The Symbols Program

Due to the individualized nature of our program it varies from student to student.  But here are some key things about our program that are common to just about all of our students:

• New students begin as either language or math students.
  • When help is needed in both language and math, we usually begin with language only.  We can add some math, or switch to math altogether, once language concerns have stabilized.
• All of our tutoring is based on the Orton-Gillingham approach.
• All of our tutoring is 1-to-1, multisensory and highly individualized.
• Lessons are all 60 minutes in length.
• New students attend for a minimum of two lessons per week.
  • Students who have shown great progress and have stabilized may in some cases drop down to once per week.
• New students begin with an in-depth diagnostic assessment, after which their on-going individualized program begins.  
  • The diagnostic is usually not scheduled separately from standard lessons (it simply consumes the first few lessons of a student’s regular schedule).
  • Our diagnostic assessment is extremely thorough and it is necessary in order to create an individualized program for a new student.  You can read more about it here.
• We work through material at the student’s pace.  If they don’t get it, we present it in different ways until they do get it.  Once it’s solid we build and continually reincorporate mastered concepts so they are less likely to be forgotten and are understood in different ways.
• While we take school curriculum into account, we are not teaching to or trying to keep pace with classroom material.
  • Students usually come to Symbols because they are struggling in school due to gaps in their understanding of various concepts or material.  These gaps may be directly related to their current classroom material, or their struggles may be due to gaps in concepts that had been taught in school in previous years.  Regardless, it’s Symbols’ job to uncover what those gaps are and address them, so that we can develop a strong academic foundation that can be built on.