Our daughter loved attending the program. It made her so proud to be considered a reader and writer. She beamed talking about it. The last day when she was the author and I was there to cheer her on filled my heart. I highly recommend this for other students at any age. It was an impressive display of kindness and academic support.
My son ranked in the 24th percentile in reading the beginning of 3rd grade. After attending CLaRI for 2 years (every weekend during fall & spring tutoring and 3 times a week in the summer), he tested in the 95th percentile in reading. That’s why my two younger boys are attending CLaRI now.
My son attend CLaRI for several semesters and learned very much during his time in the program. He looked forward to his Saturdays going to campus. Not only does he now read at and above grade level, which was not the case when he started in the program, but he LOVES to read. In fact, every night he pushes his bedtime back later and later to read more and more because he gained a love for reading through CLaRI. Right now, he is reading a book by a local author with a goal to meet the author and have the author autograph his book. He hopes to write his own comic someday and is brainstorming characters and plots. Thank you for creating such a welcoming, inclusive, friendly, and uplifting environment to build him up into the strong, confident reader he is today
[Our] school district informed my wife and I that testing suggested my youngest son Matthew [was reading significantly below grade level]. While we had known for some time that Matt’s reading was less than stellar, we had been working with him on our own to attempt to maintain at least a minimal grade-level competency. Moreover, since Matt was extremely intelligent and actually likes to read, our thoughts were that the inability to read could eventually become a devastating handicap from which he might never recover. Finally, even though the school system indicated Matt was at risk, there was really nothing they could do since Matt was being kept afloat through our home efforts, and to receive any system help he would have to first be allowed to fail. To us, this was totally unacceptable, as we did not feel the stigma of failure was conducive to a positive learning outcome. The staff at CLaRI was very supportive, and soon Matt was enrolled in the program.
Given Matt’s strong-willed nature, there were times when the effort was extremely arduous for all involved. However, he persevered, and slowly improved his reading to at least grade level in the following year. He also continued to challenge himself throughout his elementary, middle and high school years by reading on his own, using the tools CLaRI provided to help understand the material. This personal effort served to strengthen his academic work, and also provided a much needed boost to his self-confidence..... He continues to read on his own today, and has reading interests that include sports, history, politics, technology and military tactics.
Thank you for your work with Matt – it really has made a significant difference in his life.
"My son, Ely, went through the CLaRI program when he was in 2nd grade. Ely is “graduating” from 5th grade this year and the help CLaRI gave him has helped him to be where he is today. It was a great program that helped him gain confidence and learn the skills he needed to master reading and writing. As a 5th grader, Ely went through the DARE program. He had a to write a 4 paragraph essay. It took him awhile to accomplish this task. He took his time and put in a lot of effort. As a result, his essay was picked as the best in the class and he was asked to read it during DARE graduation. I want to that you for helping my child and others out there. CLaRI is a wonderful program and it helped Ely to get to where he is today!"
"Based on his teachers’ assessments up to 4th grade, my son Aaron, was considered a “good” student. However, there were subtle signs that his reading skills were not on par with his conceptual and intellectual skills. He would pass spelling exams, but if tested months later, he would misspell the very same vocabulary words that he previously worked on to pass the initial spelling test.... His instructor was an energetic, kind and lovely young woman who just always smiled.... If you were to ask Aaron of his experience, he would tell you that his instructor provided him skills that he never came across from any other instructor all through his years of education. What is most interesting to me was that once he was able to hone these skills, he read not just nonfiction but manuals, such as different computer languages.
"My children... both attended sessions during the 90’s. We believe that without the reading help Dan and Kate received at the center that would never have been as successful in school as they have been. We can’t thank everyone enough for all the time and effort they put into helping our children."
