LearnUp Centers

LearnUp teaches struggling readers to read at grade level and beyond. We want to teach all children, regardless of their learning differences, to read.

LearnUp is about more than phonics. It’s about reading.

LearnUp uses a multidisciplinary structured phonics curriculum with proprietary chapter books so students can practice their new reading concepts within a storybook environment. A typical lesson includes work on sounds, syllables, words, reading, comprehension, and writing in a scope and sequence that’s tailored to each reader.

The LearnUp Difference
LearnUp Centers teaches struggling readers, with or without a diagnosis of dyslexia, to read at grade level and beyond. In about 1/2 the time of most other programs.

Structured literacy
We use structured phonics with proprietary chapter books to systematically teach kids to read.

Blended curriculum
We combine the best methodologies from nationally-recognized reading programs with the latest brain research.

Hands-on and experiential
It’s tactile, it’s fun, and almost ½ of every session is spent actually reading books.

One-on-one tutoring
Focused sessions with highly-trained, energetic tutors give your kids the skills and confidence to read.

We deliver on our promise to teach struggling readers to read, not just make reading progress. We understand how to train our tutors to teach the program with high fidelity to the program and empathy for our students so that we have strong buy-in from our students and we make fast progress towards their reading goals.

We are a social enterprise with a pay-to-play revenue stream and a One-to-One scholarship model that allows deserving low-income students to enroll in our life-changing programs. We believe every child, regardless of income, deserves to learn how to read. That’s why we became a nonprofit to raise funds for readers in need.

For every paying student, we strive to offer full and partial scholarships to low-income struggling readers.

Unlike other one-for-one giving programs, we are not simply giving away products. Instead, we are teaching reading skills that last a lifetime.

We have been focused on literacy since early 2016 when we launched our pilot program with the goal of testing whether or not we could teach the average struggling reader to read in 3-4 months. The pilot also determined whether or not we could train undergraduate students to teach the program. And we did.

In 2017, we were able to secure office space at La Boulangerie bakery no Pine St. in San Francisco and launched our on-site reading clinic. LearnUp tutors continue to teach kids to read faster and more effectively than most reading programs. The average LearnUp student increased their grade-level reading by two grades in less than 80 hours.

We are now teaching kids to read via distance learning. And it works! Teaching over Zooom has changed our model for the better because it allows us to reach any struggling reader wherever they are in the world. As long as there is a wifi connection, a computer or tablet, and a willing student, we can teach that child to read.

We have also put our professional development training courses for educators online. They are now self-directed allowing teachers to access the training on their own time.