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Multisensory learning means learning
using more than one of our senses, or learning using as many modalities
as possible. The four pathways to learning we employ in our multisensory
tutoring are visual (sight), auditory
(hearing), tactile (feeling/touch) and kinaesthetic
(physical movement, like tossing a ball back and forth while spelling
a word). Not everyone learns well just visually or aurally, which
is one of the reasons the traditional classroom can fail children with
learning differences. Our multisensory tutoring significantly
improves learning through delivering the same message using more than
one sense.
The Orton Gillingham approach is a
phonics based multisensory method of teaching that is systematic and sequential. It was originally
developed by Dr. Samuel Orton (a neuropsychiatrist and pathologist)
and Anna Gillingham (an educator and psychologist) in the early 1900’s
to help children who had extreme difficulties with reading and writing. The
Orton Gillingham approach has been refined over the decades, truly standing
the test of time, and has successfully helped many children with dyslexia
and other learning differences, for which it is widely accepted as the
most effective approach.
No. Dyslexia and other similar
learning difficulties stem from neurological differences and there is
no cure per se. The OG-based multisensory tutoring we
employ is widely considered to be the best known approach for teaching
children how to cope with their learning difference. We offer
highly effective strategies and techniques that help them to manage
their difficulties with reading, writing and math.
It depends. While our remedial
tutoring services are eligible to be claimed, according to the
CRA’s website (scroll down to Tutoring Services) you will need a medical practitioner to “certify in
writing that these services are necessary.” We recommend that you check with your accountant
for additional details and advice.
We have found that make-up lessons
are often very difficult to schedule due to our tutors’ already busy
schedules of regular lessons; as such, we do not offer make-up lessons
or lesson rescheduling. Our invoices are issued and paid on a
monthly basis in advance. We encourage parents to let us know
of any lessons that the student will not be able to attend in the coming
month before the invoice is issued, and we’ll be happy to deduct those
lessons from the bill. Additionally, once per month, with at least
24 hours notice, parents may cancel a lesson and receive a one-lesson
credit to their next invoice. Beyond that, all lessons are considered
to be strictly scheduled and non-refundable (note that we may make exceptions
to this rule in certain circumstances such as a serious prolonged illness).
We like to use terms like learning
difference or learning difficulty instead of learning disability, but
we are referring to the same thing. We feel that many children
labeled as learning disabled aren’t really disabled at all; there’s
no problem with their ability to learn, it’s simply that they do so
differently than most people. For this reason, we like to avoid
the label of disabled and instead use the more positive terms difference and difficulty. We do acknowledge and respect that other professionals
in the field and many parents do like the use of certain labels for
very valid reasons such as eligibility for an IEP in the school system,
or as validation for and recognition of the problems they have been
working through with their children.
During the 2008/2009 school year we are open for 1-1 tutoring on Mondays - Fridays, with the first lesson of the day beginning at 11:00am and the last lesson of the day ending at 7:35pm. Lesson start times are staggered by 5 minutes to allow tutors time to speak with parents after each lesson. Lesson start times are as follows:
11:00am |
12:05pm |
1:10pm |
2:15pm |
3:20pm |
4:25pm |
5:30pm |
6:35pm |
We no longer offer 1-1 tutoring on weekends, but will be introducing group enrichment classes for 5-7 year olds on Saturdays beginning in October 2009. Feel free to contact us for details or to pre-register.
Please contact us to discuss our current availability and rates.
Yes, we are closed on statutory holidays,
as well as the first week of September and the days between Christmas
and New Years.
As a general rule we like our students
to consistently work with the same tutor, but should situations arise when
a tutor is sick or on vacation the student may be provided with
a substitute tutor. We also have cases, due to scheduling-related difficulties
with placing a student with a single regular tutor, where the parent may request
that the student be split between two tutors as an alternative to being
placed on a waitlist until a single tutor becomes available; while we
don’t usually encourage this kind of arrangement, we’re happy to accommodate
it. Due to our careful record keeping and our policy requiring
lesson plans to be prepared at least a day in advance, any of our tutors
can deliver any student’s lesson with ease, so substituting single lessons,
or split tutor arrangements are usually very successful at Symbols.
We are always happy to answer any questions
from parents about a student’s progress either over the phone, through
email or in person. Meetings can be scheduled with our Director
of Education at no additional cost. Furthermore, we encourage
separated parents to share their user ID and password to our
secure website, so both parents can sign in and read the daily lesson
summaries and the reports at their own individual convenience.
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