SPARK Summer Reading Program

The SPARK Summer Reading Program

Child Success Center’s SPARK Summer Reading Program is ideal for elementary and middle school children that can be identified as struggling readers. Each child’s individualized program will enable them to increase strength in areas like recognizing the symbols and sounds of reading, visuospatial skills, sequencing skills, auditory processing skills, memory, and attention.

Reading Challenges

Reading challenges can affect children that are not diagnosed with dyslexia. Struggling readers can have difficulty in one or more of these areas associated with reading:

Phonemic Awareness – Awareness of individual sounds in spoken words
Phonics knowledge – Understanding of sounds for letters and common letter patterns, and the ability to apply that knowledge to read unfamiliar words
Fluency – Accuracy and speed of reading
Vocabulary — Development of individual word knowledge
Comprehension – Ability to understand and verbally express what has been read or said

Some children can decode well but struggle with comprehension. These children often do not get identified as struggling readers until upper elementary school or middle school, as they have become adept at memorization or have learned to compensate for their reading weakness by using visuals or sticking to big picture ideas.

How can you tell if your child is having a reading difficulty? Some signs are:

They have to decode words that they have seen before, often in the same passage.
They are better at learning sight words than sounding out words.
They have trouble expressing themselves orally and in writing.
They avoid any tasks that involve reading or writing.
They have a smaller vocabulary as compared to their peers.
They have trouble spelling.
They have trouble understanding math word problems.
They have difficulty with rhymes.
They cannot follow multi-step directions.
They often mispronounce words or cannot find the word they are looking for.
They do not understand puns or idioms.
They have trouble with summarizing or remembering what they have just read.
They have trouble when introduced to new material or new skills because they rely on memorization.

Some of the results driven support programs we use are:

Lindamood Bell LIPS
Lindamood Bell Seeing Stars
Lindamood Bell Visualizing and Verbalizing
Wilson Reading Program
Zoophonics
Orton Gillingham
Words Their Way
Dr. Fry

Call Child Success Center – 310.899.9597 – to learn more or schedule an initial assessment to sign up for the SPARK Summer Reading Program.