Rachel was 6 years old at the start of this video. The youngest of six children, Rachel was heartbroken that she could not read but, as you can see, she was afraid to try. I met with her daily and while it was supposed to be a 15 minute a day session. It often took double that amount of time because Rachel was, as you see, completely shut down.

However, success breeds success and our small steps led to great leaps ahead! As she got goals on her letter sounds we moved into the Great Leaps Phonics program and added on the other two sections as she was able. Rachel learned that she was improving daily - even a few more words or a few less errors was a big deal - and as she did better she skyrocketed up! Part of the philosophy of the Great Leaps Reading program is putting a “W” on the board early and often. When Rachel learned that she could get goals she began to try harder to get them and we were off and running!

NOTHING builds self-esteem like success and your students can succeed if things are broken down into tasks that set them up for success from the beginning. Ask Rachel and the rest of the Great Leaps students and they will all tell you that they are getting better every, single day. Our students with dyslexia deserve to know daily that they are getting better. You can get the same results, we can help!

     - Lisa Skisland, Great Leaps tutor