My husband and I are fairly new parents, with barely 6 years of experience. And within these years, it was only last year that I realized our son was having a hard time with spelling.
Now, our son is really good in reading. But, apparently, he was good in SIGHT reading. He can comprehend, but he has a hard time reading based on phonetics. It was because of his low grades (in spelling) that I realized we had to go back to basics and teach him the proper phonetics of each letter. If not, it will be all downhill from here. You need to READ to be able to do well in school. Even if you love Math, how can you do problem solving if you cannot read? This was a major problem, indeed!
Over the summer, we enrolled him in a reading enrichment program. He was assessed before the start of the session, and the teacher gave the same assessment as I did. Our son was bright and he can read and comprehend, but he had difficulty spelling. Nothing new to me, actually, which is why I knew we needed to seek help from the pros.
I enrolled him in this school, as per recommendation of most of my co-parents. I wanted a school who can help him with phonetics. Over the 20 sessions that he was enrolled in, there was little improvement. This school, like most of the schools and had a 1 teacher is to 5-6 children ratio. In hindsight, I realized that this set-up is not for us. So, if your child needs more than the usual help, then this type of 1:6 ratio is not suggested.
A few months after, I got to meet Teacher Victor (Vic) Villanueva, who is quite known in the Education world. He is one of the few Reading Specialists who consults and assesses children who need reading intervention. He is heaven sent. I learned so much from him that time. I had to make the most out of our accidental meeting, making sure I get all the tips to help our son.
Apparently, there are Reading Intervention and Enrichment schools out there that offer 1:1 sessions, and Read+ is one of them. Read+ is one of the schools that Teacher Vic endorses, headed by one of his favorite students and protege, Teacher Daisy Cunanan-Calado. Located at in Annapolis Street in Greenhills, we find it a very convenient spot for both parents and students alike. Students can go to Read+ right after school, while parents can do their errands while they wait.
I love the bright interiors, and all their reading paraphernalia—making each interactive session an enjoyable one.
The first time we brought our son there for assessment, he already fell in love with Teacher Daisy and the session. And I can see why… Mind you, I would wait for my son in the former school so I did see the difference myself. The former had worksheets for them to answer. Every single session was filled with worksheets.
With Read+, it was more interactive. There were illustrations, there were matching games, and a play of textures… basically, using their five senses to make it more engaging. Our son would come home with art projects, making each session a memorable one. Here are some of how Read+ makes it more interesting:
the difference with THEN and THEM
learning adjectives
different consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) words or minimal pairs used in a sentence.
They even teach Filipino
playing with magnets
The Trojan Horse, learned this way
These are just some of the many fun ways Read+ sessions are, and they offer 1:1 and 4:1 sessions, too! They also have Filipino and Math enrichment and intervention programs, as well as teacher training and consultation services for schools, along with reading assessment in partnership with Teacher Victor Villanueava.
But this is just my personal experience, and I leave it up to you to try it for yourself and see the difference. For further inquiries and/or to set up an appointment for reading assessment and schedules, you may call 510-7758 or send an e-mail to readplusph@gmail.com
Read+ is located at Unit 205 Continental Court, 47 Annapolis St., Greenhills, San Juan, Metro Manila
children, enrichment, intervention, read+, reading, readpluph, school
