Recently I talked with a mum and dad who were somewhat dismayed by a classroom teacher’s comments as to a perceived lack of progress on their daughter’s part. She had been attending tuition for four months and both parents (and her tutor at Kip McGrath) had noticed a marked improvement in attitude and skills. A quick reassessment indicated a 12 month increase in reading age and a 6 month increase in spelling. Although not at grade level, this little one has taken off and making very pleasing progress. At Kip, we are in a position to closely track our kiddies (something that is challenging in a busy classroom). When children are significantly behind, it can simply take time, patience and lots of encouragement to reach their goal.
As the term comes to the end, we tend to reassess those students who have attended for at least a semester, but sometimes we have a peek of those who haven’t been attending for very long, just for fun!
One such student in Grade 1 gave us a very pleasant surprise. In just a short 8 weeks she managed to improve her reading age between 6 to 9 months moving from a RRL 7 to a RRL 15 reading book. In her spelling she went from spelling at 6years 0 months to spelling at 7years 1month – a wonderful result!
Another instance was a Grade 6 girl who, after attending only a couple of sessions passed her Mathematics test for the first time that year.
Of course, most of our successes take a little more time and commitment. We saw this in a Grade 1 boy who showed amazing improvement over his year’s tuition. Starting in January 2014, this young fellow did not have all his initial sounds and no medial sounds with a reading age of 5years 6months. When retested in November 2014 he had improved 2 years in his reading and is now reading at 7years 6months. From not being able to spell 3 letter words in January, he is now spelling at early Grade 2 level. Best of all, he loves his tutoring sessions and will continue in 2015. What a wonderful grounding for the future.
Then there is a Grade 6 boy who started in June 2013 as a ‘C’ student who was starting to slip in Mathematics. By second Semester 2014 he was awarded four ‘A’s (Religion, Science, History and Geography) and three ‘B’s (English, Mathematics and Japanese) – positioned nicely for entering high school.
Not all children need an ‘A’ to feel success. I am thinking of a Grade 3 boy whose ‘D’ in English thrilled and delighted both him and his parents. This time last year this boy did not have all his letters and sounds or the digraphs such as ‘sh’ ‘ch’ or ‘th’. He was essentially functioning at early Grade 1 level. While not up to current Grade level, he has become an enthusiastic reader and is reading simple chapter books. He is moving, positive and on his way!