Why SkateKidsTM Works! SkateKidsTM and its younger sibling, Ramps to ReadingTM, provide fun and mentally challenging activities that teach literacy and reading comprehension, problem solving and executive functioning skills in an exceptionally engaging environment. These highly effective new programs complement any existing reading program by ensuring that students can build effective learning strategies, while developing the cognitive skills necessary to become proficient readers. Becoming a proficient reader is a complex process that requires direct instruction, as well as development of cognitive processing functions, such as working memory, visualization, spatial relationships and other meta-cognitive strategies. SkateKidsTM and Ramps to ReadingTM develop all aspects of reading, from the basic cognitive building blocks to reading comprehension, visualization, inference, reducing, and meaning. Students must learn the phonological component of reading in grades K-2. In the classroom, children are taught the phonological, morphological and orthographic features of words, but even when they develop proficiency in decoding skills, they lack the ability to read with automaticity and fluidity and fail to comprehend what they read. This requires unique thinking skills and strategies. Like any skill, this automaticity only develops with consistent and focused practice. Why do learning problems often seem to appear around 3rd or 4th grade? Often this is due to an inability to read effectively, frequently caused by a lack of engagement with challenging activities and quality individualized practice at younger ages. Stated simply, the foundational cognitive building blocks are not in place. A lifelong love of reading and learning cannot be built on a faulty foundation. The good news is that high engagement with mentally challenging developmental activities can help students build their foundations. These programs actually allow students to play lessons, rather than practice them. In this way, students stay focused and have fun, while practicing the skills that they need to become proficient readers and learners. SkateKidsTM and Ramps to ReadingTM combine what contemporary cognitive science tells us about reading with what kids tell us about having fun. |