More Than Just A School

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More Than Just A School

  • August 11, 2021
  • Posted by: Caitlin McCallum
  • Category: Wow Story
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L came to Our Shepherd from the public school. He came to our school this year because of COVID. His mom knew he was behind in his academics and wanted him in a school with direct teaching. L didn’t do well in the virtual learning during the shutdown. He was very low in his reading skills and was not motivated to work in his other subjects. Because of this, he didn’t progress in his skills last year. She wanted him to become grade level in his skills. She got a lot more.

I did assessments with L in the first part of the year. I found that he didn’t know the names of the letters or the sounds associated with his letters. I put together a plan with goals that he would accomplish both of these skills at 100%. We began lessons right away.

We started with the letter naming where we used the Orton-Gillingham program. This program uses a process that involves repetition and sensory learning where lessons taught use activities that use the senses. L was quick to grasp the names of the letters using this method and we went into sound association. Again, we used the O-G program and he was successful in accomplishing his sounds by the middle of second quarter.

A new plan was drawn up for L to accomplish the sight words from Kindergarten and also First grade. We continued to use the O-G methods and L again was successful in learning these words. He is now reading first grade level reading passages and working on his fluency. He has come a long way in just one year.

But L got a lot more than becoming a first grade level reader.  When I meet with L, he quite often brings up what he is learning in Religion.  He asks me questions and we discuss Jesus. He told me he didn’t know anything about him before. He was and is actively seeking God and has found him. Besides becoming a reader, L has become a child of God. He was baptized this year.

~Sarah Mischley, LSEM teacher at Our Shepherd Lutheran School, Birmingham, MI