When a child struggles with reading, the hardest part for most parents isn’t finding help—it’s understanding exactly what kind of help their child needs. That’s where a short, focused assessment can be incredibly valuable.
At Great Leaps, a 15-minute reading assessment is designed to do much more than simply assign a level. It gives you a clear, actionable snapshot of your child’s error patterns and how Great Leaps can address them.
A Fast, Focused Look at Foundational Skills
The session begins by quickly checking your child’s fundamentals. This includes:
- Phonics skills Can they read basic cvc words in isolation with speed and accuracy
- High-frequency words Can they read these sight words with automaticity
These are critical building blocks of reading fluency. If there are gaps here, reading will feel slow, effortful, and frustrating. In just a few minutes, a trained tutor will identify if your child contains a foundational basis of these skills to build from.
Determining Reading Level Through Stories
After reviewing fundamentals, the tutor will place your child in the Great Leaps Stories section to determine their approximate instructional reading level.
This is where things become very practical. Instead of guessing or relying on broad grade-level assumptions, you’ll see:
- How smoothly your child reads across increasingly difficult exercises
- What words they hesitate or struggle with
- Their errors patterns and behavior around reading
By the end of this portion, you’ll have a clear sense of where your child is currently performing—and how that compares to where they should be.
Identifying the “Why” Behind Reading Struggles
One of the most valuable parts of the assessment is not just what level your child is at, but why they may be struggling.
During the session, the tutor carefully documents error patterns, such as:
- Non-phonetic guessing - Guessing words based on appearance rather than sounding them out
- Letter reversals - Mixing up letters like b/d or p/q which is common even in non-dyslexic readers
- Skipping punctuation Going through commas, periods or question marks that crush their fluency and comprehension
These patterns are incredibly important because they reveal the habits that are holding your child back. Once identified, they can be directly addressed with targeted instruction.
A Clear Plan to Improve
After identifying these patterns, the tutor will explain how the Great Leaps approach is designed to correct them.
This includes:
- Structured, short daily practice
- Repetition that builds automaticity
- Instructional techniques specifically designed to improve fluency and accuracy
Rather than offering vague advice, you’ll leave the session understanding exactly how your child can improve—and what that process looks like.
Meet the Tutor, Build Confidence
The assessment is also a chance for something just as important: connection.
Your child will meet one of our tutors and experience how they approach working with your child. As a parent, you’ll get a sense of:
- The tutor’s teaching style
- How they interact with your child
- Whether the tutor feels like a good fit or not (and you can always request a new tutor free of charge once you are in the program)
This matters. Progress happens faster when students feel comfortable, supported, and understood.
If for any reason you want to make a change later, you always have flexibility to adjust schedules or request a different tutor at no additional cost!
A Small Time Investment with Big Insight
In just 15 minutes, you’ll gain:
- A clear understanding of your child’s reading level
- Insight into the specific skills they need to improve
- Awareness of habits that may be holding them back
- A plan for how to help them move forward
For many families, this short session is the turning point—from uncertainty and frustration to clarity and confidence.
Take the First Step
If you’ve been wondering whether your child is on track—or what to do if they’re not—a quick reading assessment is one of the easiest and most effective ways to find out.
It’s fast, informative, and designed to give you exactly what you need: a clear path to helping your child become a stronger, more confident reader.
Contact us, or give us a call to get matched with a tutor and book a free reading assessment.
