Happy Sunday!

I usually like to send my emails on Thursdays, but life has been rough to say the least. I've been dealing with a severe asthma flare for the last couple of months and many trips to hospitals, so I take my bursts of energy when I can, so here we are on a Sunday morning finding the happiness in a good day.

One thing that gives me a burst of energy is when I see my students shine. Two weeks ago I got an email from a dad of my former student that made me happy cry with pride. I taught his extremely dyslexic son in school when he was in the second and 3rd grade, and then again as his private tutor when he got older.

This student struggled so severely with phonemic awareness I had to teach him how to physically read lips for the sounds** because he couldn't identify the differences orally, and we went at a very slow pace, but we worked to mastery and he became a fluent reader. Dad let me know that his once struggling child is now a successful adult who has traveled the world and in a wonderful university for entrepreneurship after graduating high school with honors.

Sometimes the most struggling students in school can be the most successful adults! That grit and ability to push past the difficult parts can be an advantage later in life, even though it doesn't feel like a good thing during those rough school years.

​**Check out my Sensing the Sounds workshop if you're interested in this strategy**​

Here are some other successes from my summer program:

📚 One student read their first chapter book ever!

🥳 One little girl begged to get to come to see me all the time, not just in the summers, because she loves how much better she's getting at her reading

👏🏼 One boy who couldn't read anything when I met him a year ago read me a whole picture book by himself by the end of summer program

📝 A 10 year old gave me a new perspective and I made a custom summer curriculum to adapt to her very high IQ. I completely changed my usual pacing and approach to find her just right speed to help her learn in depth knowledge at high interest quick pace, but not to quick to forget what she learned last week.

That's it for today! Enjoy the rest of your weekend!