Nourishing Readers
from the Ground Up
Melodee Lee is an elementary literacy specialist with over 20 years of experience teaching children in kindergarten through sixth grade. The Reading Tree has grown from Melodee’s desire to foster a love of reading, a chance for growing, and a long-lasting pride in learning. Recognizing the need for an engaging, targeted reading program, Melodee founded The Reading Tree as a means to keep children reading, learning and excited about their education all year round. The Reading Tree offers 1:1 tutoring services over the summer and during the school year, and also a robust summer reading camp.
Melodee’s experience in the classroom and as a literacy specialist has given her a vast toolbox to pull from to target the needs of striving readers. With dual Master’s Degrees, OG certification, and a genuine interest in delivering targeted intervention to children with characteristics of dyslexia, Melodee’s tutoring services are a valuable asset. Tutoring hours can be purchased in packs of 4 or 8, with sessions being scheduled at convenient times for families. Melodee offers tutoring out of her house, or virtual sessions are available as well. Visit Reading Tree’s tutoring page for contact info in order to begin your personalized journey with Melodee.
It is easy to keep a child motivated and reading during the school year. It is a bit more difficult over the summer, though. Often, children come back to school suffering from summer regression effecting their reading and writing. To help offset this summer slide, we offer a robust reading program in the summer.
This summer, we are offering three different sessions to help your child to learn and grow. The first session, Branching Out, is for children entering 1st through 3rd grade. In these sessions, we work on phonemic awareness, phonics, reading and writing. We have independent centers and individualized reading practice each day as well. We learn a lot, and we have so much fun along the way. These sessions run from June 8th through June 12th from 9:00-10:30 or from 10:30-12:00 each day.
We also offer an opportunity to extend your child’s reading and art skills through our third program called Books and Brushes. Each summer, Reading Tree partners with Aspiring Artists, hosted by LTE’s art teacher, Lorri Hodges. Books and Brushes gives your child a chance to to participate in a Reading Tree session for an hour and a half and an art exploration session with Aspiring Artists for an hour and a half. This program runs from June 8th through June 12th from 9:00a-12:00p each day. **Please note: This session is only offered for students entering first through third grade.
The final session, Books and Brushes Junior, is specially designed for incoming kindergarten students. Beginning kindergarten at “Big-Kid School” can sometimes come with anxiety, so enrolling your child in this session lets them meet some new friends and make connections prior to school beginning in the fall. We will work on phonics, reading and writing each day. Children have time for free exploration through play and independent centers each day as well. **New this summer, children will participate in a connected art activity during each session with our school’s art teacher, Lorri Hodges. Planting the Seed runs from June 8th through June 12th from 8:30-11:30:00 each morning. **Children do not have to be readers to both enjoy and learn a lot in this session.
**Please note: Lone Tree Elementary will be closed this summer for repairs to the roof and fire alarm system. Due to these repairs, we will be holding our sessions at the eDCSD Inverness Campus located about 10 minutes away from school at 373 Inverness Pkwy, Englewood, CO 80112.
The Reading Tree is looking forward to nourishing your reader from the ground up!
“As a veteran teacher, I am committed to early reading readiness and fostering beginning literacy skills. There are few things more satisfying as an educator than seeing the spark of learning in a child’s eyes.
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“Thank you so much for this amazing program. My son had his first day of school today and he was able to walk in confidently and have plenty of faces that he recognized (both teachers and other children) and I know it made a huge difference for him! We have his artwork from the Reading Tree sessions up on our art wall at home also, and he continues to reference the different books and projects!
THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING YOU DO! ”
“Melodee is an extremely talented teacher who instills confidence and a love of learning in her students. My girls were lucky enough to be involved with Reading Tree camp and from day one, Melodee made them feel comfortable. By the end of the session, my girls were excited about reading and could not wait to start school. I would highly recommend the Reading Tree summer program for anyone with young children.”
“The Reading Tree program was instrumental in helping my very shy, apprehensive kindergartener begin to blossom into a self confident reader! The teachers that run the program are priceless! They made all of the children feel very warm, welcome....and smart! Thank you Mrs. Lee for all that you do. Keep up the great work!”
“I have two children who went to two summers each of Reading Tree camp. They went the summer before they started kindergarten and the summer after! My daughter even got to go when Melodee added an extra session over a break! It is a great way for an anxious child to ease into kindergarten and a great practice of skills to stay fresh during the summer break! Melodee is a warm, loving and inspirational teacher and you could not ask for a better place to send your child to learn and grow!”
