Success Stories

Expression

When we’d talk, the ideas would flow! But when it came to putting them down on paper, communicating those ideas became impossible. Through a process of outlining and practicing reading aloud each sentence as we wrote, we ended up treating our essay more like a conversation and were able to create an easy-flowing quality to the text (and sniff out the syntax errors in the process)!

Touchdown!

Roadblocks are part of life, but with help and support, we overcome those roadblocks and build self-esteem and confidence in the process. Here are some experiences I’ve had with kiddos in the past.

Organization

A student was struggling with keeping track of assignments, materials, and due dates. It was leading to stress and lower grades, but we were able to put a plan in place where the student was in charge of telling me at the beginning of every session what was due and in what order they wanted to do their work. When they had control over the order and flow of the session, it led to a sense of empowerment because they were telling ME what needed to be done, which led to a real earned sense of responsibility.

Stress Management

The pressure was building. When it was time for a lesson, the anxiety was so bad the child would stay in bed worrying because they felt like they were behind and didn’t know the material. Missing that lesson would cause them to fall further behind, exacerbating the cycle. We overcome the anxiety with a combination of brain breaks and positive reinforcement. At the beginning of every session, we would discuss all the great things we learned last time, and I’d give the student a chance to tell me what they remember, what they liked and even what they didn’t like. Highlighting our successes helped start the session off on the right foot. If during the session the stress became be too much, we’d take “brain breaks” where we could go for a quick walk outside in the garden or play piano together for 10 minutes before returning to the lesson, refreshed and ready to learn!