Asha George

Literacy Support Specialist

Orton Gillingham Training (summer 2024)

K-8th Certified Teacher

Rochester Hills MI

RedBalloonTutoring@gmail.com

Welcome to Red Balloon Tutoring! I'm delighted you've found your way here! My name is Asha George, and I'd like to share a little about myself and my passion for education and children. I have over two decades of teaching experience as a K-8th grade certified teacher, and I’m dedicated to empowering young minds by instilling essential reading skills. I specialize in reading intervention for 2nd and 3rd graders and have undergone professional development in the science of reading. I firmly believe in the effectiveness of the structured literacy approach and its impact on children's reading abilities.

My passion for education shines through as I firmly believe every child deserves the tools and confidence to unlock the world of reading. To achieve this, I believe in using hands-on activities and incorporating movement during my tutoring sessions to keep the student engaged, participating, and learning. I consider myself patient, fun, creative, and delightfully silly, and I strive to foster a positive and engaging learning environment.

I am a loving mother to four boys and a cherished fur baby, our mini poodle, Waffle. My boys are an integral part of my life and passion for education. They have even been my enthusiastic helpers in writing a heartwarming children's book called "Isaac's Red Balloon," which was designed to support children's social and emotional growth. My passion for teaching not only remains within the classroom but also extends to my home, where I have the privilege of tutoring students from my community and surrounding cities. This opportunity to provide personalized, one-on-one support to young learners has been incredibly rewarding, and I am grateful to witness the progress and growth of each child as they develop their reading skills and boost their confidence.

During the 2023 school year and summer break, I tutored 12 students in the Rochester, Clarkston, and Lake Orion school districts. Through 1:1 tutoring, I have sharpened my skills and witnessed great progress in each student. This experience has deepened my love for tutoring, and I am excited to continue this journey of helping students learn how to read. It brings me immense joy to see the growth and development of each child, and I am eager to support even more young minds on their reading journey. I would love to have the opportunity to work with your child and help them build their confidence and skills in reading!

Red Balloon Curriculum

Building Confidence In Our Rising Readers

At Red Balloon Tutoring, we offer a reading program aligned with the latest research in literacy education. Our UFLI curriculum, developed by the prestigious University of Florida Literacy Institute, follows a structured literacy approach fully aligned with The Science of Reading.

The University of Florida Literacy Institute's curriculum is a research-based practice that systematically and explicitly teaches phonics, phonological awareness, and other critical reading skills. This structured approach ensures that students develop a strong foundation in decoding, spelling, and word recognition, leading to improved reading fluency and comprehension.

With our structured literacy approach, students at Red Balloon Tutoring receive personalized instruction that caters to their individual learning needs. Whether your child needs extra support to catch up to their grade level or is eager to challenge themselves further, I am here to provide the guidance and encouragement they need to succeed. I am committed to supporting rising readers at every step of their journey and ensuring they have the tools and confidence to excel academically.


Elements of Structured Literacy

  • Phonology

    study of patterns of sound in a language

    What it looks like:

    identify, segment, blend, and manipulate sounds (phonemic awareness, rhyme, sort

  • Sound -Symbol Association

    knowing that sounds (phonemes) are represented by symbols (graphemes)

    What it looks like:

    Elkonin sound boxes, phoneme, grapheme mapping, sound walls, phonogram cards, spelling

  • Syllables

    recognizing syllable patterns to aid in decoding and spelling

    What it looks like

    teach and practice syllable patterns and division rules.

  • Morphology

    knowing the structure and form of a word

    What it looks like:

    teach morphemes: bases and affixes, word families

  • Syntax

    grammar, sentence structure, and the mechanics of language

    What it looks like:

    sentence scrambles, dictation, grammar instruction, sentence building, parts of speech

  • Semantics

    understanding the meaning of text

    What it looks like:

    comprehension strategies, develop background knowledge, vocabulary instruction, text organization

Pricing for Fall Sessions

2023-2024

  • The Writing Revolution is an evidence-based strategy that ensures that all students at all levels can produce clear, coherent, unified, and structured writing.

  • Individual and group classes coming this June. More information will be posted in April. A waiting list is available, please contact me.

 

Get in touch

Please fill out the form below to receive more information or to schedule sessions. In the message section, please include your child’s grade level. If applicable please include support services, IEP information, reading level, and the area of support your child can benefit from.

“The body of work referred to as the “science of reading” is not an ideology, a philosophy, a political agenda, a one-size-fits-all approach, a program of instruction, not a specific component of instruction. It is the emerging consensus from many related disciplines, based on literally thousands of studies, supported by hundreds of millions research dollars, conducted across the world in many languages.” ~Dr. Louisa Moats