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Category: Educational Assessment

How Our Tutoring Program Supports Students with Diverse Needs

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Supporting Diverse Learners Through Customized Tutoring at Carolina Therapy Connection

At Carolina Therapy Connection, we understand that every child learns differently, and we believe that every student deserves the chance to reach their full potential. Our tutoring program is designed with this in mind, offering individualized support to children with a wide range of learning needs. Whether your child is struggling with academic skills or facing challenges related to developmental delays, our specialized approach is here to help.

Tailored Instruction for Every Learner

One of the key features of our tutoring program is the personalized approach we take with each student. We recognize that traditional classroom settings don’t always accommodate the diverse learning styles and paces of every child. Our tutors work closely with students to assess their strengths and areas for growth, then design lessons that align with their specific needs. This enables us to offer personalized support that helps students thrive both academically and emotionally.

Support for Students with Learning Differences

We are experienced in working with students who have a variety of learning differences, such as dyslexia, ADHD, autism spectrum disorders, and more. Our tutors employ research-based strategies and methods specifically designed to support children with these challenges. Whether it’s breaking down complex concepts into manageable steps or using visual aids to reinforce learning, we ensure that each child has the tools they need to succeed.

Integrating Therapeutic Expertise

What sets our tutoring program apart is the integration of therapeutic practices. Carolina Therapy Connection is recognized for its multidisciplinary approach, providing services including Occupational Therapy, Speech Therapy, and Physical Therapy. This expertise is integrated into our tutoring sessions to help students overcome barriers such as attention issues, sensory processing difficulties, or language challenges. By combining educational support with therapeutic interventions, we address both the academic and emotional needs of each child.

Building Confidence and Emotional Resilience

Beyond academic growth, our tutoring program focuses on building students’ confidence. For many children, struggles in the classroom can affect their self-esteem. Our tutors not only work on academic skills but also foster a growth mindset, encouraging children to view mistakes as opportunities for learning. This supportive environment helps students develop resilience, thereby boosting their confidence in both academic and personal life.

Partnering with Parents for Success

A successful tutoring experience is built on strong collaboration between parents, tutors, and students. Our team takes the time to regularly communicate with parents, keeping them updated on their child’s progress and offering guidance on how they can support learning at home. This partnership helps ensure that the strategies and skills learned during tutoring sessions are reinforced outside of the classroom.

Join Our Tutoring Program

At Carolina Therapy Connection, we’re committed to providing students with the personalized support they need to succeed academically and emotionally. Whether your child has unique learning needs or requires additional academic support, our tutoring program in Greenville and New Bern is here to help.

If you’re interested in learning more or starting tutoring services, please don’t hesitate to contact us today. We’re here to support your child’s growth every step of the way!

 

How Occupational Therapy Supports School Readiness Skills for Children

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School Readiness Skills and How Occupational Therapy Can Help

As your child prepares to enter school, it’s important to ensure they have developed key skills that will set them up for success in the classroom. While most people think of academic skills first, school readiness encompasses much more. It involves a combination of physical, social, emotional, and cognitive skills that enable children to interact with their environment, communicate with others, and perform tasks independently. Occupational Therapy plays a critical role in helping children develop these skills, ensuring they are ready to thrive in the school environment.

What Are School Readiness Skills?

School readiness skills are the foundation children need to succeed in school and beyond. These skills can range in areas, including:

  1. Motor Skills: Physical abilities needed for tasks like holding a pencil, cutting with scissors, and using a computer.
  2. Cognitive Skills: Problem-solving, memory, attention, and following multi step instructions.
  3. Self-regulation: The ability to control emotions, focus attention, and manage impulses.
  4. Social Skills: Communication, cooperation, and forming friendships with peers.
  5. Independence: Being able to complete tasks like dressing, feeding, and using the bathroom independently.

While children often develop many of these skills through everyday experiences and play, sometimes we may need more support in certain areas. This is where occupational therapy can HELP!

