Adam’s end of year school report has prompted me to send an email to update you on his progress…
We covered the Easyread program between March and December 2012. His reading got a lot better during that time and subsequently his confidence also grew. We noticed little changes like his ability to have a go at reading signs and instructions with his peers where previously he had held back. However, he was still a reluctant reader and to date prefers visual media to a standard novel. He will happily read a novel if he is sharing the read with us (i.e. a couple of pages and then swap to the other person) and I think it’s because it still takes a lot of concentration which he finds tiring.
He is now working at his year group level for reading and science and at a higher level for his maths. You can imagine how wonderful it must feel to be working at the same level as most of your peers when this previously was such a struggle!
His writing is still a little behind average for his year group but he has gone up 3 sub levels in the last 12 months in this too, which we think is amazing.His teacher commented that the quality of his writing has really improved in recent weeks.
We are really proud that he continues to try so hard at school and can see that he has a fabulous attitude and commitment when he could so easily have given up. He now has the confidence to have a go at anything and believe that he can do it, such a change from 18 months ago when he thought he was “stupid.”
I recommend Easyread to so many parents and teachers; there are different ways to teach children and this certainly taps into a part of the brain that is being bypassed by some children when they first learn to read. It has also helped us to understand how we can best help Adam to learn and has also empowered him to know that he can learn.
I’ll keep in touch and let you know how he continues to get along.
– J