Editor's Note: This is the first in a series of articles about Fundamental Learning Center staff members. Tammy Kofford does not believe anything about her journey with teaching reading is a coincidence. It all feels predestined, she says. Tammy did not like to read as an elementary school student. As an adult when she began teaching her own classroom full of elementary school-aged children struggling to learn to read, she wanted to help them but did not know how. No one ever taught her how to instruct students who have reading difficulties when she was in the education program at a Kansas university. “I had a lot of struggling readers in my class,” she said. “I was frustrated.” A colleague
One of the best parts about working at Fundamental Learning Center is seeing what our Rolph Literacy Academy students, ages 5-10, are learning in class. The way our instructors teach core subjects using multisensory teaching — visual, auditory and kinesthetic methods — is creative, fun and truly works. Teacher Miss Dorothy teaches a class using German educator Frederich Froebel's gifts, which are a set of materials used to teach the children the foundational skills of math, physics, science and design. In that class the students started folding shapes using a two-dimensional circle, and today they presented a Sierpinski's triangle. In the video below, the students will share what they learn
Earlier this week, we met Genesis, an extremely talented 10-year-old artist. Genesis struggles with reading, writing and spelling in school, but she definitely possesses the "super powers" or gifts in other areas we so commonly see associated with dyslexia. Our psychologist Dr. Brian Stone defines dyslexia as a really bright person who doesn't care much for reading. Research has proven these bright people often have extreme talent in creative areas like art, building, design and other visual-spatial activities. Sometimes the super powers present themselves in things like attention to detail, emotional intelligence, athletics and science. Unfortunately, when children with dyslexia are in a re
