I think that we should be conscious that these students that we will be tutoring have had teachers try to teach them to read. Not every student learns in the same way. Some learn visually, some oraly, etc. It might be necessary to approaching reading instruction from different angles (not just phonics, whole language, or language experience) but a combination so that the student is recieving input from various angles.

My thoughts over the past few days is that as tutors we need to be very careful not to be negative about the students we are tutoring. Although these students are struggling with reading, that does not mean that they have failed in any way or that they don't have any knowledge to bring to school or to the conversation. No child is an empty container that we as tutors/teachers pump information into. The have skills and knowledge to contribute.