
Evaluation
Initial Assessment
Prior to starting, students are assessed in order to develop a program that meets their individual needs.
An initial assessment can range from one to four hours. There is a written report with the test scores and an explanation of the student’s strengths and weaknesses. There is a program prescribed that uses the student’s strengths, interests and creativity. The student’s academic and processing needs are specifically targeted for Educational Therapy.
If there are indications of a Learning Disability, Dyslexia, or ADD , we refer for further testing by the Public School or a private Psychologist that would enable public school accommodations and services
Reading
If there is a reading difficulty we assess from the following:
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Reading – phonics, sight vocabulary, fluency, comprehension (factual details, main idea, drawing an inference, sequencing, analogies, relationships).
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Verbal Comprehension and reasoning (synonyms, antonyms, analogies)
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Phonemic awareness – an awareness of the number and order of sounds in a word. This is important for word attack skills and phonetic spelling.
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Symbol imagery – the ability to visualize and recall a sequence of letters. This is important for sight word recognition and spelling.
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Sound-blending
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Left/right discrimination
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Visual-Auditory Association - the ability to associate the written word with the spoken word.
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Story Recall
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Visual Processing (Scanning, Speed, Perception)
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Auditory Processing
Math
If there is a math difficulty we assess according to grade level from the following:
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Logic development – a young child may not yet be developmentally ready to understand math. The child must be able to arrange a series from smallest to biggest (seriation) and to recognize a number as being the same regardless of what is being counted or whether it is spread out or close together (conservation)
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Numerical reasoning
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Math facts
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Computation – addition, subtraction, multiplication and division of whole numbers, fractions, decimals and percentages, solving algebraic equations
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Memory – long-term, short-term, retrieval fluency, working memory
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Spatial Awareness
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Word problems – 1 and 2 step
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Error analysis – are errors due not knowing the math facts, not knowing the procedure, or a processing problem, (reversals, poor spatial organization, a sequencing difficulty, poor fine motor). These can be indicated by such errors as carrying the wrong number, poor setting up of a problem, misreading numbers because they are poorly formed, not remembering the sequence in long division.
Written Language
If there is a difficulty with written language we assess:
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Spelling
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Handwriting - manuscript and cursive
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Punctuation
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Paragraph development
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Outlining

