At the start of school, reading instruction consists of reviewing previously learned strategies. Much of the material is a review of elemental basics. High reading scores and high spirits abound. 

Time progresses. Comprehension indicators, phonetic knowledge and other reading strategies increase in difficulty. It is in this stage, previously hidden learning gaps boldly present themselves. 

Learning Gaps? Your child may not have mastered foundational phonics, reading and spelling skills from the previous year(s). These skills are needed to understand how to correctly blend sounds thereby cementing skills needed for fluency in reading and spelling. You notice and your child notices . . . There Is A Problem.

Blame rears its head. You begin to think it’s all your fault. Negative thoughts creep. Your child thinks success in reading isn’t in their reach . . .  dealing a crushing blow to your child’s confidence “I thought I could never learn to read.” 

As parents, you feel overwhelmed or stuck. You don’t know WHAT TO DO! And unfortunately, poor reading skills don’t improve without intervention.

Early intervention is the best way to avoid frustration or reading failure, low grades, and decreased self-confidence.

The reading instructors at Spark Thinking can help: 

By identifying your child’s weaknesses, creating a personalized plan, and teaching the concepts and skills needed for mastery in reading and spelling. 

Now, ask yourself . . . WHAT SHOULD I DO? 

Be an informed parent. Be a parent armed with the knowledge and power to HELP YOUR CHILD SUCCEED!

Ready? 

Let’s Talk about how we can help your child reach their full reading potential!

The post What Every Parent Should Know About READING Skills appeared first on Progressive Tutoring - 1-on-1 Reading, Math, and Comprehension Tutoring in Fayetteville, GA and Online .

According to the International Dyslexia Association:

Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that is neurological in origin. It is characterized by difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities.

These difficulties typically result from a deficit in the phonological component of language that is often unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities and the provision of effective classroom instruction. Secondary consequences may include problems in reading comprehension and reduced reading experience that can impede the growth of vocabulary and background knowledge.

Adopted by the Board of Directors: November 12, 2002

A few years ago, National Public Radio (NPR) reporter Gabrielle Emanuel shed some much-needed light on dyslexia in a five-part series titled “Unlocking Dyslexia”.

Click each part to listen to the audio or read the article.

Part I: Millions Have Dyslexia, Few Understand It

Part II: How Science Is Rewiring The Dyslexic Brain

Part III: Raising A Child With Dyslexia: Three Things Parents Can Do

Part IV: Dyslexia: The Learning Disability That Must Not Be Named

Part V: ‘B’ And ‘D’ Learning Process Debunks Dyslexia Jumbled-Letters Myth

If your child has been diagnosed with dyslexia or struggles with reading, there’s something you can do to help. The International Dyslexia Association recommends seeking help early and hiring a reading instructor trained in the Orton-Gillingham Reading Approach.

Why?

The Orton-Gillingham Reading Approach is evidence-based and effective because it is:

• Diagnostic
• Explicit
• Multi-sensory
• Structured
• Cumulative
• Cognitive

We help students at-risk, those with dyslexia and struggling readers become better in phonics, phonemic awareness, word attack, spelling, word recognition, and reading sight words.  

Ready to see your child break through the struggles; improve in reading, comprehension, and math- and get better grades? Let’s Talk about how we can help your child reach their full learning potential!

Book your free consultation  

The post “Unlocking Dyslexia” appeared first on Progressive Tutoring - 1-on-1 Reading, Math, and Comprehension Tutoring in Fayetteville, GA and Online .

Why Should You Take Action Now?

Your child is dependent on you to make the best decisions.

Would you rather prefer that your child continue to struggle with his academics, yet excel in sports (a skill he may be already good at?)

Some results of delayed intervention:

• Your child’s self-esteem and confidence will suffer.
• Your child will fall further behind by the day.
• Schoolwork will continue to become more challenging.
• Your child’s Individualized Education Plan (IEP) may not be effective.
• Your child will be held back.
• He/she will start hating school.
• Your child may even become a distraction in the classroom, to avoid having to do his work.
• He may be labeled as having ADD, AD/HD, or LD.
• He may even think that he is “stupid”, and cannot learn like his peers.

The real questions you should ask yourself is:

1. “What is my child’s future worth to me?”
2. “What would be the real cost of delay several months from now?”

Ready to see your child break through the struggles; improve in reading, comprehension, and math- and get better grades?

Let’s Talk about how we can help your child reach their full learning potential!

