Three of my four children attend GradePower Learning and the results have been amazing! In January, my four-year-old was diagnosed as having mild autism and, at that time, he had the fine motor skills of a child less than half his age. He started attending the Little Readers program in March and, since then, his fine motor skills have completely caught up to age level! At the beginning of the program, he had to learn each letter and its corresponding sound, then write the letter, then color the letter, then cut out the letter, and also discuss or sing songs about the letter and words in which it can be found.
This process, no doubt, is what has led to his spectacular results! Now, about six months later, my son is already reading short words and has the confidence to sound out new, unfamiliar words. He still also writes, colors, and cuts in each session, which have resulted in enormous improvements in his handwriting and coloring skills. It's like he's a different child altogether, in terms of his fine motor skills and desire to learn.
Ms. Amy, at GradePower Learning, helped my son progress much faster and much further than any of his occupational therapists ever did--and at, ultimately, a much lower cost. After a relatively short time with Little Readers, my four-year-old went from absolutely hating books and running away when we tried to read to him, to actively pulling books off the shelf at home to try to read them on his own! Ms. Amy has also incorporated numbers and early math skills into my son's program; as a result, he is already adding and subtracting, ahead of his time.
GradePower Learning has worked a true miracle with my youngest child so that I now have very few concerns about his success when he starts kindergarten next year. GPL's tutoring programs have also been wonderful for my two older children, both in fourth grade. GradePower Learning first performed a comprehensive assessment of their abilities and then specifically tailored each child's tutoring program to address his or her weak spots. Other tutoring programs we have tried in the past offered just a "one size fits all" approach to learning, which was "OK" but nowhere near as effective as the customized program we get at GradePower Learning.
Tutoring is not cheap, but the price per session at GPL is reasonable and consistent with market rates. In the end, however, we feel we are getting far more than our money's worth in the exponential improvements we have seen in our children's abilities after a relatively short time with this program. We are happy customers, indeed! . . . Also, one final note, we love the new owner, Nicole! She is present every day and has been extremely flexible and hard working. The programs at GPL have always been good, but now the administration and owner interface is much better streamlined and more pleasant.
M.B.