Welcome Page About Us Services
Ask the Experts Featured Question Sound Teaching for Reading Preventing Reading Difficulties Earlier Questions FAQs
In the News What Others Say

  Expert Advice

We are happy to respond to your questions about our services or about learning differences in general.

Please write to us at

info@learningclinic.com

We will respond as quickly as possible.

  Featured  Question

Question: I am a parent with a 9-year-old son who we are considering putting in the Fast ForWord program. I would like to know if your company is affiliated in any way with Scientific Learning since the reason you started your company was to use Fast ForWord. I am attempting to get some independent opinions on the success of the Fast ForWord program. I would appreciate any help you can give me on this matter.

Answer: It's quite natural to be a little discouraged at this point in Pat's training. You are at the stage that the folks at Scientific Learning like to call "Progress Varies." This is the stage that follows the enthusiasm and cautious optimism of beginning the program and precedes the stage when we begin to recognize new behaviors and skills. I don't know if Pat has talked about how difficult the exercises are, but it wouldn't surprise me in the least if he has. Be alert to the fact that kids often use the word "boring" when they really mean "difficult," so this is a word you may be hearing by now. If you have listened in as Pat plays, you know that a game like Trog Walkers can become stunningly difficult. As always with FFW and S4W, hard work will pay off, but Pat may need some extra support now to keep making the effort.

Watch for changes in Pat's sense of self-worth, level of frustration, anxiety in response to mistakes or failure, ability to stay on task (or ease of staying on task) in the classroom, subjects he identifies as his favorite, feelings about how easy or difficult school is, degree of self-criticism, conversational skills, degree of organization, frequency with which he asks for or needs to have things repeated to him, and so forth. These are often the first areas in which we see evidence of improvement. Before any significant change in reading skill, we often see that students become more self-confident, more able to focus, and better listeners.

Real gains in reading skills will follow later, and Pat may need direct instruction in basic reading decoding skills and phonics again. Even though he has been through these lessons, he will benefit by going through them again with his new listening skills from FFW and S4W.

   Sound Teaching for Reading

The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development has recently published the largest, most comprehensive evidenced-based review ever conducted of research on how children learn reading.

http://www.nichd.nih.gov/new/releases/nrp.htm

   Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children

Read a summary of the report by the Committee on the Prevention of Reading Difficulties in Young Children, conducted by the National Research Council and focused on techniques for improving language and reading skills.

http://www.brainconnection.com/topics/?main=fa/prevent-reading

   Earlier Featured Questions

Find the answers to other questions posed to our expert advisors.

  F A Q s

More questions and their answers