Literally Simple Reading and Writing Tutoring
Online (based in Vancouver, WA), 609 Main Street, Vancouver, WA 98665
About
Literally Simple Reading and Writing Tutor focuses on reading strategies, writing strategies, and games. Lessons take place in an online environment and include activities such as learning how to summarize, comprehend, and compare and contrast texts. The program also includes reading actual books and printed stories while using games throughout the tutoring sessions.
• Ages: 10–18 years old
• Price: $50
Literally Simple Reading and Writing Tutor is led by Mrs. Halcumb (Maria), a local reading and writing tutor. She has a Master of Education degree as a reading specialist/interventionist and is a certified teacher in Washington and Oregon. Her experience includes a decade of work as a classroom teacher, 6 years in a high-poverty junior/senior high classroom, 7 years as a language arts and physical education classroom teacher in an Oregon junior/senior high school, 10 years of teaching experience overall, 12 years of teaching experience in total, and work as a reading interventionist and physical education teacher. She also designs, writes, and teaches high school English and curriculum in an online setting.
The program is specifically for upper elementary through high school students and follows research-based strategies that are explicitly taught. Instruction includes how to read to learn and ways to communicate through writing, and tutoring lessons include games, with an emphasis on making a game out of everything. Lessons are only offered online, and the price is always $50, with no contract required and a request for 24 hours courtesy for canceling a lesson. It is not a private education company and is not fueled by meeting sales quotas, and most current students are referred by other families. The program is described as “Your Favorite Teacher At Your Kitchen Table.”
Community involvement includes quarterly donations of tutoring profits to the local Family and Community Resource Center, which provides items such as winter coats, school supplies, and hygiene products through public schools. The tutor works with students from both Vancouver, WA and Portland, Oregon and substitute teaches locally at her daughter’s elementary school and the local middle school.
One parent, Carrie, shared that her 14-year-old son was on an IEP for reading and writing and that the work Maria did with him was helpful and engaging, and that he changed the way he reads by dissecting material rather than just reading to get through it. Superintendent Michael Carter stated that Maria is an excellent teacher who has a passion for her students and that she is in the top 3% of all educators he has served with. A student named Marty said that Maria knows how to get information into kids’ brains and how to keep them motivated.
Last updated May 29, 2026.
• Ages: 10–18 years old
• Price: $50
Literally Simple Reading and Writing Tutor is led by Mrs. Halcumb (Maria), a local reading and writing tutor. She has a Master of Education degree as a reading specialist/interventionist and is a certified teacher in Washington and Oregon. Her experience includes a decade of work as a classroom teacher, 6 years in a high-poverty junior/senior high classroom, 7 years as a language arts and physical education classroom teacher in an Oregon junior/senior high school, 10 years of teaching experience overall, 12 years of teaching experience in total, and work as a reading interventionist and physical education teacher. She also designs, writes, and teaches high school English and curriculum in an online setting.
The program is specifically for upper elementary through high school students and follows research-based strategies that are explicitly taught. Instruction includes how to read to learn and ways to communicate through writing, and tutoring lessons include games, with an emphasis on making a game out of everything. Lessons are only offered online, and the price is always $50, with no contract required and a request for 24 hours courtesy for canceling a lesson. It is not a private education company and is not fueled by meeting sales quotas, and most current students are referred by other families. The program is described as “Your Favorite Teacher At Your Kitchen Table.”
Community involvement includes quarterly donations of tutoring profits to the local Family and Community Resource Center, which provides items such as winter coats, school supplies, and hygiene products through public schools. The tutor works with students from both Vancouver, WA and Portland, Oregon and substitute teaches locally at her daughter’s elementary school and the local middle school.
One parent, Carrie, shared that her 14-year-old son was on an IEP for reading and writing and that the work Maria did with him was helpful and engaging, and that he changed the way he reads by dissecting material rather than just reading to get through it. Superintendent Michael Carter stated that Maria is an excellent teacher who has a passion for her students and that she is in the top 3% of all educators he has served with. A student named Marty said that Maria knows how to get information into kids’ brains and how to keep them motivated.
Last updated May 29, 2026.
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