Amy was diagnosed with severe dyslexia and dyscalculia. She got so behind in school that her parents started homeschooling her. She also started with Edublox’s live online tutoring. Amy overcame many obstacles. Her reading improved from being unable to read to reading in the 46th percentile when tested on the 8th-grade level. Her mom, Sandy, shares Amy’s progress over a period of three years.
Amy writes her first birthday card
Hello Sue,
Amy wrote a birthday card for her sister last night. This is the first time Amy has ever wanted to write down words on paper! She wrote “Love Amy” on the inside without any help. She did beautifully and was very proud of herself. Progress!
Kind regards,
Sandy
Sep 30, 2020
She can copy words from a board
Hi Sue,
Thank you for this.
One other thing I wanted to mention about Amy is that she could not copy any words from a board until now. She was always in trouble at school because she could not copy her assignments or math problems from the board. They would tell us that they deal with dyslexia all the time and she should be able to do this despite her diagnosis. Any kind of copying was almost impossible for her. Now she is able to learn spelling by copying words down, and I can that tell she is hearing the words more clearly even though she can’t spell them yet.
Kind regards,
Sandy
Oct 14, 2020
She can read the names of paint
Hello Sue,
One other thing to share. Eric took Amy to the paint store to pick out a new color for her sister’s room. Amy was reading the names of the paint on the paint chips! She loves going to the paint store to see all the colors, but she would never attempt to read the color names. And especially not in front of her sister!
We can see her world getting bigger, and we are so happy! Thank you!
Kind regards,
Sandy
Oct 27, 2020
Amy understands left and right
Hi Sue,
Today Amy was helping Eric in the yard. Eric dropped a small tool into a pile of leaves. She was helping him look for it and Amy asked, “Did you drop it to the right or to the left of that plant?”
We couldn’t believe it! We tried so many ways to help Amy understand left and right. Nothing worked. The whole Edublox system has helped Amy so much with reading and math, but it was hard for us to tell if it was helping her with this hidden, agonizing challenge. It certainly is!
The tool is still lost, but our child is not! Thank you!
Kind regards,
Sandy
Nov 14, 2020
Doing math independently at 100% accuracy
Hello Sue,
I am sending a couple of pages of math review from Amy. She did this by herself AND voluntarily!
This is such a big improvement. Last year at this time she could add, but she needed a number line or base 10 blocks and had to count everything out loud. It was so arduous. She worked at 70% accuracy even with someone sitting next to her. We could get through 5 or 6 problems at the most.
Now she does her math review independently at 100% accuracy. Her stamina has increased from being able to do 5-6 problems with support to 11-12 problems by herself and she isn’t tired. You and Desrei are filling in the missing pieces for her. Thank you!
Kind regards,
Sandy
Feb 11, 2021
Vast improvement in working memory
Hello Sue and Desrei,
We did some math review this morning, and I want to pass along some improvements that I see, especially in Amy’s working memory. She did these problems in about 5 minutes, independently with 100% accuracy and almost no anxiety.
In particular, the addition problems (nos. 8 & 9) were a huge improvement. At the beginning of the year she did not have enough working memory to do a 3 number addition problem. She could add 2 numbers into the millions, but would shut down and hide in the bathroom if she saw 7+3+1.
She read the word problems by herself and did the math in her head easily. She remembers what perimeter means! At the beginning of the year, I would have spaced this many problems out over a few days and had to sit with her. I know you are working on more advanced math, but the improvement in her memory, working memory, stamina, and confidence is really striking. Thank you!
Sandy
Apr 12, 2021
Amy’s reading equals beginning 4th grade
We assessed Amy’s reading and emailed a report that her reading (specifically word recognition) now equaled an end of 3rd grade/beginning of 4th grade level. Amy’s mom replied:
This is great news! We can tell she’s improved so much, but it’s nice to have objective confirmation. When we started this tutoring we were concerned that Amy might not ever get beyond a 2nd grade reading level. Nothing we did was working and, when she did make progress, it was fleeting and fragile.
At the beginning of the last school year (August 2020) she told her friends she is not allowed to text them, and she doesn’t like texting anyways. My heart sank when I heard her say that. Fast forward one year and she is texting with her friends!
Sandy
Sep 9, 2021
Sandy shares Amy’s progress on video
Sandy shares, on video, how Edublox has helped to fill in the holes that Amy was missing: working memory, reading, number sense, understanding price tags, and more.
Amy is confident to talk and interact
Hello Desrei and Sue,
It was so fun to sit in on Amy’s lesson yesterday. I was afraid after 10 days of vacation and a broken wrist we might be back to 1+0. She’s really retaining information and the steps she needs to take to solve problems.
It transfers into every area of her life. When we went to get her wrist x-rayed she had to go in by herself. I could hear the x-ray technician’s rapid fire with instructions and questions: turn left, then it’s the second door on the right, which wrist is it? move your left pinky a little more to the left, now your 4th finger, when’s your birthday? how do you spell your last name? and on and on.
There was a time not very long ago when Amy could not have processed that. It would’ve been worse than the broken wrist! She has more confidence to talk and interact with other people and doesn’t look to me to talk for her.
Thank you!
Kind regards,
Sandy
Jan 5, 2022
Amy going back to school!
Hello Sue,
Amy has been pushing to go back to public school. We are trying to figure it out and put a plan together for her to return.
School starts in a few weeks and I wanted to let you know. We aren’t sure how we’ll proceed since the school is unlikely to provide evidence based reading and math instruction for dyslexia and dyscalculia.
We will need to change her tutoring schedule in the next few weeks. I’m just not quite sure what it will be. I will let you know more as it approaches and we can meet with the school.
Really, you have my deepest thanks because Amy’s progress, confidence and desire to go back would not be there without you!
Kind regards,
Sandy
Aug 7, 2023
Amy tested in the 46th percentile for reading
Amy started Edublox on Aug 17, 2020. She did five reading and three math lessons per week. Her final lesson was three years later, on Aug 22, 2023. Amy progressed from being unable to read to reading in the 46th percentile when tested on the 8th-grade level. Sandy wrote:
Hello Sue,
I have been meaning to send you an update! Amy is doing so well in school.
She recently took a standardized STAR reading assessment at school. She tested in the 46th percentile for 8th grade. She received NO accommodations. She has very few accommodations at school right now because they are still collecting “data” to put her individualized education plan in place. She is in an alternate math class and is keeping up well with it.
The other night she sat and read her social studies text to me. It was not easy, but she read several pages and only missed the endings of 1 or 2 words.
She is confident at school and has made several new friends. The skills she built with Edublox are much deeper than reading and math. She is no longer confused about left/right, the names of days and months, understanding time and calculating how much time she has left for something (she uses a digital watch). She can remember her regular and gym locker combinations and the various passwords she needs for her school computer without transposing letters or numbers. I think it’s those deep foundation skills that have helped her advance quickly now.
I will keep you posted!
Kind regards,
Sandy
Oct 6, 2023
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