[thebeach16]

I had the child in 2nd grade and she is in 3rd. Lovely child who is just below grade level and has stayed there. She struggles across the board, especially in comprehension. I have my degree in literacy and special edu so even though I am in the classroom I am qualified. Dad took her to a learning center (Sylvan maybe?) and was unhappy. However, I can tell he liked the fancy print out they get charting test results. WIth the teacher cuts going on I can't give up this money. I made it clear that I can't promise speedy and great progress to any parent and I won't continue to take him money or ask his kid's time if I don't see progress with what I am doing. He wants 4 hours a week. I explained this was excessive because part of the time at the learning centers the child works alone and she wouldn't be working alone with me. Dad is a doctor so I think he compares to his line of work but the two are so different.
1. He asked me how we can track progress. I am not using a basal with her and don't have access to online testing like the learning centers do. I also believe in authentic work. Aside from graphing her reading levels on a chart can you think of any other ways I can show progress to make dad happy?
2. Does this seem like too much work to you? Again, it's good money. I can always drop it. The beauty of tutoring is no committment.
3. He wants me 2 hours on Saturday. How the heck to I fill 2 hours!? Poor kid..

[needmyjob]

Track fluency. www.easycbm.com will graph results for you.

Then do sight words. Keep track by using different highlighters each time you test.

Vocabulary words are great also. Everything does not have to be in a graph to track progress.

Best of luck...stick with her

[elltch]

One easy way to track progress is with running records. Give her an instructional leveled passage and do a RR on the first 100 words. Keep her in the 90-95% range. Hopefully you have access to leveled passages/books, like Reading A-Z. Speaking of Reading A-Z, they also have ReadingTutor.com. Lots of materials there, tutor reports, etc.

If I were the parent, I would want to see progress tracked also.

I tutor during the summer and created a tutor report that suited my needs. It shares what skills I've worked on, areas of strength, areas of weakness, assessment results, anecdotal observations.

2 hours is too long for a 9 yr old to spend on a Saturday with a tutor. I'd convince him that one on one for an hour is a significant amount of instructional time, especially if you are seeing her 4 days a week.

If I could attach my tutor report, I would. Good luck.

[readingwhiz]

I always pretest to using 3 things: an assessment to find the independent and instructional reading level, a list of nonphonetic sight words, and cards containing phonics elements (letters and letter combinations). For the sight words and phonics, I simply count up how many the child knew, use the lists as well as my observations of his oral reading to plan lessons, and reassess every month or two to provide evidence of growth. I make a simple line chart using a grid and drawing the line on by hand - not real impressive but easy for parents to understand. You can also do some charting with Excel, and someone just told me to try Chart Dog on the Intervention Central website, but I have not checked it out yet.
As for the long time period, yes it is too long. But I like to do some multi-sensory activities with sight words and phonics with sand trays, writing on bumby surfaces, etc. It helps to break the lesson up and keep the student's attention.