KidTherapy - Learning

KidTherapy offers individual reading programs and reading groups of 2-4 students in Kindergarten through Grade 4. The programs comprehensively address phonological and language-processing areas that affect reading and writing skills. We use a variety of approaches to meet the student's needs. KidTherapy utilizes the Orton Gillingham Ž programs for our students. We also use the Lindamood Phoneme Sequencing Ž program to teach the students phonemic awareness to improve word attack skills for accurate decoding and encoding. We use the Seeing Stars Ž program with students to train them to visualize letters for rapid word recognition to improve reading fluency and rate. Some students can read words accurately but struggle with reading comprehension to understand what they are reading. We use the Visualizing and Verbalizing Ž program to improve their skills to comprehend written material for critical thinking: to recall specific details and sequences, to make inferences and predictions and to summarize. Development of these skills can also improve writing organization. Our program also addresses auditory and visual sequential processing and memory difficulties that are often experienced by children who are struggling with reading and writing.

Read Write: Sorting the Pieces

This early developmental literacy group will focus on improving oral-motor-sensory and auditory skills to feel, hear, identify and manipulate sounds in words. Skill development will enable students to decode words and become self correcting in reading and writing. The curriculum will target the following areas:

ˇ Matching sounds of spoken language to letters

ˇ Increasing awareness of the mouth to feel sounds within words

ˇ Auditory sequential processing to sequence and order sounds in words

ˇ Blending and segmenting sounds in words for accurate decoding and encoding

Read Write: Putting the Pieces Together

This mid-developmental literacy group will focus on improving skills for word recognition and visualization of orthographic patterns to improve rate and accuracy of reading and spelling. Skill development will train students to rapidly recognize regular and irregular orthographic patterns to improve reading and writing fluency. The curriculum will target the following areas:

ˇ   Improve visualization of letters and words
ˇ   Improve memory of visual patterns of words
ˇ   Establish sight word lists for reading and spelling
ˇ   Increase fluency for contextual reading
ˇ    Develop writing strategies

Read Write: Seeing the Picture

This higher developmental literacy group will focus on improving reading comprehension and writing skills. Emphasis will be on developing "concept imagery" for comprehension to create a dynamic image of text. The focus is to improve the student's ability to recall details, sequence information, make inferences, make predictions, draw conclusions and to summarize information. The curriculum will target the following areas:

ˇ   Improve phonetic processing establishing visual imagery of words

ˇ   Review orthographic expectancies for reading, spelling and writing

ˇ   Increase fluency, rate and accuracy for contextual reading

ˇ   Develop skills to create an imaged gestalt to improve reading comprehension

ˇ   Improve reading comprehension for critical thinking

ˇ   Improve writing skills using specific organizational strategies

Fast ForWordŽ

Fast ForWordŽ is a computer-based training program from Scientific Learning that uses the latest brain research and technology to improve learning skills. The Fast ForWordŽ exercises, designed to engage children (typically 4-14 years old), train the fundamental language skills critical for reading success. The exercises focus on improving receptive auditory and phonological skills utilizing acoustically modified auditory input to improve the brain's function to become more fluent at processing rapidly changing sounds that are the building blocks of language and reading skills. These skills include:

Phonological awareness
Working memory
Grammar
Sequencing
Language comprehension
Processing speed

Fast ForWordŽ is an intensive program that requires training for two hours per day, five days per week for a 4-8 week period.

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Current brain research on individuals with reading disabilities and dyslexia has identified localized neural weakness within a specific component of the language system: the phonologic module. The phonologic module is the functional part of the brain where the sounds of language are put together from words and where words are broken down into their elemental sounds. Dyslexia involves a weakness within the language system, specifically at the level of phonological processing, word analysis and word form systems. Researchers have discovered how the disruption in these fundamental neural circuits for coding language gives rise to a reading impairment and affects not only how a person reads but a wide range of other important functions as well, including the ability to spell words, retrieve words, articulated words and to remember certain facts. (Shaywitz, Overcoming Dyslexia, 2003)

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Disclaimer: KidTherapy is NOT Lindamood-Bell Learning Processes nor is it affiliated with, certified, endorsed, licensed, monitored or sponsored by Lindamood-Bell, Nanci Bell, Phyllis Lindamood or Pat Lindamood. Lindamood-Bell -- an international organization creating and implementing unique instructional methods and programs for quality intervention to advance language and literacy skills -- in no way endorses or monitors the services provided by KidTherapy.