Summer help

Sylvan has a bad rep around here and my own experiences with tutoring centers (as a teacher) were bad.

Go to iser.com and see who they have listed.
Call the International Dyslexia Association (IDA) and see who they have listed. You can get their phone number on the computer but you can’t generally email them; phone and kleep nagging.
See if you can find any old posts by Shay, who is in northern VA, send her a private message on this board and see if she knows anyone in the area.
Check out local bulletin boards, both computer bb’s and physical even in your supermarket (I advertise in mine).
Check out local newspaper classifieds.

Buyer Beware — check out the knowledge and ability of any tutor you find. Make sure they are using a structured systematic phonics program. Brand-name OG or other isn’t absolutely necessary and a brand name can raise the price very high, just make sure it’s structured and systematic and based on decoding/phonics.

Good luck and ask for help any time

Thanks Victoria.

You could also go to www.readamerica.net to find a certified Phono-Graphix reading tutor. You can look at their list of tutors or email them for more names in your area.

New Community School couldn’t help you? I’m suprised — Richmond should have a lovely concentration of really good O-G folks. I know they have had summer intensive reading programs in the past, too.
I would not waste my time with Sylvan. The late Dx generally means you’ve got a kiddo with more interesting strengths and weaknesses than most, and Sylvan is designed to deal with run-of-the-mill too-common bad study habits or lousy teaching.

I would like to suggest a “word/card” game that has been both fun and helpful for both of my two girls with their reading problems. It is called Deal A Word and their website is www.dealaword.com. I just know that it has been helpful for us and you might want to take a look at it. My girls like it because it is a “game”. Hang in there,

Sheila

Just clearing out some old mail and see taht the summer courses at New Community are limited to 5-7th graders, which I would expect puts your daughter out of that running; it might be worth another call just to make sure one of the LF (Language Fundamentals) teachers doesn’t have some spare time over the summer.

I would like to mention something about Sylvan. My son went there for a year. After the Psychologist did the WISC test on him, they found that he did not have an LD, but was Mild Cognitive. Honestly I did not know what that meant at the time. The Psych really did not explain to me what Cognitive was. I kept him in Sylvan though because I thought that they could still help with his reading. I started to search for Private LD schools, and a few responses were “We don’t accept Cognitive” children. Red light went on, “what is Cognitive”?
Long story short, I was very disappointed with Sylvan, they should have known that after that long of time, they could not help my son. They kept taking my money, and I kept giving it. I feel stilly/stupid for not realizing or being knowledgeable on what was right and wrong for my son. I think Sylvan, Oxford, and those types of schools are great for kids who have a slight reading delay. Not a LD, not a Processing Disorder, not Cognitive. So, although I am all new to this world I am about to explore, my suggestion to anyone is to search, research and read about any programs that may help for your kids. Not for everyone child, but only yours. Make sure you know credentials, and that they are experienced in the teaching methods.

I have been search for something for my son. He has no comprehension, and I figure that before teaching him to read, I need to make sure he understands the concepts and phonemic awareness. It is like me sitting at a computer and wanting to program the computer, but I don’t know the codes. I need to learn that first before I can begin to program.

Anyway, my two cents on Sylvan.

Hi,
My parents live in Richmond, and I live in Chatham. I will be back and forth all summer. (I teach LD with Halifax Co and am also doing a little tutoring in this area ). Email me if you would like me to meet with you and your daughter. [email protected]