Chattanooga Reading Center

I listened to an excellent podcast with the author of The Brain Club last week. It is a book celebrating children with ADHD and the strength that they have. She said this quote that I can’t stop thinking about. ⬇️

🌟 “What I have found incredibly helpful is to keep in mind that the behaviors that you are seeing now are the immature version of kids’ greatest strengths. 🌟

So the kid who cannot stop talking and has a million questions — on one hand, that can be very, very hard. But what that actually is, is a gifted public speaker.

We need to find places where that child can get traction speaking in front of people and have a great outlet for that.

And even the kid who’s tattling, saying, ‘Hey, so-and-so did this’ — that child has an amazing sense of justice.

We need to channel that.

When I was a teacher in the classroom, I would say to the kid who was tattling all the time, ‘Can you tell me every time you catch somebody doing something right? I’d love to be interrupted for that.’

It’s really about providing the right channel and outlet, while believing that there is a strength underneath the behavior. There is a strength under there.”

— Lindsey Goff Viducich

Find the book here: https://amzn.to/3PjERUp

We challenge students immensely while also providing the appropriate amount of support so that they can be successful and not get discouraged.

It’s a beautiful balance that results in confidence and skills that soar. 💫🌟⭐️

“I didn’t even know that I could read those big words.”

One of our students is having a blast reading his first “real” chapter book. He is eager to get into the book each session, makes meaningful connections, and is achieving fantastic comprehension.

This student started not knowing all of his letter sounds and is now reading a Magic Tree House book (with support). 🐉🌳🏠

A PEEK BEHIND THE SCENES

During every session, children work with a private teacher 1:1 in one of our offices. We spend 50 focused minutes (truly, we try not to waste a single minute) targeting your child’s unique skill deficits to help them grow into a confident reader. 🪴🩷

Our goal is for your child to feel LOVED in our presence and for them to enjoy coming to work on improving their skills. ☺️

“Dad! I read a 3rd grade level story!” - A 1st grader

One of our new students is receiving intervention for handwriting, phonemic awareness, phonics and fluency skills.

In our sessions we are using 3rd-4th grade level text because she can do it with appropriate support and it helps her to grow faster.

“Learning is deeper and more durable when it’s effortful.”
(Peter C. Brown, Henry L. Roediger III, and Mark A. McDaniel)

As I tell students, the more we challenge our brains, the faster they grow. 🪴

After every passage or chapter that we read with students at the center, we work on summarizing and writing what is called a “gist statement.”

A gist statement is a 10 word summary sentence. By only allowing a student 10 words (10-15 😉), they are forced to cut out details that are not the MOST important.

We start by identifying the who, what, where, when, why, how. Then we decide which of these is not the most important to include. Lastly, we work to come up with the 10 word summary sentence.

We love getting to watch students go from needing A LOT of support in this activity to being able to complete it independently! 🪴🩷

We are working on a special gift for students when they graduate! 💙🥳 I can’t wait to share what the finished product looks like.

One of our students will be graduating in June and my eyes were FILLED with tears yesterday as he read to me. He started coming to tutoring at the beginning of the school year and is now reading grade level text ACCURATELY and fluently.

He approaches large challenging words and can independently read them. Watching him read words like “mission”, “bacterial”, “pistachios”, “unfortunate” and “incident” without my support was enough to make me cry. 🥹

Becoming a confident grade level reader is no small feat for a child with Dyslexia. It takes a lot of hard work and effective intervention methods.

This is a fun opportunity for your child to practice their reading and writing skills this summer. 🩷💌📬

CAMP SNAIL MAIL IS HERE!!

We are SO excited to officially open registration for our summer Camp Snail Mail program!

Kids will spend June + July exchanging real letters, drawings, activities, surprises, and encouragement with a pen pal buddy throughout the summer.

We’re hoping this becomes a little pocket of creativity, connection, excitement checking the mailbox, and a little sprinkled in piece of learning.

Each week may also include little extras along the way like activity prompts, stickers, coupons, and more!

Registration closes May 29th so we can begin organizing pairings and getting everything set up thoughtfully for each child.

Families will receive a follow-up email with additional details by June 1 before the program officially begins.

We can’t wait to see these friendships and creative exchanges grow all summer long.

This will be free this year!! You can always support us bringing as many pieces of learning by following along, renting a kit for your family, or buying a sensory kit for your kiddo to enjoy.

https://forms.gle/h1WVVhzLWgaaB8wP7

Reach out if you have any questions at all!

One of our new students has been to years of tutoring and still came to us as a non-reader. He has been working with us for a MONTH and is already growing in his CONFIDENCE and READING SKILLS. 🪴

It was such a joy to send home his first data report and show his family how much his skills are already improving.

I don’t say this to brag, but rather to share that the intervention we offer is EFFECTIVE & gets results fast.