What Parents Are Saying
Once you’ve had the opportunity to get to know Meghan, you won’t be surprised to learn that the students with whom she works are her biggest fans!
2nd Grade Parent
Student Success Stories
“I want to foster love and excitement for reading so that he will be drawn to it and improve naturally through practice rather than begrudgingly”
When mom came to Next Step she was looking for a way to help her son feel supported academically, to catch up to his peers, and to build his confidence.
“Right now, he doesn't have the skills to read the books that interest him.”
And that struggle is one I hear often from parents and as a result our goal together is twofold:
-
Boost academic skills
-
Build self confidence
This is exactly why I created Next Step! I believe that when children receive explicit and sequential instruction they exponentially grow their confidence.
No trick words. No homework. No tests.
Just sequential instruction to support your child’s foundational skills and boost their confidence as we go!
After 3 months the growth spoke for itself…
“We saw incredible results and now our child is testing nearly on grade level (a huge leap from when he began with Ms. Schelzi) and much more confident in his reading skills.”
A strong foundation for literacy skills and a solid connection to their inner confidence will support your child beyond the time we work together. Our work together is shifting your child’s entire relationship to learning for life!
“We wanted to take advantage of the K-2 window of learning to set him up to be a strong reader for life. With Ms. Schelzi's support, our child built the skills and confidence to be able to read chapter books. This opened a new world of options to him and now he actually finds stories that are interesting to him and he is excited to read! I am so glad we took the leap and engaged Ms. Schelzi!”
Building lifelong learners is our mission at Next Step!
When I checked in with mom recently I smiled as she shared what learning looks like for him today.
“He is near grade level with his reading. He began writing his own story, completely unprompted. He has the skills to read the books that interest him and now finds it exciting to read.”
Inspiring a love of learning…
Building curiosity around learning…
Creating an experience for your child to discover what confidence feels like…
One step at a time!
"...more importantly, she restored and built confidence in my daughter."
Our family first connected with Meghan Schelzi during the fall of 2020 when we were looking for tutoring for our 2nd grader who was struggling with reading. Meghan immediately knew how to connect with our strong willed little girl and quickly made each tutoring session a fun experience that my daughter looked forward to. Meghan has an energetic and engaging personality and was able to make learning fun! Meghan worked hard to build reading fluency for my daughter, but more importantly, she restored and built confidence in my daughter.
Meghan was an integral part of my daughter’s development as a reader – prior to working with Meghan, my daughter struggled in school and had no interest in reading. She would say “reading just wasn’t for her” and that it “was too hard to read and she didn’t like books”. Fast forward two years, my daughter is thriving in school and has made tremendous strides in her reading fluency and comprehension. I am not sure what we would have done without Meghan and we are so thankful for her talent, energy, and true passion for empowering each and every child that she works with to be their best version of themselves.
Meghan is a gem and we are so thankful to have found her!
-Parent (4th & 3rd)
"Reading always made him cry...until now!"
When asked to read or write he used to cry...
On the way home from school he would cry…
3 months after working with Ms. Schelzi, I have to take books away from him at night!
"Reading ALWAYS made him cry.
It was NEVER an activity he even remotely wanted to do."
And it doesn’t have to be that way.
Consistent and explicit instruction focused directly on your child’s needs can be the difference between crying on the drive to and from school (every day!)… and staying up past bedtime reading!!
With assessment and clear action steps aligned with your child’s goal - progress is POSSIBLE!
And not just progress academically.
It's confidence!
It's pride!
It's momentum for learning!
It’s a whole mindset shift.
Week by week, lesson by lesson, momentum begins to build.
His confidence began to build and the activities that used to make him cry in frustration, he is now able to use tools and strategies to grow as a learner.
What else changed?
His ability to ask questions.
His ability to say if he was confused.
He didn’t feel embarrassed to raise his hand.
He didn’t feel judged for not knowing the answer.
“We just had his conference and his teacher commented that he
is doing so much better at school!”
1:1 support gave him the opportunity to get his questions answered. In a private tutoring setting he felt comfortable to get the clarity he needed.
A year later - mom said she now has to take books away from him at night.
My only question these days for mom is,
“what book did you have to pry out of his hands last night?”
-Parent (2nd)
Why Parents Choose Reading FUNdamentals w/ Ms. Schelzi
1st Grade Parent
Now he's excited to learn, and especially excited when it comes to any "challenge"- what a great attitude to have about learning!
3rd Grade Parent
Thank you for keeping things fun and light. She enjoyed working on spelling today and seemed to learn a lot in a short period of time, precisely because you kept it fun and made her feel confident.
2nd Grade Parent
When asked to read or write he used to cry, on the way home from school he would cry…Now a year later, I take books away from him at night!