By Kimberly Hudson
With 21 years in practice, I am amazed at the number of times I have had the opportunity to touch a person’s life.
For example, I recently evaluated a bright 16-year-old who despite a solid IQ, involved parents and exposure to a good education system, is not thriving in school.
I evaluated her on a series of standardized assessments, as well as her performance on informal tasks.
She was able to tell me the sound of only 1 out of 5 vowels. Vowels are in every syllable of every word!
Without automatically knowing the sound associated with a particular letter, how will she read college level material?
She is taking A.P. classes and continues to meet with her teachers for extra help.
Her solid I.Q. has allowed her to implement compensatory strategies to get by, but she is not performing at her optimal level.
Why? She does not have some of the most basic skills needed to be a solid reader.
Beginning in the fourth grade, 70% of textbook words are three or more syllables.
She painfully sounds out each letter and often guesses based on the context.
She works so hard to decode what she is reading, she is too exhausted to comprehend what she has read.
When re-reading the passage, she continues to struggle on the “long words.”
This is a daily, painful process.
She has aspirations to go to college and major in speech-language pathology, psychology or special education.
She wants to help students who struggle.
Can she succeed in college? Absolutely!
But she desperately needs some tools!
At The Curious Edge, how can we help struggling students?
We perform a comprehensive assessment and customize an intervention plan that is based on the student’s learning style and areas of strength and weakness.
This plan implements clinical treatments that bolster the brain’s ability to process information.
We provide strategies that improve writing skills, teach components of grammar, and include details needed to make a paper come alive.
Is your student ready for the ACT?
We offer one-on-one ACT Test Preparation.
Education is the key to our future. Will your student provide a cure for cancer or govern our nation?
We offer the keys to unlock their academic toolbox.
There is hope for a brighter, a more successful outcome!