How Occupational Therapy Supports School Readiness Skills

Occupational therapy focuses on helping children develop the skills needed to function independently and participate in daily activities. For school readiness, an OT can address a variety of skills, ranging from fine motor skills to emotional regulation.

1. Fine Motor Skills:

Fine motor skills are essential for performing tasks like writing, cutting with scissors, and manipulating small objects. These skills involve the small muscles in the hands, fingers, and wrists.

How OT helps:

  • Handwriting: Occupational therapists can work on grip strength, pencil control, grasp, and letter formation.
  • Cutting: Through activities that strengthen hand muscles, incorporate bilateral hand use, and improve coordination, OTs can help children use scissors effectively.
  • Manipulating Objects: Simple activities, such as stacking blocks, buttoning shirts, or zipping jackets, can be incorporated into therapy to improve finger dexterity.

2. Sensory Processing:

Children who have difficulty processing sensory information (sounds, lights, textures, smells) may find it challenging to focus in a busy classroom environment.

How OT helps:

  • Sensory Integration: Through specialized activities, an OT can help children learn to cope with sensory overload or under-sensitivity. For example, children might engage in tactile play, use fidget toys, or participate in calming sensory breaks.
  • Self-regulation: OT teaches strategies like deep breathing, stretching, and muscle relaxation to help children manage their responses to stress or overstimulation.

4. Social and Communication Skills:

School readiness isn’t just about physical skills—it’s also about being able to communicate, share, and work with others. Children must learn to understand social cues, follow directions, and engage with their peers.

How OT helps:

  • Social Interaction: Occupational therapists use role-playing, peer play,  and social stories to help children practice sharing, taking turns, and understanding facial expressions.
  • Cooperative Play: Children can engage in group activities that promote teamwork, turn-taking, and appropriate communication.
  • Following Instructions: Through structured activities, OTs can help children develop the ability to listen, understand, and follow multi-step instructions.

5. Self-Care Skills:

One often-overlooked area of school readiness is the ability to perform daily tasks independently, such as dressing, eating, and toileting.

How OT helps:

  • Dressing: Occupational therapists can break down the steps needed to put on and take off clothes, teaching children how to button, zip, or tie shoes.
  • Feeding: They can work with children to develop the skills necessary for using utensils, managing snacks, and opening lunchboxes.
  • Toileting: OT helps children develop the independence to use the bathroom and practice hygiene routines like handwashing.

6. Attention and Focus:

A critical skill for school success is the ability to focus and pay attention during class activities.

How OT helps:

  • Improved Focus: OTs use games and activities that challenge attention, helping children learn to stay on task for longer periods.
  • Task Completion: Children learn how to break down tasks into manageable steps and practice following through until the task is completed.
  • Transitioning Between Activities: OTs help children practice switching from one activity to another smoothly, such as moving from recess to classroom work.

How to Get Started with Occupational Therapy for School Readiness

School readiness is more than just knowing the alphabet or counting to ten—it’s about developing the physical, social, emotional, and cognitive skills that will help children thrive in a classroom environment. Occupational therapy can support children in developing the motor skills, self-regulation, social abilities, and independence they need to succeed. If you’re concerned about your child’s readiness for school, working with an OT can provide valuable support and make the transition smoother.

If you’re concerned about your child’s school readiness skills, occupational therapy might be the solution. Call us today at 252-341-9944 to get started.

Not Your Average Toy!

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Not Your Average Toy offers a transformative approach to pediatric therapy, catering to the different needs of our pediatric patients in occupational, speech, and physical therapy within our clinic. These specialized toys aren’t just playthings; they motivate children to develop essential skills like fine motor control, visual perceptual abilities, grasping techniques, following multistep directions, stimulating ‘what’ questions, fostering color and shape recognition, encouraging problem-solving, and refining hand-eye coordination. What makes these toys exceptional is their unique ability to grasp the children’s attention while integrating therapeutic goals into engaging activities tailored to each child’s journey toward progress and achievement. Check out some of our favorite “Not average toys!” 

