Every February I do a quick mid-year assessment to make sure that my kiddos are making good growth.
It’s true that as we work together every week, it’s easy for me to see their strong progress as ongoing assessment is built into Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”®, but, it is extremely important for my kiddos to see their progress in GRADE LEVEL NUMBERS, something that makes sense to them. 😊
Most kiddos learning with Silent Elephant “e”® are often not aware of the amazing progress they are making. This is because every phonics skill in Silent Elephant “e”® is taught using their whole body within a fun, memorable lesson that makes good sense to them. The lessons are also organized in such a way that a new skill logically builds upon the last skill(s).
As they progress through Silent Elephant “e”® at their own pace, they attain success and reach mastery through the controlled vocabulary for each phonics lesson. Reading, writing and spelling become comfortable and they begin to relax, to enjoy learning and to believe in themselves that they are totally capable of learning to read, write and spell.
When they see their progress in print and hear me telling them how good they are doing, they have an even stronger feeling of success.
This is especially true of those who have been struggling the most.
They LOVE seeing their progress in numbers on their progress record page. They LOVE hearing me tell them about their progress.
Because I tutor, most of my students are profoundly dyslexic with other learning differences as well. They know what it feels like to not be able to understand what is being taught. Every single one of them has known struggle and disappointment in trying to learn to read, write and spell.
Finally, with Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”® they’re beginning to realize that they won’t be struggling forever. This is life changing for them!
Furthermore, they are realizing they can even have fun learning to read, write and spell.
They become happier, less anxious, more hopeful. They become more eager to pay attention. They begin to see success without struggle. They feel and are in control of their learning. This usually begins within the first 6 weeks with Silent Elephant “e”®. ❤️
So, I don’t assess just for myself 😊; I assess for them too. They need to see the numbers rising on their progress record chart.
In the last couple of weeks, my students and I have had fun sharing their success over the last year as we did their assessments. I watched their eyes sparkle, and their faces break out in smiles of pride.
Here’s an overview of their progress since last February ‘23:
2 students have achieved 3 years of growth.
5 students have achieved 2 years of growth.
4 students have achieved a half year of growth. These 4 are newer to Silent Elephant “e”® and have multiple learning differences. They are just getting their feet under them. 😊
3 students are soon to graduate Silent Elephant “e”® reading at a college level.
No matter how profoundly dyslexic they are or how many other learning differences they have, they have all made great progress!
As we finished talking about their successes, every single one of them smiled with pride and eagerly said, “Mrs. Jones, let’s get going!” They are all happy and ready to continue their success.
They ALL see, or are beginning to see, themselves as capable readers and spellers who can write anything they want to write. It feels like freedom to them.
They see a future without struggle. Their whole life has turned around.
It makes the heart sing out loud.
If you are interested in becoming a Silent Elephant “e”® tutor contact me. It’s a fun, very rewarding way to bring in extra money.
Contact us at silentelephante@gmail.com or nina.silentelephante@gmail.com. We do have answers for your questions.