There is a way.

Teachers specialize. Kids make gains.

As a private not-for-profit 501(c)(3) educational resource center located in Wichita, Kansas, Fundamental Learning Centerprovides a continuum of programs and services for Kansas’ children experiencing difficulty in reading, writing and spelling.  We are in compliance with National Institute of Child Health and Development (NICHD) supported longitudinal research and Federal and Kansas educational policy.  The Fundamental Learning Center delivers consulting and educational services to concerned parents as well as private, parochial, and public school systems, regular and special education across the state.

Additionally, Fundamental Learning Center is an International Multisensory Structured Language Education Council (IMSLEC) accredited site.  The Center has intensively prepared hundreds of highly-qualified and specifically trained individuals who provide direct intervention literacy instructional activities with children at-risk for significant reading difficulties across the state of Kansas.

“Why is my child failing to learn to read?” Are you confused, concerned, and frustrated with the lack of answers you receive to this important question? Do you puzzle over the fact that your child is smart, yet not doing well in  school?

No one can expect children to succeed in life without learning to read.

We can help.

Our Mission: We disseminate quality research-based programs and knowledge to educate and empower children, educational professionals, concerned parents, and the broader community for the purpose of significantly improving individual literacy skills.

We can help!

Fundamental Learning Center is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3), and we are specialists in the area of reading difficulties. The director and staff of the Fundamental Learning Center has offered assessment, consulting and educational services to private, parochial and public school systems, regular and special education educators across the State of Kansas for the past twenty years. Having incorporated the research related to reading into our teacher preparation courses, we are knowledgeable.

We can direct you to our resources for parents and teachers or community resources. It is important that you find help for the struggling child who has brought you to this website. Call us, we look forward to sharing information with you. 316.684.READ (7323).

“It is not how you see; it’s how you learn.” Dr. Brian Stone, a local Licensed Psychologist, dispel the common myths of dyslexia by providing the facts. All of the information can be validated with science. Come get accurate and helpful information to understand dyslexia.

Tuesday:  September 28, 2010

Tuesday:  March 29, 2011

Time:  6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.

Cost:  $10 per person

According to research, one out of every five students struggle academically because they have dyslexia. Unfortunately, because Kansas is a state that does not specifically address dyslexia, very few individuals actually have accurate information. Instead, many “dyslexia myths” continue to be prevalent in our Kansas communities. Fundamental Learning Center hopes to remedy that by offering parents and teachers Dyslexia 101, a monthly lecture designed to share current, research based information and true, basic facts about dyslexia. Research has shown that dyslexic children are far more likely to succeed academically when parents become educated about dyslexia and provide a voice for their children. Teachers with reliable resources and up-to-date information can make knowledgeable decisions about a child’s instructional needs. Acquiring knowledge and understanding of all these areas is vital for anyone playing a role in the life of a dyslexic child.

Thursday:  September 16, 2010

Thursday:  October 21, 2010

Thursday:  November 18, 2010

Thursday:  January 20, 2011

Thursday:  February 17, 2011

Thursday:  April 14, 2011

Thursday:  May 19, 2011

Time:  5:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.

Cost:  FREE

Area teens with learning difficulties lead an open discussion for other teens on their views of: adaptations for learning, accommodations that have worked for them, daily challenges they face, how they overcome the challenges, how they talk to others about their differences, and what they feel the future holds for them. Bring your young teen and listen as this powerful session takes place.

Tuesday:  October 26, 2010

Time:  6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.

Cost:  free to all

Six centers are facilitated by Literacy Intervention Specialists at the Center who have been taught to help parents, school educators, administrators, psychologists, etc. feel many of the same frustrations children with learning difficulties experience in the classroom on a regular basis. This simulation is highly effective in raising awareness of why accommodations need to be in place to help learning different children be successful in the classroom. This is a very popular event and registration is necessary.

Tuesday:  January 25, 2011

Time:  6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.

Cost:  $10 per person

What are accommodations and why should schools provide them? Are you confused about which apply to your child or worried if they are “fair”? Come and learn what you need to know about them to make important decisions when it comes to your child’s education.

Thursday: February 22, 2011

Time:  6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m

Cost:  $10 per person

for elementary regular and special education teachers, secondary special education teachers, educational therapists & parents.

Grammar is an essential skill for understanding written expression. In this all day workshop, participants learn sequential steps in teaching sentence construction. This approach incorporates a color coding multisensory method for teaching the eight basic parts of speech.

Monday: October 18, 2010

Friday: March 4, 2011

TIME: 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

COST: $105 (includes manual & materials)

“The students will be able to grasp all parts of speech because of the innovative way it is presented to them.” Sydney Costello

6 hrs applied towards a unit of teacher recertification credit

for elementary through secondary regular and special education teachers, educational therapists and parents.

Too many times our children fall through the cracks of learning due to an inability to organize, prioritize, and structure assignments. This workshop provides useful strategies to keep a child “on-track” with homework assignments and projects. Study skill tools and activities will be presented in conjunction with organization strategies.

Friday:  June 2, 2011

TIME: 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

COST: $135 (includes materials)

“PRACTICAL! I have strategies for every academic challenge.” Kristine Goossen.

^6 hrs applied towards a unit of teacher recertification credit.

Fundamental Learning Center provides a Literacy Intervention Specialist Preparation Program to intensively train parents, classroom teachers, reading specialists and educators who teach children in multi-tiered settings.

This program uses the Alphabetic Phonics curriculum as the core approach for teaching children who struggle significantly to learn to read.

Alphabetic Phonics originated at Scottish Rite Hospital for Children in Dallas, Texas.  It incorporates Orton-Gillingham theories of reading instruction and practice, using multisensory activities to link the visual, auditory, and kinesthetic senses.

All of workshops and courses incorporate the five components of reading instruction identified in NIH research:

1. phonological awareness

2. systematic and structured phonics

3. comprehension

4.  fluency

5. vocabulary development

These components are essential to meet criteria requirements for the Reading First Initiative.

The curriculum is extremely comprehensive. It balances the many important aspects of language acquisition: listening, phonology, phonetic reading, fluency, comprehension, vocabulary development, handwriting, spelling, and written expression skills.

It extends from developing basic skills such as letter recognition to sophisticated levels of linguistic knowledge such as coding polysyllabic words after breaking them into syllables.

The structured, systematic, sequential lesson takes an hour to complete with 11 activities typically lasting 3-10 minutes each. Each daily new concept is taught through a discovery process that is both fun to teach as well as to learn.

Teacher education is intensive and demanding.  It includes a minimum of 200 instructional hours at the Center followed by 700 hours of supervised practice with students. Teachers attend a two-week introductory course, a two-week advanced course the following year, and a final one week advanced-extension course the third year. In addition, two full day workshops are required for both the introductory and the advanced courses.

All course participants begin a 20-hour practicum experience. A total of 9 hours of graduate credit is available from Newman University for an additional fee.

Initial registration may be completed by mail, but an additional telephone registration/interview is required to complete the process.

Mon. – Fri.: Nov. 8 – 19, 2010

Mon. – Fri.: Feb. 28 – March 11, 2011

Mon. – Fri.: June 6 – 17, 2011

Additional Practicum Required.

Time: 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Cost: $1450 for tuition and supplies. $450 deposit required.

Requirements: Deadline for registration is 3 weeks before start of class. Bachelors degree from an accredited 4 year institution. Documentation includes a copy of transcripts, copy of degree, and three professional references. Completion of Advanced and Advanced Extension Level Courses required to become a candidate for certification.

“They should have taught me this in college; I am so much more prepared as a first year teacher.” Sally Holiday