Impact

Proud readers. Ecstatic parents. Impressed educators.

What do LearnUp students say?

“I like it because it makes me happy. I can read bigger words. And can read by myself.”
“I feel more confident at school.”
“Now, I kinda like reading.”
“I like the stories, they aren’t boring like my program at school.”
“This program has really helped me.”
“I like being here. I learned to read here and it’s fun.”
“I read the paper every day. I never used to do that.”

Rave Reviews

What is the LearnUp community saying?

What parents are saying

“Man, I am in SHOCK at what Leo can read now. It’s honestly crazy. I had to take him for this IER assessment on Sat about an hour away, and as we got there, he says: “Are we meeting on Deerwood St?” I said: “Yes, did I mention that?” He said, “no, but it’s on the side of the building. You forgot I can read now!” Then when we went to Baskin Robbins later, and he read an entire sign to me in the store that said: “Thank you for practicing social distancing. 6 feet closer to Ice Cream!” He literally read it perfectly word-for-word, only stumbling a little with “practicing.” These aren’t 2nd grade words; that’s what blew me away. More importantly, Leo now BELIEVES that he is a good reader . . . confidence that he never had.”

— Tim Tonella

"Transition to online tutoring has gone well, now that the school closure continues indefinitely & LearnUp is going well, can we add another hour of online tutoring?"

— Alison Henry

“Daniel is happy to spend time with his dedicated tutors.  They are supportive and set him up for success.  I see him fully engaged throughout the sessions.  The methodology is working.  I used parts of the method, myself, to help Daniel with a school project.  I think this program is going to make a difference."

— Pam R.

"4th grade is going well for Ben. I have seen such a marked improvement in his ability and willingness to write. Before Learnup, it was such a chore to get him to put words on paper. Now, Ben enjoys writing and even wrote on 2 topics during his last writing assignment in school. In addition, Ben continues to use the techniques he learned at LearnUp including his post it's. We can't thank you enough for making reading and writing more fun and easier for him and are proud to support what you do for other kids who need help."

— Tracy Keyser

"Thanks again for giving Eli a great base to grow from as a reader. We could not be more pleased with the progress he has made."

— Gypsy Achong

"As a mother, it was hard for me to see the effect of our relocating on Kai's progress in school, but even more so on his self confidence. The LearnUp program has not only given him rock solid reading skills, it has also reestablished his belief in himself!"

— Amy Rogers

“LearnUp is WONDERFUL and it works!!! We were SO happy to find LearnUp and THRILLED with the results for our child. I am a former elementary school teacher and have been trained in Lindamood-Bell (LMB), and other literacy programs. I did not feel good about the intervention my child was getting at his school (a top-tier public school) and I determined working with him by myself would be ineffective for a number of reasons.

I started to do some research and picked LearnUp based on what seemed like a balanced program. Steve Tattum has decades of experience with kids with learning differences and has been trained in all kinds of literacy intervention programs; his program takes the ‘best practices’ from other programs and creates a well-rounded, effective reading program. I felt that other programs such as LMB were too rigid/ formulaic. I’m so glad we enrolled our child at LearnUp as both his reading skills and confidence grew tremendously as a result. Another big factor was that LearnUp was less expensive than similar programs.

Additionally, my child loved being trained by a highly skilled college student. The LearnUp Instructional tutors are regularly monitored and coached. Our tutor was mature and knowledgeable, but also fun –my child loved coming to work with her. The materials were also interesting and age appropriate. Our child’s confidence grew lots and he went from reading at kinder level to middle of second grade (based on Fountas & Pinnell).

I know these kinds of programs are a big financial and time commitment no matter where you go, but I think you actually pay less for more at LearnUp. Also, I urge any parent to get their kiddo help before it’s too late; early intervention is important and individual and intensive (5x a week) support is most effective. There’s no substitute for this kind of early one-on-one instruction and it’s not worth it to “wait and see.”

— Pha-Pha Hamilton

“Our daughter grasped LearnUp’s reading concepts quickly. She made noticeable improvements within 10 hours of instruction. This was a great relief to us as the helpless feeling of waiting for the reading to “click” was over. LearnUp did a reading assessment, targeted problem areas and drafted out a plan with a time frame. Before LearnUp, our daughter would stumble through almost every sentence in a book at her grade level. She gave up on sounding out multi-syllable words and skipped words. Needless to say, this affected her comprehension and affected her learning in other subjects. She now reads with confidence and expression. Her 3rd-grade teacher has commented on the great strides made. Well worth the 3 intensive months at LearnUp.”

— Diane DallasKidd

“LearnUp has been nothing but the best thing that happened to mine and my daughter, Naomi’s life. I have struggled for years to get help with her reading. I’d try one program and then get sent to another being told she will somehow get it. I finally found LearnUp through her new school. Naomi was in 5th grade and she was reading at an early Kinder level. She was doing very bad in school and had very low self-esteem. She didn’t want to try and gave up easily. It was extremely difficult for her as well as me because I saw the worst part, her crying, frustrated, struggling, and suffering. We came to LearnUp and met with Steve Tattum. I want to admit I was a bit skeptical after going through everything we’ve gone through. I had to give it a chance. Anything for my daughter, and I finally brought her to LearnUp.