Book your free consultation  

The post What is the REAL COST of Delay? appeared first on Progressive Tutoring - 1-on-1 Reading, Math, and Comprehension Tutoring in Fayetteville, GA and Online .

Previous Challenge

When Mrs. Sims contacted Spark Thinking, Levi was struggling, and there were talks about retaining him in his current grade. This was because, he had not progressed in phonics, or his reading and spelling skills, even though he had been given an IEP for a year.

First Step & Instructional Program

We used a series of diagnostic tests to identify Levi’s current skills. The results showed where his strengths and weaknesses were.

Using the results of the diagnostic test:

1. We created a personalized learning plan to target, and improve Levi’s phonics skills, reading & spelling accuracy, fluency, and sight words.
2. We also provided instruction to improve his phonemic awareness, and word attack skills.
3. We taught him the spelling rules that he needed to know, in order to become better in spelling single and multi-syllable words.
4. We monitored and adjusted his instructional plan as needed to ensure that he made adequate progress.
5. We recommended reading materials that Levi practiced with at home, to build his reading accuracy and fluency.

The Results

During our work within, and by the end of his program, Levi:

• Mastered all the literacy skills that were previously challenging for him.
• Significantly improved in phonics, reading, spelling, and in his grades.
• Became independent, and was reading at grade level.
• Began to love to read for fun-something he hated doing before receiving instruction.

In His Mom’s Own Words

“They are awesome! Ms. Sylvia is absolutely wonderful! My son was reading below grade level, and yes it took time, but he is now reading on grade level. We can’t say enough good things about Spark Thinking.”

–       Sheri Houck Sims

Ready to see your child break through the struggles; improve in reading, comprehension, and math- and get better grades?

Let’s Talk about how we can help your child reach their full learning potential!

Book your free consultation  

The post Student Success Story appeared first on Progressive Tutoring - 1-on-1 Reading, Math, and Comprehension Tutoring in Fayetteville, GA and Online .

One of the reasons why students don’t see much progress in their reading and spelling skills is because, there could be some important missing pieces to the literacy puzzle. The Orton-Gillingham approach is research-based, and addresses all the critical literacy pieces that other traditional programs miss.

Six Critical Skills Needed for Reading Mastery

• Phonics
• Phonemic awareness
• Word Attack
• Reading Fluency
• Spelling Patterns / Rules
• Vocabulary

Any trained Orton-Gillingham reading tutor who delivers instruction with fidelity, should be able to help your child gradually progress in reading and spelling over time.

Why is the Orton-Gillingham approach the gold standard for children and adults with reading struggles or dyslexia?

The Orton-Gillingham Approach is effective because, it is:

• DIAGNOSTIC

This means, since the instruction is multi-sensory, and engages the student in the learning process. The oral and written responses your child provides during instruction help to identify skills that they’ve mastered, as well as skills they need to review.

• EXPLICIT

This means the instructor will model, and provide skill practice until your child becomes independent.

• PRESCRIPTIVE

This means, your child’s skill performance during sessions will be used to help plan future instruction, and address any challenges your child has, to ensure continued progress.

• MULTI-SENSORY

This means, instruction will engage all the senses in the learning process: seeing, hearing, feeling, movement, and touching. Research shows that, this is the best way our brain learns and understands new information. This way of learning reinforces skills learned and makes recall easier.

• STRUCTURED

This means lessons are organized in a way that teaches foundational skills and builds on that strong foundation. This makes learning, recall, and independent application easier for students.

• CUMULATIVE

This means, as your child progresses, and shows mastery of simple literacy skills, they move on to a more challenging material.

• COGNITIVE

This means, the consistent instruction, strong phonics skills, regular reading, and spelling practice, work together literally to changes your child’s brain. Your child will eventually become a better reader.

When Orton-Gillingham instruction is delivered with consistency and fidelity, you can be assured that your child’s phonics, reading, and spelling skills will improve.

Your child’s confidence level and grades should increase as well!

Ready to see your child break through the struggles; improve in reading, comprehension, and math- and get better grades?

Let’s Talk about how we can help your child reach their full learning potential!

Book your free consultation  

The post Orton-Gillingham Approach – Gold Standard for Reading Instruction appeared first on Progressive Tutoring - 1-on-1 Reading, Math, and Comprehension Tutoring in Fayetteville, GA and Online .

2.  When learning is brain-based, targeted, simplified, and multi-sensory, then your child can stop struggling and memorizing, and start to excel in school.

3.  Within a few months of the right kind of instruction, your child can gain years of skills and begin to get better grades, and become motivated to learn new skills.

