Business Spotlight: Reading Remotely Tutoring Services

By offering flexibility and instruction tailored to each student’s needs, lessons by Reading Remotely Tutoring Services ensure not only that students learn, but also help unlock their future potential. Certified teachers provide individualized lessons for children of all ages, and the remote tutoring lessons enable flexibility during those busy summer months.

Reading Remotely Tutoring Services is owned by Melissa
Gadbois and offers individualized virtual lessons to students 
based upon their needs. COURTESY PHOTO 

“Everything is shared through our screen, and all the student needs is a piece of paper and something with which to write. We offer optional assessment sessions prior to the six weeks of tutoring, or provide the assessments during the first lesson,” said Melissa Gadbois, the owner of Reading Remotely Tutoring Services. “Since lessons are individualized, tutoring sessions may focus on phonics, spelling, fluency, or reading comprehension, depending on the child's specific needs. We also tailor the level of support to what the parents are hoping to achieve through the tutoring lessons. For some, the goal is simply to prevent summer learning loss. For others, we work at filling gaps with their reading and/or spelling skills to help the child get closer to grade level.”

Gadbois is a Literacy Specialist and a Certified Dyslexia Practitioner and has been teaching in Southern Maine for 17 years.

“I started tutoring in the evenings and in the summers in 2016,” she said. “In 2020, I began teaching lessons virtually to my students at school and realized that it was engaging, and I was seeing real progress. I opened it up to tutoring remotely that summer, and there was a lot of interest. As far as I know, I am one of the few educators in the state who holds both Literacy Specialist and Certified Dyslexia Practitioner titles. Because of this, I’m able to use a wide variety of tools and knowledge to help determine comprehensive plans to support our students.”

In 2022, Gadbois added an additional tutor, Jamie Vaillancourt, who graduated from Saint Joseph's College with an elementary education degree and a concentration in special education. She teaches kindergarten during the school year and has additional certification in a phonics curriculum called LETRS (Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling). Last summer, Gadbois added a third tutor, Sheri Woolverton, a retired K-3 South Portland teacher, to the team to keep up with scheduling demands.

“As a Certified Dyslexia Practitioner, I’m able to directly provide Orton-Gillingham lessons to students, which is a type of tutoring that many families are looking for, especially for children with a diagnosed or perceived learning disability. Although I cannot provide direct tutoring to all the students who sign up for our services, I provide both tutors with materials for initial assessments and help analyze the results and make instructional plans for the summer. Families typically sign up for one or two lessons per week, and we work hard to maximize the lesson time we have with our students. This summer, we will surpass 100 students who have received our tutoring services since my business went remote, including many repeat students and families.”

What sets Reading Remotely Tutoring Services apart is that, in being virtual, they can work with children anywhere there is Wi-Fi.

“Over the past few summers, I've worked with students who live in different states and time zones, and with local students when they are on vacation,” Gadbois said. “Since most lessons are just 30 to 45 minutes, they are easy to fit into your summer schedule, and you don't have to miss out on too much summer fun. We also offer flexibility and have customized schedules to account for availability around summer camp schedules.”

According to Gadbois, some families are wary of trying remote tutoring but quickly realize the quality of instruction is not negatively impacted when it's delivered through the screen.

“In fact, I've noticed that students are typically more engaged during our remote lessons than they are during in-person lessons,” she said. “Lessons are paced in a way that is motivating, and they typically end with a game. Throughout the entire 30 to 45 minutes, students are equally engaged and challenged, so that they can feel confident and capable.”

As a K-2 Literacy Specialist during the school year, Gadbois sees firsthand the impact that summer regression has on students and it’s something that impacts all students, to varying degrees.

“Research has shown that students lose about 20 percent of their reading gains from a school year over the summer, and teachers are needing to spend the first month or two of the new school year helping students catch up to where they were the previous spring,” she said. “Summer tutoring can help in not only preventing this ‘summer slide,’ but also can help improve students' abilities so they start the year stronger than ever. Whether it is increased confidence and engagement in reading, improved phonics and spelling skills, or smoother reading fluency, parents are consistently pleased with the impact of our lessons.”

Gadbois knows what it’s like to want to make the most of Maine summers. Growing up on Sebago Lake in Windham, she has always spent her summers with family and friends at the lake, where her parents still reside. “By providing remote tutoring lessons, I’m able to help families prioritize their child’s learning without needing to sacrifice the summer memories that are equally as important. I’m grateful for the opportunity to help prepare students for the new school year in a way that is as manageable as it is beneficial.”

To learn more about Reading Remotely Tutoring Services, visit their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/readingremotely <