At-Home Tutoring
Boost your child's reading
Proven 1:1 reading support with a trained professional tutor
- FREE for First Nations and Inuit children who need help reading, through Jordan’s Principle/Inuit Child First Initiative
- Fun, 5-minute sessions on family smartphones, 3-5 times a week
- Original storybooks in the Global Free Library, co-created with local Indigenous communities
Our Program In Action
Watch a 2-minute video to see how a Chapter One tutor works with a child in school and at home.
Reviews and feedback
What parents and teachers say about Chapter One High Impact Tutoring
I have seen a tremendous positive impact on my daughter’s reading. She is not only reading now but picks up books on her own and enjoys reading them. Her overall school experience has improved.
I love it — I think it’s a great program. Students are moving and I believe that confidence is increasing—just as we suspected. We fill in those building blocks, and the trajectory just goes from there.
I am so grateful and thankful for the program, it has instilled a love of home reading in my sons and it is amazing to witness and so wonderful to see!
The tutors my children have are amazing and I’ve seen significant improvement in their reading skills. It is an excellent tutoring program. I would have loved for my older children to have this opportunity available to them when they first started school.
This has been so great for my son - he loves his tutor and I can see how his reading is improving. We are so grateful to be a part of this program!
This program is essential for [my child's] learning. We love his tutor, we can’t say enough good things about her. Her kindness, compassion and patience are incomparable. [My child] has learning and speech challenges but when working with his tutor, those go flying out the door as she is so encouraging and supportive of [my child]. I am so appreciative of this program and am thankful for the help/support received.
It is a great way to build a reading habit. It’s easy to be consistent and there is no resistance since it’s only 5 minutes :)
My grandson loves to read now — he reads everything he sees.
Research and Evidence
The stats speak for themselves
2X+
Our tutored children are more than twice as likely to achieve phonics benchmarks at school than without our support.
35%
By the end of Grade One, students who started with Chapter One in Kindergarten scored 35% higher in reading fluency than those who did not.
100%
All teachers surveyed in 2023-24 said they would run Chapter One tutoring in their classrooms again.
What's Included?
Dedicated one-on-one support
Our tutors understand your community. That’s why they’re experts at building a child’s love for reading while improving their in-school progress.
Virtual learning via smartphone
Access expert tutoring from anywhere. If tech equipment or support is needed, we can provide it.
Short bursts of learning for maximum impact
Fully flexible five-minute sessions, 3-5 times a week.
Access to our growing community
Join our growing network of schools, families and supporters who are committed to helping even more Indigenous communities across Canada.
Current Locations
We provide at-home tutoring to children in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Newfoundland, Ontario, Saskatchewan, the Yukon and Northwest Territories.
If your location isn’t listed here, get in touch: We’re constantly expanding to support even more children.
If you’re a funder keen to help us grow even faster, we’d love to hear from you.
In-classroom Tutoring
At-home tutoring
Interested in finding out more? Click the relevant tab below.
GETTING STARTED
Tell us who needs help and we’ll do the rest
Principals, teachers, education leaders and social workers can nominate any First Nations or Inuit student (age 5-12) who needs extra reading support for free, virtual, high-impact tutoring. Our tutored children are more than twice as likely to achieve phonics benchmarks at school than without our support.
Getting students on our program is easy:
Step 1
Identify students who need literacy support and ask their families if they want their child to receive free reading tutoring via a smartphone.
Step 2
Send us the phone numbers of interested families and we'll take it from there.
Step 3
For families who sign up, we’ll need a letter of support from you. We provide a template for this.
For further information contact Sarah Hiscock, Community Outreach Lead
Main contact for community outreach: Sarah Hiscock, Community Outreach Lead. Sarah does most of the outreach to schools to recruit students. She is from Mi’kmaq Nation, is the principal of a school in Alberta, and recently completed a PhD in Indigenous Education. We will be hiring more people like Sarah who are well connected to the school system in their communities.
Email: sarah.hiscock@chapterone.org
Phone: 780 714 1306 / 647 875 8325
GETTING STARTED
Does your child need extra help with their reading?
We can help. Thousands of children have already benefited from our virtual one-to-one tutoring, which is available for FREE to First nations and Inuit children through Jordan's Principle.
We’ve made the sign up process as simple as possible.
All you need to get your child started on the program is a smartphone.
No tech? No problem. Families without access to technology such as cell phones, data plans, internet and tablets can still get involved – we’ll provide all the support you need.
For further information contact Sarah Hiscock, Community Outreach Lead
Main contact for community outreach: Sarah Hiscock, Community Outreach Lead. Sarah does most of the outreach to schools to recruit students. She is from Mi’kmaq Nation, works for a school in Alberta, and is doing a PhD in Indigenous Education. We will be hiring more people like Sarah who are well connected to the school system in their communities.
Email: sarah.hiscock@chapterone.org
Phone: 780 714 1306 / 647 875 8325
future funders
This program needs your support
The impact of this program is real – and it’s growing.
But, while at-home tutoring is free for First Nations and Inuit children through Jordan’s Principle/Inuit Child First Initiative, federal funding only covers the cost of the tutoring itself.
To expand this program to as many children in Canada as possible, we need your support to give families who need it access to tech and digital support, spread the word, process the growing number of applications and keep the program up-to-date.
For further information contact Alessandra McGowan, Operations Manager
Main contact for corporate outreach: Alessandra McGowan, Operations Manager.
Email: alessandra.mcgowan@chapterone.org
Phone: 647 875 8325
Sign up for at-home tutoring
Free for First Nations students who are behind in their reading through Jordan's Principle.
