Remedy for reading woes

By Mary Alice Garrett

This story originally appeared July 22, 2004 in the News Journal of Wilmington, Delaware.

WILMINGTON - A desire to help youngsters with reading problems drove Mary Ellen Cummings to found the Learning Lab of Delaware eight years ago.

Before starting the reading program, Cummings worked with severely dyslexic adolescent boys at a boarding school in Northfield, Mass. It was there she saw the need for remedial reading programs at a younger age.

Research has shown that unless a problem reader is identified by age 9, it’s hard for him or her to catch up, Cummings said. Research by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and the National Reading Panel also shows that 50 percent of elementary school-aged children will learn to read with traditional instruction, and some of that number-with no instruction whatsoever.

Twenty percent will need direct, explicit multisensory instruction. The remaining 30 percent will benefit from multisensory instruction. It’s multisensory instruction which Cummings offers in her one-on-one tutoring sessions, teacher workshops and instructional materials.

Included is a variety of techniques to address different types of reading difficulties. All emphasize auditory, visual, fluency and comprehension. Students use tactile aids such as moveable alphabets, felt and sandpaper letters and color tiles. They sound out words while tracing their fingers over sandpaper letters or while hopping on gym mats. Both are exercises in sound awareness.

A 5-year-old boy did both after mastering beginning word sounds in the Summer Reading Program at Wilmington Montessori School, Arden. He was among 30 children ages 5 to 12 to attend the intensive five-week program. Some of the participants had dyslexia or attention deficit disorder and were recommended for the program by teachers and psychologists.

Others were beginning or struggling readers. Each received one-on-one tutoring for the one-hour sessions. Vowels, consonants. syllables, prefixes, suffixes and root words were introduced.

"We never do anything more than 10 minutes" before moving to a new activity, Cummings noted.

"The pace depends on the child. We move as quickly as possible and as slowly as necessary."

At the end of each session, either the student or tutor would read aloud - often in a comfortable chair or recliner.

"We want them to associate reading with something very pleasurable," said Cummings. Reading comprehension is taught by having a pupil describe a picture that he sees but the tutor doesn’t. He’s then asked to write a story noting 12 things — what, size, color, number, shape, where, movement, mood, background, perspective, when and sound.

One former student, a l5—year—old boy was an excellent reader but had difficulty retaining enough to write book reports in school. After tutoring sessions, he became much more proficient.

"He went from writing five sentences to paragraphs," said tutor Trish Harkins. He said, ‘Now I build pictures in my head.’ "

"Before, it was a total struggle when he had to write," Harkins added.

Michael Auld began reading tutoring when his preschool teacher mother realized "he really wasn’t reading at all" in third grade. By fourth grade, Michael was in the top reading group of his new school.

"It was a very positive experience for him. It’s a wonderful program," said Mary Beth Auld of Bellefonte.

Michael is now on the honor roll at Springer Middle School in Brandywine Hundred. Auld. herself, later enrolled in a Learning Lab workshop for teachers.

Although the instruction is aimed at elementary school youngsters, middle and high school teachers use the techniques with struggling readers.

Parents also learn how to help their children improve their reading skills, Cummings noted. The single best thing parents can do is to "turn the TV off and read, read, read, read to your children," Cummings said, adding that TV and computer games have definitely had a negative effect on juveniles’ reading habits. Cummings also recommends the book "Straight Talk About Reading — How Parents Can Make a Difference in Early Years" by Susan Hall and Louisa Moats.

PROFILE

July 22, 2004

Mary Ellen Cummings

AGE: 54

FAMILY: Single. Daughter, Mary Elizabeth Cawley; son, Dix Cummings; and three grandchildren

RESIDENCE: Wilmington

EDUCATION: BacheIor’s degree in business administration from Marymount College; master’s in special education from Loyola University and reading therapist certification from Massachusetts General Hospital

POSITION: instructional support coordinator at Wilmington Montessori School

HOBBIES: Gardening, skiing, reading and playing with grandchildren

GREATEST ACCOMPLISHMENT: "The experience when an adult or child [student] Iearns to read."