STEVENSVILLE — Creativity, flexibility, child-led, innovative, individualized, and empowering — Lindsey Parte, a passionate special education teacher and advocate, has big plans to bring all of this and more to Maryland’s Eastern Shore. As a teacher and a parent to a dyslexic child, Parte has lived through the struggles and tears of traditional education and understands firsthand the challenges that affect all types of learners.
Parte has a Masters Degree in Special Education and has focused her 18 year teaching career on teaching struggling learners how to read. Working with students in kindergarten through high school, she is a Structured Literacy Dyslexia Specialist and certified in Orton Gillingham. Parte’s mission is to increase educational resources for not only her local community — the children of the Eastern Shore community — but for all children no matter where they live. This is where Beyond Words Tutoring was born.
Beyond Words Tutoring, LLC, is a new educational business, located at The Edge Area on 325 Log Canoe Circle in Stevensville. It offers four innovative services: a Hybrid Homeschooling program, Virtual Dyslexia tutoring, Academic Summer Camps, and Non-Attorney Special Education Advocate Services.
This licensed, part-time Hybrid Homeschooling Program is creative, flexible, and welcomes students ages six to 11 years old.
Parte explains the program “supports families who want to homeschool, but cannot commit to it full-time. It’s the opportunity to do school and life with other families. To teach them in creative and innovative ways. It’s child-led learning.”
The program is three days a week Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and will operate from Sept. 9 to May 15, 2025. The program allows for longer holiday breaks and does not follow the typical school calendar. Currently, there are 11 available spots with a small “class” size to allow for small group 1:1 attention.
Beyond Words Hybrid Homeschooling Program is a microschool that is open to all learners, not just dyslexic learners. This educational alternative aims at reducing student wait time, enriching past a set of grade-level expectations, going beyond a fixed curriculum, and meeting the individual’s needs.
A microschool is a non-traditional educational setting where students are learning side-by-side with learners of various ages and abilities. Think of it like a one room schoolhouse, Parte explains.
Microschools have become increasingly popular as families are desiring more personalized and engaging learning for their children. The students enrolled at Beyond Words Hybrid Homeschool Program are considered homeschooled students which allows parents to have more involvement in their child’s education. This also means that parents are the ones responsible to meet the compulsory attendance laws under COMAR.
The focus of the homeschool group is math and reading. Parte says a lot of families, who want to homeschool, do not want to focus on being the only one teaching their child to read. She says, “for many reasons families do not want to focus on teaching reading. It may not be in their wheelhouse, or they don’t feel comfortable. So, for me to take [the reading and math] off [the parents’] plate” helps in many ways.
Besides math and reading, the Hybrid Homeschool program also includes: nature, STEAM/Science Maker Space activities, arts and crafts, and kindness activities. Since the classroom location backs right up to Terrapin Nature Park, weekly activities may include: nature sketching, hiking, going on adventures, forest bathing (meditative walks), community service projects, and compassion circles.
Parte said she is, “huge into the mental health aspect and teaching the kids self-regulation and growth mindset.” And stresses that she “is building a community where the kids feel safe and comfortable. It’s building a family. It is teaching them to be okay with who they are and teaching them to look out for each other and others in our community.”
In order to gain a Hybrid Homeschooling program spot for the 2024-25 school year, there is a screening process to ensure it is a good fit for the family and the teacher. There is a curiosity form online to start the process of setting goals and creating the best learning environment for your child.
Virtual Dyslexia tutoring is another offered resource. Currently these tutoring sessions utilize Orton Gillingham, are one-on-on, and are individualized. Ages six through high school are welcome. Parte is currently tutoring middle school students as far as California, as there is a need for her specialized training everywhere. Tutoring openings occur later at night, 8 p.m. or 9 p.m. as needed. For the 2024-25 school year, there will be nine openings for the virtual tutoring spots.
Another resource at Beyond Words is the Academic Summer Camp, which prevents summer slide, or educational regression, over the summer in an atmosphere that also encourages meeting like-minded friends. Camp activities include: math, reading, writing, STEM, and more. Last year, Parte said she drove her son, Lincoln, three hours to be a part of a similar dyslexic school camp. After driving that far, Parte is excited to bring this resource closer to all those on the Eastern Shore. The camp runs from July 29 — Aug. 16 from 8:30 a.m. — 3 p.m. Students can participate in one or more of the three week camp programs.
The last available service at Beyond Words Tutoring is Non-Attorney Special Education Advocate Services. These consulting and advocacy services empower parents to be effective advocates for their children in the IEP (Individualized Education Program) process. This includes understanding the IEP documents as well as ensuring all your child’s academic and behavior needs and goals are met.
Parte is thankful for the support of the local community. Many thanks to Tides of Grace, who generously donated bookshelves, easels, and other shelving to the Beyond Words classroom. Currently, Beyond Words Tutoring is still looking for donations of comfortable seating (like bean bags and foam seats), rugs, tables, chairs, art and crafts supplies, paper, markers, old legos, building blocks, and other school supplies.
For more information visit www.beyondwordstutoring.com or email lindseyparte@beyondwordstutoring.com for more information.
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