Jacob and Carter

On October 30, 2008 we celebrated the success of Carter and Jacob by holding a graduation ceremony. The brothers both made great progress with their reading skills during the six-week intensive program. They went from hating to read, to having fun while reading. They would even choose to read instead of having play breaks!

Jacob’s improved expression while reading was fun to listen to. He became a great storyteller and his tutor, Ms. Sherri, thoroughly enjoyed hearing him read.

Carter became proficient at word cards and they helped him improve his reading vocabulary.

Their sister, Blake, also read at the ceremony. She was a wonderful help at a few of their tutoring sessions and would assist in immediately telling her brothers a word they didn’t know.

Thank you to Blake and congratulations to Carter and Jacob!

Letter from Carter and Jacob’s Mom

Reading Window,

My boys have learned more about reading with the Reading Window Program in the last 6 weeks than I ever could have imagined. Jacob and Carter’s fluency, recognition, expression has come into full blossom. The greatest moment was listening to my boys read…and to see their eyes light up and they look at the picture and then me and laugh. To finally understand and comprehend what they had just read…..SIGH…There is NO other word to explain what i was feeling than “AMAZING”.

Jacob and Carter absolutely HATED reading. Jacob would hide his face and would not talk to me. He completely shut down.

Carter on the other hand, would pretty much throw a temper tantrum. It was awful when homework had to be done.

I’ll tell you what….It sounds so good to hear my Jacob and Carter Reading. They both now enjoy reading so much. For them to just understand “WHAT” they were reading. This moment is PRICELESS!

I would HIGHLY recommend this Program to anyone. Especially if you have a child who needs just that extra little boost or help in reading. The Reading Window Program has helped my boys in all areas of their school work.

If your child says “I hate to read”. This is the program for him/her. My boys would always tell me “I don’t want to”, “I hate reading”. But, now….their comments are “when can I come back”. How great that was. Because of Reading Window those words ” I hate reading” are HISTORY.

Now that Jacob and Carter have completed their 6 weeks Program…The Ladies will be greatly missed. This has been an amazing journey for my entire Family. They now read everyday twice a day. And we owe that to Reading Windows.

So now we will move on, and we greatly appreciate everything that we have gained from this experience.

Many Thanks to All at Reading Window!

Sincerely,

B. Foster

Did you hear about us on WTJU?

Since we had a maximum of 1 min. 30 seconds,we decided to wait until our next PSA to give credit to Dave Matthews and Charlottesville Area Community Foundation for funds for scholarships when needed. Tell others, please.

The Reading Window School of Louisa tutors children of all ages in reading, specializing in pre-kindergarten thru 1st grade.

They transform students from struggling, frustrated readers to successful, fluent readers. Most students come to the Reading Window School because they are reading below grade level. After attending a 6 week intensive program, the children return to their classrooms as willing and able students – some even attain honor roll.

Reading Window School students learn to read with joy and understanding. A happy reader learns faster and feels more secure in all other subjects as a result.

Is your child ready for a great leap forward, or for the next grade? Or, is your child below grade level and you are frustrated? Check out the non-profit Reading Window School of Louisa. To donate, get tutoring information, or to register your child for the next session starting in January, please call Sherri Rosser at 540-872-1998. This message is brought to you by the Reading Window School and WTJU.

The Charlottesville Area Community Foundation has donated $5,000 to the Reading Window School to provide low-income early literacy scholarships.  These scholarships are available for students who are below grade level in reading to attend the School’s six-week tutoring program in Louisa County, whose mission is to help prevent illiteracy and teach the joy of reading with understanding.

The Reading Window School is now enrolling for their winter session beginning January 12, 2009.  Each session is 30 intensive, one-to-one lessons.  Parents of children interested in scholarships should contact the school at (540) 872-1998.  The school’s policy is first-come-first-serve.

The Charlottesville Area Community Foundation is a local community organization that provides funding for non-profit agencies in Charlottesville and surrounding areas.  Their mission is to improve the quality of life for those living and working in those communities. The foundation is a permanent endowment founded in 1967 that distributes grants twice a year.

The non-profit Reading Window School specializes in bringing children up to their grade level in reading skills.  This generous donation will permit the school to provide partial scholarships to economically disadvantaged youth from the county and surrounding areas.

While the Reading Window techniques can be used with all ages, they are especially effective in getting young children up to their peer reading level, usually after only one six-week intensive program of meeting for an hour, five days a week, for 30 days.  The school is located in the Old Library at 103 West Street in Louisa.  This is a handicapped-accessible building generously provided by the Louisa County Board of Supervisors.

To enroll your child, phone 540-872-1998.

This summer we helped a total of twelve students become better readers. Our students’ ages ranged from 4 – 13. Students had fun while applying the Reading Window methods either to learn to read for the first time or to improve their reading skills so they can do better in school.

Following is an excerpt from a letter we received from Teresa concerning her granddaughter, Kaitlyn:

“I’d like to thank you for Kaitlyn’s amazing reading progress. I have seen a complete turnaround in her attitude toward reading and I can never express what that means to me as well as to her. In five weeks, I have witnessed more progress than her entire first grade session.

Thank you for investing so much time and individualized attention in my child. Your program has given her a new outlook towards and joy in reading. I will recommend the program without hesitation to anyone I meet with any concerns over their child’s reading.

Kaitlyn looks forward to the second grade and reading in class thanks to your program. This is priceless and the effects will last a lifetime.”

We also want to recognize the organizations that have supported our program this year. Generous grants from the organizations listed below provide valuable scholarship funds for the families we serve.

THANK YOU to the following organizations:

The Optimist Club of the Blue Ridge
Charlottesville Area Community Foundation (CACF)
BAMA Works Fund (Dave Matthews Band)

We look forward to continuing to help children read with joy and understanding!

Below is a copy of our certificates this year from the Volunteers of Louisa.

Volunteer Certificates

And — Was it easy for you to download and print the little book?

I am also looking for more ways to help families who live too far away to come in person to experience our successful ReadingWindow methods. Did you find it easy to make and use the little cardboard “windows”? Do you have tips to share, or questions about using the “windows”?

Please help me (and future readers of this website) by answering the questions above. In return, I’ll offer an individual, 40-minute Telephone Tutoring session to the first four people who respond, plus two more to the lucky people whose names are drawn from all others who respond within thirty days.

Be sure to include your child’s name, age, and grade.
Also, information about special interests helps us create individualized tutoring. (Dinosaurs? Basketball? Pizza?………)

Thank you very much,
Piper Martin

Here’s a very brief Thank You that really touched my heart.

Schneider Thank You