific skills younger students need — decoding unfamiliar words, making predictions, and pulling meaning from context clues rather than just guessing. Her cognitive science training at Vanderbilt gives her a real understanding of how children process language, which means she can pinpoint exactly where a struggling reader is getting stuck.

Phonics, sight words, fluency, and reading for meaning each require a different instructional approach, and mixing them up is where a lot of young readers stall. Jessica's Vanderbilt coursework in Elementary Education covers the science of how children learn to decode and comprehend text. She brings that research-based knowledge directly into her sessions, whether a student is sounding out CVC words or tackling their first chapter book.

Early reading instruction lives or dies on the details — phonemic awareness, sight word fluency, decoding strategies, and the ability to retell what just happened on the page. Megan's dual expertise in special education and ESL means she's trained to identify precisely where a young reader is getting stuck and adjust her methods accordingly. She holds a 5.0 rating from families who've seen that precision pay off.

Alexandra's special education training at Vanderbilt gave her deep expertise in how children actually learn to read — from phonemic awareness and decoding strategies to fluency and comprehension. She pinpoints exactly where a young reader is getting stuck and adjusts her approach accordingly. Her 5.0 rating speaks to how well that precision works.

Early reading confidence comes from decoding strategies that actually stick — sounding out unfamiliar words, using context clues, and retelling what just happened in a passage. Julia's psychology training gives her insight into how young learners process new information, so she adapts her pacing and methods to match each child's reading level.

Early reading is about more than sounding out words — it's building the comprehension habits that carry a student through every grade after. Meredith teaches elementary readers to make predictions, ask questions about what they've read, and connect stories to their own experiences, turning passive page-turning into active understanding.

Early reading skills like decoding unfamiliar words, making predictions, and retelling a story in sequence all need different kinds of practice. Maggie tailors her approach to how each child's brain processes information, so a visual learner and an auditory learner walk away with the same comprehension but through different paths. She holds a 5.0 rating from families she's worked with.

Early reading instruction is about more than decoding words — it's about building the habits that turn a kid into someone who actually understands and enjoys what they read. Carrie works on skills like making predictions, identifying main ideas, and connecting stories to a child's own experience, drawing on her English training to make reading feel purposeful from the start.

Phonics, sight words, and fluency are the building blocks, but the real goal is a kid who actually wants to pick up a book. Lindsey connects decoding skills to comprehension early, asking young readers to predict what happens next or describe a character's feelings as they go. Her psychology degree informs how she adapts pacing and encouragement to each child's reading level.

I am able to get back to my passion of teaching students.

Phonics, sight words, and fluency drills all matter — but so does making reading feel like something worth doing. Christean pairs foundational decoding skills with age-appropriate stories that keep young readers curious, building both accuracy and the kind of enthusiasm that turns practice into habit.

Early reading clicks when a child connects decoding skills to actual meaning — sounding out a word and then understanding what just happened in the story. Ria reinforces phonics, sight words, and fluency alongside comprehension strategies like retelling and predicting, so reading feels like discovery rather than a chore. Her warm, encouraging approach keeps younger learners motivated through the trickiest stages.

Early reading skills like phonics, sight words, and fluency need to click before a child can enjoy books on their own. Charlotte's Child Development coursework at Vanderbilt's Peabody College gives her a research-informed understanding of how young readers decode language and build vocabulary. She tailors each session to where a child actually is in that progression, whether they're sounding out words or starting chapter books.

Teaching a child to read is the thing Brian trained specifically to do. His Master's in Elementary School Teaching grounds his approach in phonics, sight-word fluency, and the gradual shift from decoding individual words to understanding what a full passage means. He makes that transition feel natural rather than overwhelming.

Early reading instruction lives and dies on the details — phonics patterns, sight word fluency, and the confidence to try sounding out an unfamiliar word. McKenna taught elementary students with literacy struggles for two years, building their decoding and comprehension skills from the ground up. That hands-on experience with emerging readers is hard to replicate from a textbook alone.

Early reading confidence comes down to a few key skills: decoding unfamiliar words, understanding what a sentence actually says, and retelling a story's beginning, middle, and end. Elizabeth zeroes in on whichever skill a young reader needs most, using leveled texts and guided questions to build fluency without frustration.

I'm from New Jersey and of Italian decent, so I naturally love cooking and all things pizza. My favorite childhood book is The Giver by Lois Lowry, and favorite high school class was physics (rockets, easy winner). I enjoy playing guitar and ride my bicycle on a sunny day.

As a pediatric audiologist who specializes in childhood language development, Emily understands the building blocks of early literacy at a scientific level — phonemic awareness, decoding strategies, sight word fluency, and reading comprehension. She makes these foundational skills engaging and accessible for young learners just starting to connect sounds to letters and letters to meaning.

