Reading: Accuracy, Fluency & Comprehension
Reading: Accuracy, Fluency & Comprehension Problems
Early Years
- Difficulty labeling and recognizing the alphabet and the sounds
- Difficulty with phonemic awareness
- Blending sounds that are heard
- Segmenting sounds apart that were together
- Difficulty learning and recalling early sight words
- Poor spelling of short sound combinations and early words
- Avoids reading tasks; frustrated with reading
- Had delayed speech or language development, or a history of ear infections
- Unable to comprehend what was read
- Yawns or fatigues easily (reading takes too much energy)
- Feeling “dumb”
Later Years
- Difficulty decoding (sounding out words)
- Difficulty blending sounds together that are read
- Avoids reading tasks
- Yawns or fatigues easily (reading takes too much energy)
- History of speech, reading, or learning challenges within the family
- Guessing at words instead of sounding them out
- Poor spelling
- Difficulty reading multi-syllabic words (these are especially common in core subjects in school and specialized areas of work)
- Slow reading fluency (accuracy & rate)
- History of special class placements or reading problems
- Had delayed speech or language development, or a history of ear infections
- Reading is choppy
- Poor comprehension of what was read.
- Feeling “dumb”; low self-esteem; lacking confidence
What Our reading Programs Do
The purpose of reading is to comprehend something meaningful! Our reading programs address the challenges that an individual has in a logical, meaningful, and sequential manner. After determining the cause of the reading challenge, and the exact reading weakness, an individualized plan is developed by using one or more structured programs. If the individual’s testing reveals auditory processing or visual processing deficits, these will be therapeutically addressed in conjunction with the reading program.
Beginning Level
Our beginning reading level is designed for any parent who would like their child to have a head start in reading, as well as for a child who is struggling with reading. We begin right where the student is and use visual, auditory, kinesthetic, and tactile methods. This multi-sensory approach connects what is seen with what is heard, and the result is accelerated learning.
We begin by teaching the letters and sounds in a fun, interactive, way. The focus is on phonemic awareness, blending sounds that are heard and written, and introducing sound families. We build visual memory skills by teaching simple, complex, and multisyllabic words. We also introduce graphomotor activities such as printing and copying to reinforce what is learned.
Intermediate and Advanced Level
These individualized programs are appropriate for individuals in elementary, junior high, high school, college, and adults who are experiencing challenges with decoding (sounding out words or word parts), blending sounds, or comprehending what is read. All work is one-to-one. Utilization of engaging and interesting stories, passages, and books, increases motivation.
The activities address: phonemic awareness, direct instruction in sound-letter relationships, building vocabulary, and pointing out spelling tendencies and rules. In addition, visual memory for words and word parts, and strategies to read multi-syllabic words are addressed.
Multi-syllabic words are common in core classes such as history (ex. "Constitution"), science (ex. "Fahrenheit"), and math (ex. "perpendicular"). When reading improves, subject areas improve since accurate reading allows learning new information in subject areas. For example, to complete a math problem, the student must read and understand the directions correctly in order to set up and answer the question.
The end result includes significantly improved reading skills and self-confidence!