Examples of Not Your Average Toy:

Water Beads: 

What sets water beads apart? Water beads stand out for their fun way of developmental skills. They offer an enjoyable sensory and messy play while enhancing color recognition and sorting abilities. These beads serve as a tool for reaching milestones. Children can play by using a spoon for scooping into a cup, counting exercises, and even hiding items like toy fish or other objects within the beads to engage both hands in a tactile search. These toys facilitate various developmental goals, from color recognition and sorting to refining fine motor skills, in-hand manipulation, bilateral coordination, and sensory play. They also stimulate counting skills and engage in figure-ground activities.

 

Building Blocks: 

Building blocks are known for making a tower and watching it fall, but did you know that they offer various developmental opportunities? These square toys build structures with two hands, allowing a child to work towards bilateral coordination, midline crossing, and fine motor skills. Playing with blocks can also help with color recognition, shape learning, spatial orientation, and teaching concepts through block positions. 

Building blocks can also help with emotional regulation. If a task is challenging or the tower does not stay quite the way intended, this is an excellent opportunity to discuss the feelings raised and allow your child to have a voice.   

 

Puzzles: 

Puzzles are a fun, versatile learning tool for children. They can help children learn about shapes and colors, expand their vocabulary, and identify different types of animals. Puzzles also help children learn to act like put in and take out. You can add a multi-step direction to make a puzzle more challenging, like putting the cow and horse puzzle pieces together in their correct spot. For more engaging questions, ask your child, “What does a cow say?” or “Where is the cow?” Puzzle helps achieve milestones that involve enhancing visual perceptual skills, grasping technique, mastering multi-step directions, and developing problem-solving abilities. 

 

How can Carolina Therapy Connection Help? 

At CTC, we are committed to supporting our families and the child’s developmental journey and helping them achieve these goals at home. Please explore our website (https://www.carolinatherapyconnection.com/) or our Amazon Storefront (https://www.amazon.com/shop/carolinatherapyconnection). These are not your average toys; they are carefully innovative toys that can help foster growth and development. To further understand these toys’ impact, ask your therapist if you can sit in during a session. By watching the interaction between the child playing and the therapist, parents can gain insights into how effective these tools can be and bring these Not Your Average Toys into their home.

 

By: Lauren Hodges, COTA/L, and Allison Hicks

Tutoring Vs. Virtual Learning Support

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The Differences Between Tutoring and Virtual Learning Support

With Covid-19, we are in uncertain waters and these waters are not always smooth sailing. In addition to the responsibilities of day-to-day parenting, roles have shifted.  Parents are expected to teach and manage their child’s learning during days/weeks out of school.  Virtual learning can create new situations in the home. Some of the situations may have a positive impact, while others may create barriers for your child. For these reasons, parents often seek academic support for their child to be successful with the virtual learning model. This is why it is important to understand the difference between Tutoring and Virtual Learning Support. 

With personalized tutoring, students are administered an educational assessment to identify their basic academic levels of functioning needed to create an education plan.  Tutors address skills to help students achieve more at various levels of performance. Tutors provide direct instruction with the child and focus on their specific needs. They also utilize specific techniques, strategies, materials and resources to accomplish their academic goals.  Tutors often provide homework support for students functioning on grade level but needing additional instruction to reinforce understanding.  Tutoring is personalized to meet the needs of each student.

Virtual Learning Support is similar to homework support, but actually provides a more generic approach to instruction. 

Classroom teachers will create the assignments, and the academic coaches will focus on:

  • Keeping students organized and motivated
  • Building confidence and independence
  • Providing clarity and understanding of assigned material
  • Reinforcing academic skills
  • Providing structure and consistency
  • Helping with motivation to complete all work

A strong Virtual Learning Support program eliminates much of the stress parents and children experience. Parents can expect their child’s academic coach to:

  • Assume responsibility for assignments to be thoroughly and accurately completed
  • Provide full reports after every session describing what has been accomplished and any concerns noted
  • Communicate with the child’s classroom teacher as needed for clarification and collaboration
tutoring vs virtual learning Support

Are You and Your Child Frustrated With Homework?

