Educational Therapy Services Diagnostic Resources
Educational Intensives
Educational Intensives are specialized, intensive courses of support designed to address significant delays in learning skills, particularly in areas like reading, writing, spelling, or math. These programs, such as the SPARK Summer Program academic intensives, are customized to maximize a student's motivation and interest, fostering joy in learning and aiming for fast, lasting, and successful outcomes. They are particularly valuable in combating the "summer slide," a phenomenon where children can lose up to 30% of their math and reading abilities during summer break. This issue has been further compounded by potential academic learning deficits resulting from extended online learning.
What sets the CSC SPARK Summer Program apart from similar offerings is its comprehensive approach. The program features pre and post assessments to measure success, and is staffed by Masters-level clinicians with extensive experience in assessing and treating childhood learning challenges. These professionals are trained to identify and address the underlying roots of learning difficulties, not just the visible symptoms. They collaborate with other specialists to tackle associated issues in visual, auditory, language, sensorimotor, oculomotor, memory, and attention processing. This holistic approach supports the fundamental brain processing aspects of learning, aiming to develop strong, independent learners.
Reading Program
The Child Success Center's SPARK Summer Reading Program is tailored for elementary and middle school children who struggle with reading. This individualized program aims to strengthen various aspects of reading, including symbol and sound recognition, visuospatial skills, sequencing, auditory processing, memory, and attention. Reading challenges can affect children beyond those diagnosed with dyslexia, manifesting in difficulties with phonemic awareness, phonics knowledge, fluency, vocabulary development, and comprehension. Some children may excel at decoding but struggle with comprehension, often going unidentified until upper elementary or middle school due to their ability to compensate through memorization or visual cues.
Signs of reading difficulties can include repeatedly decoding familiar words, better performance with sight words than phonetic reading, trouble with oral and written expression, avoidance of reading and writing tasks, limited vocabulary, spelling issues, difficulty with math word problems and multi-step directions, trouble with rhymes, word pronunciation, and understanding of puns or idioms. To address these challenges, the program utilizes various results-driven support methods, including Lindamood Bell programs (LIPS, Seeing Stars, Visualizing and Verbalizing), Wilson Reading Program, Zoophonics, Orton Gillingham, Words Their Way, and Dr. Fry's techniques. These approaches are designed to provide comprehensive support for struggling readers, helping them overcome their specific reading challenges and develop stronger literacy.
Math Program
The SPARK Summer Math Program at Child Success Center is designed for elementary and middle school children identified as math-delayed. This individually customized program aims to strengthen various skills including visuospatial abilities, sequencing, memory, attention, and number sense. Math challenges, also known as dyscalculia, can be difficult to differentiate from reading disabilities due to the overlap in brain functions used for both skills. These challenges often accompany issues with attention, memory, language, sensorimotor functions, visuospatial abilities, and executive functioning.
Children struggling with math typically fall into two categories: poor processors, who have trouble taking in information and often struggle with number sense, basic operations, and tasks like measuring or estimating; and poor planners, who have difficulties with sequencing and memory, often struggling with multi-step problems and executive functioning tasks. Signs of math difficulties can include inconsistent recall of math facts, trouble with time concepts and money, frequent procedural errors, avoidance of strategy games or puzzles, difficulty with problem alignment, and trouble explaining math procedures. To address these challenges, the program utilizes various results-driven support methods, including Lindamood Bell's On Cloud 9, Ronit Bird's techniques, Overcoming Difficulties with Number, and fun-based approaches to learning times tables and addition.
Writing and Spelling Program
The SPARK Summer Writing and Spelling Program at Child Success Center is designed to address the complex challenges faced by elementary and middle school children struggling with writing and spelling. Writing is a multifaceted skill that combines language processing, visual processing, working memory, graphomotor skills, and phonemic awareness. The program recognizes that writing difficulties can lead to academic and emotional setbacks, emphasizing the importance of early intervention for significant improvement.
This comprehensive program aims to develop various aspects of writing, including hand control and coordination, correct letter formation, consistent sizing and spacing, line control and alignment, and overall legibility. It also addresses spelling challenges and the organization of written work. The curriculum, delivered by highly skilled Occupational and Educational Therapists, uses a fun, multi-sensory approach to support learning and cognitive functions. The program utilizes research-based and results-driven learning methods such as Handwriting Without Tears, Spectrum® Writing, Wilson Reading, Words Their Way™, and Analyze, Organize and Write.
Designed for children aged 6-9, the SPARK program is individually tailored to each child's needs, focusing on strengthening areas like symbol and sound recognition, visuospatial skills, sequencing, auditory processing, memory, and attention. It also aims to develop the physical strength and coordination necessary for writing without fatigue or stress. By addressing these fundamental aspects, the program not only improves writing and spelling skills but also boosts children's motivation and self-confidence in their ability to communicate effectively. The unique collaboration between Occupational and Educational Therapists ensures that children acquire crucial writing skills and gain the confidence needed for successful school re-entry and academic achievement in the upcoming year.