4.  Your child can overcome learning challenges, improve his/her grades, and their confidence will soar as well.

Ready to see your child break through the struggles; improve in reading, comprehension, and math- and get better grades?

Let’s Talk about how we can help your child reach their full learning potential!

Book your free consultation  

The post What We Know for Sure appeared first on Progressive Tutoring - 1-on-1 Reading, Math, and Comprehension Tutoring in Fayetteville, GA and Online .

Her son’s focus and learning challenges had become worse over time, and now severely affecting his classwork and grades.

Because of poor attention skills, he’s

• Not completing his class work.
• Always making mistakes on his homework because, he rushes to get it done; and can’t tell if it’s accurate, or not.
• Answering questions without thinking about the question first.
• Impulsive.
• Falling behind because, he doesn’t pay attention in class.
• Having a hard time following directions, or completing simple tasks in school and at home.

This is what she said while we spoke about training options, “I know my son is smart, so I can teach him anything if his attention span is not so short”.

She is right!

Having a longer attention span is the first step to help her son become a better learner, student, or athlete.

It’s much easier for a student to learn and understand new skills when they have a stronger attention span.

So, for her son’s training program, we are creating a personalized training program to help to improve his attention, and other cognitive skills. This will allow him to begin to focus long enough to learn the skills he needs to thrive in the classroom.

Ready to see your child break through the struggles; improve in reading, comprehension, and math- and get better grades?

Let’s Talk about how we can help your child reach their full learning potential!

Book your free consultation  

The post Learning is Easier with Stronger Attention appeared first on Progressive Tutoring - 1-on-1 Reading, Math, and Comprehension Tutoring in Fayetteville, GA and Online .

I bet this dad thought he had finally found the solution to the nightly homework wars, the tears of frustration from his son, and usual “I’m tired of doing homework, can I go to bed now”?

So, this dad goes to Staples to pick up an “Easy Button”. While at the register, he asked the cashier if lots of parents already know about the “Easy Button”.

You can imagine how disappointed this dad and his son were when they found out the “Easy Button” wasn’t a homework help tool.

Truth is, there is no “Easy Button” to press and make learning struggles disappear. Especially when your child is constantly struggling with even the very basic (or not so basic) skills, and doing schoolwork or homework has become a nightmare.

Why is your child struggling in school?

Your child’s struggles could be caused by several factors, such as:

• He may have missed foundational skills over the years.
• He may have attention issues that make it difficult for him to focus in class and learn new concepts and skills.
• A family history of learning difficulties.
• He may have a poor memory that can make it hard for him to remember what he learned in class.
• He may have comprehension issues which could also affect his ability to understand new concepts the first time it’s taught in class.
• He may need to relearn new material more than once to become competent and independent with that skill.

But there is always something you can do as a parent.

1. Find out why your child is struggling. If your child is in 1st grade and up, talk with your child to get his perspective. Sometimes you’d be surprised what you find out. Here’s a guide to help you do just that.
2. Find out which concepts or skills are missing from your child’s learning toolbox, that is making it harder and harder for your child to perform at his potential.
3. Be proactive. Seek specialized help right away. The help could be from your child’s teacher, a family member, or a tutor.
4. Keep your child motivated as you look for the right resources to help him.

Ready to see your child break through the struggles; improve in reading, comprehension, and math- and get better grades?

Let’s Talk about how we can help your child reach their full learning potential!

Book your free consultation

The post Is There An “Easy Button” In The House? appeared first on Progressive Tutoring - 1-on-1 Reading, Math, and Comprehension Tutoring in Fayetteville, GA and Online .

Some invitees were parents whose kids she had educated years ago. I happened to sit at the same table with a parent of one of my former students. After I told her who I was (I have changed a bit in the last 19 years), we started talking about her son who is now in college.

As we talked about her son’s educational journey, she mentioned that she regretted taking so long to accept her son’s academic and cognitive weaknesses, and getting him help. She confessed, “I was in denial for so long. I didn’t want to believe what you told me at that time about my son’s weaknesses.”

Here’s the backstory.

When her son was in elementary school, his teacher noticed that he was not performing at grade level. She had done her best to help him, but she still didn’t see much progress, so she recommended extra academic help after school, and advised the student’s mom to contact me to find out if I could help.

She did contact me, and we scheduled a diagnostic evaluation for her son.  With the test results, the reason why her son was struggling to keep up with the class was clear. After our consultation to discuss the results, I never heard back from her until about 14 years later.

So here’s why I’m sharing this story.