Decoding, fluency, and comprehension don't always develop at the same pace, and a reading specialist knows how to identify exactly where a child is getting stuck. Mary-Lloyd holds a Reading Specialist endorsement and a graduate degree from Vanderbilt Peabody, giving her deep training in phonemic awareness, guided reading strategies, and vocabulary development. She tailors her approach to each reader — whether they're sounding out CVC words or tackling chapter books for the first time.

Phonics patterns, sight words, and reading fluency each require a different kind of practice, and Tiffany tailors her approach depending on where a young reader is struggling. She uses context clues and guided questioning to build comprehension alongside decoding skills. Her organized, patient teaching style is a natural fit for elementary learners who need consistency.

Reading intervention has been a core part of Molly's classroom work across 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade, so she's fluent in phonics-based decoding, sight word fluency, and comprehension strategies like predicting and retelling. She pulls from multiple curricula to match the approach that clicks for each reader rather than defaulting to one program.

Building fluency at the elementary level is about more than sounding out words — it's connecting phonics to comprehension so kids actually understand what they're reading. Corrina brings patience and structure to each session, working on skills like predicting, summarizing, and making inferences through stories that keep young readers engaged.

Getting a child to love reading early changes everything that comes after. Annabel teaches phonics, sight words, and basic comprehension strategies like predicting and summarizing, turning each reading session into an active conversation about the story rather than a passive exercise.

Early readers need someone patient enough to sit with a tricky word and turn it into a small victory. Agustin breaks phonics patterns and sight words into manageable chunks, building fluency through repetition that feels like a game rather than a chore. His experience across multiple languages gives him an intuitive sense for how young learners process sounds and letter combinations.

I am a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania with a Masters degree in Education and have been an Elementary and Middle School educator for over thirty years. I have worked with students in the inner city, suburbs, Appalachia, and Deep South. I love teaching and children, and have discovered my passion in tutoring students who are struggling in Reading and Math. I have taught children with learning disabilities to read, and coached students with dyscalculia in math and reading. I worked as a principal for the past eight years, so was working with students from Pre-K to 8th grade, coaching teachers, analyzing data, and tutoring individual students in math and reading. I have worked as a national park ranger in the past, so social studies and history are areas of strength. Students that I teach respond well to my teaching style and enjoy working with me. I believe that education is extremely important for children's futures and do everything that I can to help them be successful.

Early reading is about more than sounding out words — it's learning to visualize a story, predict what comes next, and connect what's on the page to what a child already knows. Mahalia's background in social work and youth programming gives her a sharp sense of how to build the kind of trust that makes a reluctant reader willing to try. She tailors her approach to each student's reading level, whether they're working on fluency or tackling their first chapter books.

Early reading confidence comes from connecting sounds to meaning, not just sounding out words in isolation. Emma's education coursework at Cornell introduced her to developmental reading theory, and her experience creating age-appropriate curricula for young learners means she knows how to match a book's difficulty to where a child actually is. Her 5.0 rating speaks to how well she keeps younger students engaged and moving forward.

As a passionate educator with a Doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction from Liberty University, Dr. Barnett brings 20 years of tutoring and classroom experience to his role. His specialties in Elementary School English, Math, Reading, Science, and Social Studies enable him to create engaging, interactive lessons tailored to each student's unique needs. Dr. Barnett believes in fostering a supportive learning environment that empowers students to build confidence and achieve academic achievement. Through personalized tutoring plans, he offers effective online tutoring for grades 1-8, guiding students through their educational journeys. Dr. Barnett finds great joy in celebrating students' successes and inspiring a lifelong love for learning. Currently certified to teach in Maryland, he is dedicated to making a positive impact in students' lives.

For early readers, the difference between frustration and excitement often comes down to finding the right book at the right level. Maya builds phonics, sight-word recognition, and basic comprehension skills through stories that match each child's interests, keeping motivation high. Her experience with differently-abled learners means she adapts pacing and techniques to fit how each student actually processes language.

Early reading clicks when a child connects decoding skills to actual meaning — sounding out words matters, but so does understanding what a sentence is saying. Julia's mentoring work with elementary students gave her practice making that bridge, using context clues, picture cues, and guided questions to build both fluency and comprehension at the same time. She's patient and adaptive, adjusting her approach based on what each reader needs.

Phonics, sight words, and early chapter books each demand a different kind of support, and Jessy tailors her approach to wherever a young reader currently is in that progression. Her background in both science and the arts means she pulls from a wide range of texts to find what actually sparks a child's curiosity — which is usually what gets reading to click.