Making Strides with Seeing Stars

It’s truly a privilege to share Everett’s story with you. Everett came to us for his Learning Ability Evaluation in the spring of his first-grade year. At that time, while he could identify a few letters, there were still many he didn’t recognize, and his sound-symbol associations were almost non-existent. Yet from the very beginning, Everett’s energy, enthusiasm, and confidence have been a contagious force in our learning center.

As I mentioned to his parents during our consultation, it is incredibly exciting that we’ve been able to work with Everett while he is so young and eager to learn. Even more, we’ve had the unique opportunity to build his sensory-cognitive functions from the ground up, as he came to us essentially as a blank canvas. Watching his progress has been nothing short of magical—going from not knowing individual letter sounds, to struggling to blend two sounds, to now reading CVC words and reading them quickly. 

Currently, Everett is working on stabilizing final ‘e’, has mastered 10+ sight words, and is confidently reading sound-out books. His dad has cried happy tears at nearly every update, amazed at how far Everett has come. 

- Amelia Raneri, Lindamood-Bell Learning Center Director, South Shore, Massachusetts