This parent is not the first parent who has told me that they were in denial about their child’s academic, or cognitive challenges. They often attribute their state of denial to several factors.

Here are a few of the reasons I have heard from parents over the years:

• We (both parents) come from a family of high achievers, and we never struggled in school, or needed extra support outside of school. So, this is just a fluke.
• My child is very smart, but he’s just not a good test taker.
• It’s the curriculum they are using in the school.
• My child is just lazy and doesn’t want to apply himself.
• If my child is struggling, it must be the school system’s fault for not hiring competent educators.
• The teacher dislikes my child and does not give my child the one-on-one attention he needs in the classroom.
• My child is still young, and will eventually catch up in the next grade.
• My child doesn’t care about, or doesn’t like school, and that’s why he is failing.

Here are some ways to move beyond the state of denial into a place of being PROACTIVE.

• You have to match your child’s current ability, and your expectations of him/her with the realities of what his schoolwork, or grades are reflecting.
• If your child is in third grade and up, talk with him, and find out what challenges he/she has with his/her current school work.
• Talk with other parents whose kids are the same age, or grade level, and don’t have any learning or cognitive challenges, and compare to what your child can do independently.
• Monitor your child’s homework time. Is he struggling to complete his homework independently? Do you always have to tell him the answers, or show him his mistakes?

You have the power to reverse your child’s learning struggles, and set him up for future success. What you do today can continuously make a big difference in your child’s learning ability.

Ready to see your child break through the struggles; improve in reading, comprehension, and math- and get better grades?

Let’s Talk about how we can help your child reach their full learning potential!

Book your free consultation  

The post Get Help for Your Child Now; Not Later! appeared first on Progressive Tutoring - 1-on-1 Reading, Math, and Comprehension Tutoring in Fayetteville, GA and Online .

Don’t get caught off guard with a bad report card later.

Here are some warning signs to watch for:

• Is your child beginning to give excuses about why his classwork or homework was not completed and turned in?
• Is your child losing interest in a particular subject, or in his schoolwork in general?
• Is he procrastinating when it’s time to study or prepare for a quiz or test?
• Is he blaming the teacher for his low test scores?
• Is he saying that the bad grade was not a big deal because most or all of his classmates did poorly anyway?
• Is the teacher sending home more and more makeup work or requesting a parent-teacher conference?

Even though each student may have his own way of dealing with challenges in certain subjects – especially math, reading, and comprehension; stepping in early is the best way to avoid frustration for you and bad grades for your child. Here is our guide on the best way to talk to your child and find out what is going on.

I’ve heard parents say, “But his teacher says to wait and see what happens by the end of the semester.”

A lot of the time, if your child is in elementary or middle school, his teacher may tell you to wait and see what happens.

They may also say that this is just a learning phase and that your child will outgrow the struggles and overcome it eventually.

I recommend the opposite. My advice to parents who are serious about helping their child is “do not play the wait and see game”!

I’ve seen what happens over and over when parents wait and hope that out of the blue their child will, by some sort of miracle, know how to answer questions about the same math concepts he didn’t understand at the basic level. Or be able to read the words he had a hard time reading correctly, without any kind of extra instruction.

Unfortunately, that is not the case. Poor academic skills don’t magically become better without intervention.

Why? Because while you are waiting, your child is falling further behind and their skill gaps will only get BIGGER, making it more frustrating for both you and your child.

As the saying goes, “a stitch in time, saves nine”.

As soon as you notice any signs of struggles, it’s time to spring into action and get some help for your child as soon as possible.

Quick action will help keep or even improve your child’s confidence and love for learning.

I’m sure you want your child to learn the skills and become better at solving grade level problems independently.

Here are some things you can do today:

• Have a short conversation with your child to find out what is difficult for him in math, reading, or comprehension.
• Schedule a time to talk with his teacher and get the teacher’s perspective on the problem.
• Start looking for the right kind of instructional help for your child right away.
• Make sure that the instructor can teach using a multi-sensory approach and can adjust the instruction to fit your child’s current level.

You have the power to reverse your child’s learning struggles. What you do today can make a big difference in your child’s learning and his ability to thrive in the classroom.

Ready to see your child break through the struggles; improve in reading, comprehension, and math- and get better grades?

Let’s Talk about how we can help your child reach their full learning potential!

Book your free consultation  

The post Spotting Learning Challenges at Anytime of the School Year appeared first on Progressive Tutoring - 1-on-1 Reading, Math, and Comprehension Tutoring in Fayetteville, GA and Online .