Our vision at Read Like A Champion is to see South Africa take the lead in improving literacy levels across primary scholars and high school learners. . We strive for a sustainable solution to the literacy challenge, with a strong commitment from individuals and organizations to enhance the learning environment and mitigate the effects of inadequate education. Mission Statement: At Read Like A Champion, we are dedicated to addressing the critical issue of literacy in our community. We work with struggling readers of all ages, believing that every individual, regardless of their background or circumstances, deserves the opportunity to unlock the power of reading and education. Our mission is to provide resources, support, and tailored interventions to help struggling readers develop the skills they need to succeed academically and in life.
At Read Like A Champion, we believe that it takes a collaboration of teachers and parents, to effectively address the resources that support the child.
Objectives:
Our primary objectives include; narrowing the performance gap amongst children from poorer communities and backgrounds who cannot afford private tutoring. We do this by promoting literacy initiatives and implementing effective reading intervention programs in South Africa. We also aim to raise awareness about the impact of inadequate reading skills on individuals and society.
Our Approach:
Response to Intervention (RTI) We utilize a Response to Intervention (RTI) approach to tackle the literacy problem in schools. RTI aims to identify learners who are struggling with reading and provides targeted, explicit, sequential and direct teaching to help them improve in areas where they need assistance. The key to RTI is measuring progress and providing additional support to learners as needed.
How RTI Works:
The RTI process starts with assessing the skills of all students. This assessment helps us identify learners who need instructional intervention, focusing on a variety of specific reading skills.. RTI is a preventative approach that aims to identify struggling readers early, before they fall too far behind their peers.
Benefits of RTI:
RTI allows us to intervene early on learners at risk of school failure. It also represents a more valid method of identifying learning disabilities and reduces inappropriate referrals to special education.
Implementation of RTI:
Implementing RTI involves careful planning and coordination. This includes evaluating the quality of reading instruction, ensuring tutors are trained in RTI, monitoring instruction effectiveness, and considering the approach’s effectiveness with diverse student backgrounds.
Training and Support:
Our tutors are trained not only to assess learners but to also apply interventions such as phonological awareness, ensuring a comprehensive approach to improving reading skills. Join us at Read Like A Champion as we work together to champion literacy and empower individuals for a brighter future.
Our Journey:
Read Like A Champion was founded in 2013, in response to an email from a desperate South African mother, whose ten year old Grade 4 son no longer wanted to go to school, because he was tired of being teased about his reading. We offered to assess the boy’s reading, and discovered that he read at Grade 1 level! We tutored him for an entire year, following a multi-sensory, evidence based reading instruction based on the Orton Gillingham approach. At the end of that year, the young man received the Principal’s Award for the Most Improved Learner, because he had risen to the top of his class, not only in reading, but in the other subjects as well! Our reading programme, together with his parents’ support and his commitment to do the work, made a massive difference towards his achievement of the desired reading level.
