"We believe that the teacher MUST know & care about the learner. It is the teachers job to find out the learning style and interests of the students.
...they must find out what the learner CAN do."
How can I know if my child has dyslexia?
Please check below the characteristics that fits your child:
Trouble with the act of handwriting. The child’s handwriting will appear very sloppy and difficult to read. (May have an unusual pencil grip.)
Copying from the board is a long, tedious task
Letter/number reversals continuing past the end of 1st grade
Confused by letters, numbers, words, and sequences such as phone numbers or the alphabet
Terrible spelling
Slow, choppy, inaccurate reading:
Difficulty telling time on a clock with hands, managing time, learning to sequence information or tasks, or being on time.
Difficulty with counting money and making change.
Trouble with math facts and computation. Seems to rely on finger counting and other tricks to solve easy problems
Extremely messy bedroom, backpack, desk, or locker
May have difficulty putting thoughts into words. (Speaks in halting phrases, leaves sentences incomplete, and mispronounces long words or syllables when speaking).
Clumsy, uncoordinated, poor at ball or team sports; difficulties with fine and/or gross motor skills; prone to motion-sickness
Often confuses left/right, over/under
Appears bright, highly intelligent and articulate, but unable to read, write, or spell at grade level.
Teachers may say the child is “not trying hard enough” despite spending several hours on homework
Isn’t “behind enough” to qualify for additional help through the school district
Talented in art, drama, music, sports, mechanics, story-telling, designing, building, etc.
Seems to “zone out” or daydream often; gets lost easily or loses track of time
Complains of stomach aches or headaches while reading
Learns best through hands-on experiences, demonstrations, experiments and visual aids
Excellent long-term memory for experiences, locations, and faces.
Poor memory for sequences, facts, and information
Thinks primarily with images and feelings
Extremely disorderly or compulsively orderly
Can be class clown, trouble-maker, or too quite.
Has unusually early or late developmental stages (talking, crawling, walking, tying shoes)
Strong sense of justice; emotionally sensitive, strives for perfection
Mistakes and symptoms increase dramatically with confusion, time pressure, or emotional stress.
Can be extra deep or light sleeper; bedwetting may continue beyond appropriate age.
Excel Achievement Center recommends that a student should exhibit 5 or more of the above behaviors before dyslexia should be investigated further.
What can Excel do for my child?
If your child is not responding to reading programs used at school, a different method is needed. Excel Achievement Center uses the Lindamood-Bell® programs in our tutoring approach for dyslexia.
The National Reading Panel has found these programs to be effective. The LiPS® Program not only helps students with auditory processing difficulties, but also teaches phonemic awareness and how to accurately decode words. The Seeing Stars® program helps your child to improve visual processing, word recognition, reading fluency, and spelling skills. Both programs also integrate attention and focusing techniques.
What accommodations are recommended for the classroom?
Oral testing
Tests are read to the student (or provided pre-recorded on audio tape), and student are allowed to give answers orally (or tape record their answers).
Un-timed tests
Dyslexic students do not perform well under time pressure. It also takes them longer to read the questions, compose the answer in their head, and get it down on paper.
Eliminate or reduce spelling tests
Classroom teachers rarely teach spelling rules in the same way or same order as a dyslexia tutor. Many teachers will accept a spelling test given in a tutoring session as a replacement for the classroom test, or only grade a classroom spelling test on a small number of pre-determined words.
Don't force oral reading
Teachers should never force students with dyslexia to read aloud in front of the class. If for some reason this is absolutely necessary, warn the student in advance and show them exactly which passage they will have to read so that they can practice ahead of time.
Accept dictated homework
Dyslexic students can dictate answers much more easily and quickly than they can write them down. Allow parents to act as a scribe.
Reduce homework load
Many teachers create homework assignments by estimating how long it would take a "normal" student to complete it. They may not realize it takes a dyslexic student 3 to 4 times longer to complete the same assignment. Teachers should agree to a maximum time to spend on homework. Parents should sign the end of the homework page showing the amount of time spent on the assignment.
Grade on content, not spelling nor handwriting Some teachers take spelling and handwriting into consideration when assigning a grade. For dyslexic children, this is not appropriate. Teachers should be asked to grade only on the content of an assignment.
Reduce copying tasks
It takes dyslexic students longer to copy information from the board, and if they have dysgraphia, they may not be able to read their notes. So provide lecture notes, or discretely assign a fellow student to act as a scribe using NCR paper. Quick print shops can create NCR sets of binder paper. (NCR paper is sometimes called carbonless copy paper.) The top sheet of binder paper has a coating applied to the back of it that is pressure sensitive. When someone writes on the top sheet, the coating automatically makes a copy appear on the lower sheet of binder paper. So when class is over, the scribe just tears off the lower sheet and gives it to our student.
Alternate assignments
Teachers should offer alternative ways to show mastery of material other than a long written paper. Alternatives could include oral or video presentations, dioramas, collages, or debates.
Avoid or reduce essay tests
Use match up, fill-in-the-blank, or short answer formats for tests. List vocabulary words for fill-in-the-blank sections at the top of the exam. Multiple-choice questions are also difficult for dyslexic students due to the volume of reading required to answer them correctly.
Conduct a class review session before the test
Also, provide a study guide with key terms and concepts to the students.
Ask the student how he/she learns best
Often, dyslexic students can explain strategies and techniques that help them learn to teachers. These are usually easy to incorporate into a classroom.
Payment options:
Excel Achievement strives to offer tutoring to all students and thus many financing options are available. Please contact the Center to find out how tutoring can be affordable for your child!
Dyslexia
How to know if your child has dyslexia, what we can do, and accommodations in the classroom.
Attention Deficit
Children with ADD are often misunderstood and frustrated. Find out how Excel Achievement can help.
Special Courses for Teachers
Excel Achievement Center is offering a variety of classes and workshops to assist teachers as they work with students. Below are some options for the teachers in your district.
Reading Intervention Graduate Course
This is a 3 day workshop that teachers can approach to working with dyslexic students and students with auditory processing issues.
Differentiated Instruction There's a lot of talk today about differentiated instruction. This workshop covers the research of Dr. Mel Levine as well as Armstrong's multiple intelligences.
Writing Trouble Shooters
In this workshop teachers will learn strategies to help students with 'output processing' issues and how to help them overcome the anxiety that goes with writing.
Memory and Attention
Did you know that there are several facets to memory and attention? Just saying that a child cannot focus or remember is not enough.
