Lower School Tutorial Program

The tutorial class at Eagle Hill is the foundation of a student’s program. The lower school tutorial class is designed to provide intensive remedial instruction in the areas encompassed by the language arts. The tutor is responsible for the development of reading skills by providing instruction in decoding, phonemic awareness, and word analysis strategies. In addition, emphasis is placed on developing reading comprehension, oral and written expression, spelling, vocabulary, and study skills. Working in a small-group setting (from two to four students) allows the tutor to provide direct, guided instruction and support, and foster confidence in academic abilities. Students in grades one through three are generally placed in a once a day tutorial. The goal of the tutorial class at this level is to teach beginning reading skills. Primary emphasis in the class is placed on developing a student’s phonemic awareness skills, knowledge of sound/symbol relationships, and mastery of common linguistic patterns. Instruction in spelling, vocabulary, and comprehension is integrated with the decoding instruction. With some exceptions, students will move from a once a day tutorial to a twice a day tutorial when their decoding skills are at a third grade level and they are ready to move from controlled (or predictable) books to uncontrolled books. At this level, increased emphasis is placed on reading fluency, reading comprehension, and writing skills in addition to continued work in decoding and word analysis skills. When students are reading and comprehending at or close to grade level, they move into the tutorial/study skills program, where their tutorial once again meets only once a day, and they have a larger group study skills class. Emphasis in the tutorial at this level generally focuses on further development of higher-level comprehension skills, grammar, and expository writing.