Structured Literacy for Dyslexia & Struggling Readers

Reading doesn’t come naturally to every child. With the right instruction, every child can learn to read accurately and confidently. Our experienced educators provide one-on-one structured literacy tutoring for students with dyslexia and other reading challenges, in person across Durham, Chapel Hill, Raleigh, and the Triangle.

What Is Dyslexia?

Dyslexia is a common learning difference that primarily affects reading, and often spelling and handwriting too. The International Dyslexia Association estimates that as many as 15–20% of people have some symptoms of dyslexia. Dyslexia has nothing to do with intelligence or motivation. It most often stems from difficulty with phonological processing, the brain’s ability to work with the sounds of language. Dyslexia tends to run in families, and many students with dyslexia have a close relative who is dyslexic too.

Psychologists often use the term “specific learning disability in reading” rather than naming dyslexia, but the terms usually mean the same thing, especially when difficulties with decoding and reading fluency are listed.

The good news is that with the right instruction, students with dyslexia build new neural pathways that allow them to read. If you’re wondering whether your child has dyslexia, the International Dyslexia Association offers a free screener to help you learn more.

What Is Structured Literacy?

Structured literacy is an evidence-based approach that teaches the building blocks of reading explicitly and systematically, including phonemic awareness, phonics, spelling, and the structure of words. It makes the hidden rules of English visible, so students learn to crack the code of reading instead of relying on memorization or guessing from pictures and context. Decades of research support it. See the International Dyslexia Association for more.

Structured literacy is essential for students with dyslexia, and it benefits every learner.

It Starts With Phonemic Awareness

Phonemic awareness is the ability to notice and work with the individual sounds in spoken words. It begins with skills like rhyming and counting syllables, progresses to blending and separating sounds, and finally to removing and substituting sounds. This is all done by ear, with no printed letters.

Here’s what a phonemic awareness drill sounds like:

Tutor: Say “cloud.”
Student: Cloud.
Tutor: Now say “cloud,” but instead of /l/, say /r/.
Student: Crowd!

Children who struggle to hear every sound in a word often skip sounds or syllables when they read and spell, which leads to errors. We build phonemic awareness into every lesson, using color-coded manipulatives so students can see and feel the sounds that change. It’s often the missing ingredient in other reading programs.

Phonics: Cracking the Code

Phonics teaches students how letters and sounds connect, so they can sound out unfamiliar words with confidence instead of guessing. It works in reverse too: the same rules help students spell. Most English words can be spelled accurately using phonics and word-structure rules.

Phonics also builds fluency. After decoding a word enough times, students recognize it instantly. When reading becomes quick, smooth, and accurate, their attention is freed for what matters most: comprehension. And children who can read without struggling enjoy books more, read more, and grow stronger as readers. It’s a beautiful cycle.

What Makes Our Approach Different

Not every reading program works for every student with dyslexia. Our approach stands out in four ways.

Customized Lessons

Our materials give tutors a framework they adapt for each student. In many programs, a student who gets stuck must repeat the same lesson until they pass, which wastes time and causes frustration. We design lessons that target those tricky spots and add new supports until the concept clicks. That builds confidence and success.

Multisensory Learning

Students learn through touch, sound, and sight together. For example, when learning a new letter, a student traces it in sand while saying the letter name, a key word, and its sound. A student mixing up sh and ch might trace sh on a sheepskin while saying “sh, ship, /sh/,” and trace ch on a bag of chips while saying “ch, chin, /ch/.” Visual cues, like a model ship for sh, help students catch and fix their own errors.

Practice Until Mastery

Skills are taught in sequence and practiced until they’re automatic. When new skills are introduced, students can focus fully on the new material. Many programs move students ahead before skills are secure, which leads to confusion. With a solid foundation, kids read accurately without guessing.

Decodable Texts First

Students read only decodable texts, books built from the phonics skills they’ve learned, until first-grade skills are mastered. Then they move on to easy readers and high-interest chapter books, while continuing to strengthen decoding and spelling.

Help Your Child Become a Confident Reader

If your child has been discouraged by other reading programs, we’d love to help. With time and the right instruction, your child can become an accurate, fluent reader.