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How Can an Educational Assessment be Beneficial to You and Your Child?

It is officially fall – that means football, costumes, hayrides, pumpkin spiced lattes (and everything else pumpkin flavored you can dream up) and HOMEWORK. (Wait, homework?).

Yes, if your evenings are like many other parents, it consists of long, grueling nights of frustration, confusion, and nagging.

Chances are your child has been “back to school” long enough for you to begin to see patterns. How much homework is the teacher giving? When is it due? You should know the teacher’s expectations and how your child is responding. Are they frustrated? Do you hear things like…I’m not good at reading? Math is stupid…why do I have to do this dumb stuff anyway?

Many parents accept this conflict with their children as an unavoidable consequence of responsible parenting. Arguing, punishing, and refusing to help rarely result in improved performance in school – and certainly no progress toward what should be our ultimate goal: helping children enjoy learning and have a positive school experience.

The solution to the problem of homework always begins with an accurate diagnosis and a recognition of the demands placed on your child. Parents should never assume that a child who resists doing homework is “lazy.” Your child may be anxious, frustrated, discouraged, distracted, and even angry- but this is not laziness.

To provide the best environment for your child, it is beneficial to create a homework plan. Our Educational Specialist recommends:

  • Breakdown homework by task: Pick one small task that your child can do to get started.
  • During the homework hour, all electronics are turned off, for the entire family.
  • Most elementary school children are able to work more effectively in a common area, with a parent nearby. Parents may work on other projects during this time, but should be available to help, to offer encouragement, and to answer children’s questions. Parents: avoid engaging in phone conversations during this time and be available if your child needs help.
  • Set aside a specified (and limited) time for homework. Set a time after school, after dinner, or a time that works best with your family’s schedule.
  • Be positive and encouraging. Make note of every improvement, not every mistake.
  • Avoid nagging and punishments. Give your child time to adjust and do not assume their lack of desire to complete a task is because they are unmotivated.

If you are already doing many of these recommendations with no real improvement in behavior, it is time to sit down with our Educational Specialist for an assessment of how our Educational Services can help!

Our Educational Specialist, Becky Taylor has over 40 years of experience helping children have a successful learning experience. For more information on pricing and what this process looks like visit our website: Educational Services

Q: Who would benefit from an Educational Assessment of Academic Achievement?

A: Reaching a decision to have an educational assessment typically comes after a period of struggle, distress, and various strategies to help improve the educational process. This assessment is an important step to help a student achieve success and for a parent to better understand how to address areas of concern. Results of this testing will address:

  • Academic achievement
  • Academic levels of functioning in:
  • Math
  • Written expression
  • Language
  • Reading
  • Academic readiness
  • Academic potential
  • Learning style
  • Attention difficulties
  • Communication skills

Results from this comprehensive assessment will provide important information in developing a plan of remediation.

Q: What is involved in an Educational Assessment?

A: Educational evaluations are comprised of informal assessments, standardized tests, evaluator observation, criteria-referenced tests, checklists and interviews. Test scores are analyzed to better understand the student’s areas of learning strengths and needs. The evaluation will include specific recommendations to address what is going on with the student.

Q: What happens after the Educational Assessment?

A: Once the comprehensive Educational Assessment is completed, an appointment will be scheduled with the parent to meet with our Educational Specialist. This follow-up conference will include a summary of the results and recommendations going forward to help the student achieve their greatest potential.

Q: What information can I gain from an Educational Consultation?

A: Consultation and review can be very useful in determining the next best step to address educational problems. Oftentimes, there is a complexity of learning challenges (attention, behavior, speech/language, social interactions, academic) that need to be addressed. Often, a parent has questions about response and services provided by the school; needing to accurately know the areas of academic strengths and weaknesses; or the implementation of services.

Q: How do I get started with the Educational Assessment process?

A: Getting started is easy! Contact us on our website www.carolinatherapyconnection.com or call our clinic at 252-341-9944 to connect with our staff. We will schedule an appointment to meet with our Educational Specialist.