The first day I brought her and picked her up after 1 hour of tutoring, she was reading words all by herself. I was so happy I cried. For the first time Naomi felt good and proud that she could read. She explained to me she knows how to read but the problem was she had to teach her brain. I laughed. She felt like she really could read. I kept bringing her and after 1 month she was up from A level to an F level in reading. Naomi has only gotten better, not only in reading but at school with all her academics. She has so much confidence that she has begun doing school work on her own.  She is happy to do classwork in class as much as homework at home.

How I wish I knew about LearnUp sooner. If there is a reading program that actually works it definitely is LearnUp. All I have to say to all those parents and teachers with children and students struggling to read: this is it! Don’t wait any longer please get started today.”

— Anna Jackson

“AMAZING reading program!!! So grateful for the LearnUp Centers team. My son never enjoyed reading and was really behind at school (3rd grade). He not only really enjoyed going every day (5x/week) to meet with his tutor but his reading skills got so much better in such a short time it was impressive! Worth a try and every penny if your child is in need.

I wish the public schools could somehow work in partnership with this program… it could be amazing for the kids and teachers!

Thank you Steve Tattum for your amazing work, thank you, Steve Hagler for all your communication and help and thank you Mary (my son’s tutor)!”

— Tatiana O’Donoghue

“Fantastic program. My son has learned to read and was struggling before. Highly recommended.”

— Davide Pacchini

“Our son is back in school, and he’s grooving with 3rd grade so far. He has said more than a few times that “3rd grade is his favorite year so far” and that “this is going to be a good year, way better than 2nd grade or any other year at school.”  I am absolutely certain that this new hope & self-esteem came from his summer in the LearnUp program.

So, I  wanted to share with you, more is being revealed about  the effect that your course has had on his learning process as a whole. It really shows and it has been life changing for our whole family… I’m not exaggerating. It’s like some kind of door was opened for him to want to move forward instead of staying stuck.

He is actually doing his homework. So far, we’ve been free of the tortured drama we endured last year. His 3rd grade  teachers’ homework policy is mostly about learning to take responsibility (to bring it home and keep track of it,  up to now it’s been one-page max per night) It’s not about busy work or quantity, what a relief. (We thought they were sending home a short version for him, but it turns out it’s the same as the rest of the class gets).

Please send our thanks again to his tutor Zoe for being AMAZING with him!”

— Liz Schiedl

“My 6-year-old daughter is learning to read so quickly her 1st grade teacher can’t keep up with accessing her appropriate reading level. I’ve even had to remind her reading intervention teacher to pick-up the pace.

The most important aspect of this reading program for me was to see my daughter’s self-concept change. At 6 years old, she wasn’t interested in learning and I think in many ways she felt isolated. Her friends around her had their noses in books and she couldn’t relate. She had very little interest in Math, largely due to Common Core math’s heavy emphasis on word problems. After 8 weeks, she has improved in all subjects at school.”

— Lia McLoughlin

“Learn up centers is amazing. My 10-year-old started the program at a 2nd-grade reading level. To our amazement, he ended 7 weeks later at a fourth-grade level where he should be but more importantly with a love of reading.

For the first time ever we have seen him pick up a book and read without being asked to do it. The tutors are patient and kind and find a way to connect with the kids they tutor. My son loved seeing his tutor and never complained about going there. We immediately saw a change in his home and school work. Learn up gave my son back his confidence and I highly recommend it for any struggling reader.”

— Mary Flynn

“LearnUp is a miracle! Not only has our child learned to read when all other efforts were just that, EFFORT. Our child now ENJOYS reading… can’t put the book down on the way to school… asks to read to us and looks forward to going to tutoring even after a full day of school! Truly, nothing short of a miracle….”

— Dawn Gross, MD, PhD

What educators saying

“I wanted to say thank you for teaching me your program. I began tutoring four boys this month using your program. The assessment was quick and pretty accurate. I am already completely impressed by their progress in a month. It took several months to achieve these results using Slingerland. Parents are even noticing a difference. They tell me they aren’t as reluctant to read anymore. Some of these kids I only see 2-3x a week and they are making progress. The students enjoy the books and they work seamlessly with each lesson. I’m looking forward to using this program with more students this school year. Thank you!!”

— Grace Rinaldi, SFUSD

“My colleague and I attended a professional development workshop through LearnUp to understand more about phonics instruction. It was so clear to both of us upon completing the workshop that LearnUp is extremely thoughtful in their approach to teaching phonics and that they are absolute experts backed by years of solid experience. I think you’d be hard-pressed to find a better phonics workshop in the Bay Area; this team is superb. I can’t believe how much we learned in one short week. Thank you, LearnUp!”

— Mel Nichols, Tutorcorps

Testimonials