Remedial Therapy

Remedial Education

While training academic and analytical skills to children with ADHD, ASD, SLD (Specific Learning Disorder), Learning Disorder, or any other form of intellectual difficulties, we should use different teaching strategies.

A remedial therapist will use unique training methods and customized materials to use the skills the child already has to teach a new skill or concept. 

Remedial educators work on

  1. Reading skills (reading, comprehension, and phonic awareness)
  2. Writing skills (spelling, writing expression, and handwriting practice)
  3. Math skills (basic and advanced concepts)
  4. Information processing (memory improvement and cognitive perception)
  5. Functional academics (study skills, following the teaching process, and taking notes)

Is remedial educator and a one-on-one tutor the same thing?

Remedial Educator

  1. Provides intensive intervention to improve the fundamental academic skills to cope with the advanced concepts over time.
  2.  Uses unique resources and customized study materials to train children in every concept.
  3.  In most cases, remedial educator prefers to work one-on-one with the children. In rare cases, the remedial educator could work with a small group of children. Even then, they prefer to choose children with the same level of understanding and comprehension for group remedial education.
  4. Apart from academic skills, they work on critical thinking and analytical skills.
  5. A remedial educator develops intervention plans and customized assessments to track the progress.
  6. A remedial educator would likely not follow a mainstream school’s syllabus flow. Instead, they analyze what the child can understand and use that to teach new concepts; thus, one child’s syllabus flow would not be the same as others.
  7. A remedial educator is equipped with knowledge and resources to work with children with below-par intelligence, behavioral issues, and others.

Tutor

  1. A tutor focuses on training the academic concepts relevant to the child’s current academic year (mainstream school).
  2. The lesson plan and syllabus flow would be parallel to the syllabus in the mainstream school. But, again, the idea is to prepare the child to understand what’s taught in the class.
  3. Most tutors prefer to teach groups of children of the same academic level. However, some one-on-one tutors would give individual attention to children.
  4. A tutor would work on academic concepts and the basic skills required to understand those concepts.
  5. Tutors do not use customized materials or assessment processes.
  6. Most tutors do not work with children with behavioral issues, below-par intelligence, and other problems.

Our remedial training process

Step 1: The Egg Stage

Assessing the child

Butterflies‘ eggs come in different shapes and sizes, and every egg has an equal chance of becoming a butterfly. Likewise, learning disabilities and developmental disorders come with a spectrum of problems, and every single child has the potential to learn and become educated. For example, a completely non-verbal kid can also read, write, understand, and become educated. It is about finding the right remedial educator, material, and training process. 

In this stage, each child is assessed to understand the current skill and understanding levels and know where the kid’s passion lies. For instance, a child might be very interested in colors, and we can use this passion to teach reading, writing, basic arithmetic skills, and more. Then, from these new skills, we can train advanced skills.

Step 2: The Caterpillar Stage

Creating study materials, teaching methods, and a tailored curriculum

A caterpillar is always hungry and always on the move. The child is very curious and inattentive at this stage. Therefore, designing study materials and training methods to suit the child’s curiosity is crucial. Most parents believe in going along with the mainstream syllabus. While this method might suit a few children, it is usually best to go with a tailored syllabus. 

Our remedial educator team would coordinate with our material developer to create customized worksheets, books (if needed), and other materials like flashcards, guides, etc. At this stage, it is more of a trial-and-error method in which the educator exposes the child to different training methods, analyzes the outcomes, and either sticks with that method or chooses another process. 

At this stage, the child is usually exposed to one concept at a time and given adequate time to understand that concept before moving on to another. Sometimes, a singular concept could be broken down into sub-parts and taught one by one. The progress would be monumental at this stage.

Step 3: The Chrysalis Stage

Moving on to advanced concepts and developing logical reasoning skills and analytical skills

At this stage, the child would be exposed to multiple concepts simultaneously. Sometimes, different subjects could be trained at the same time. It might not look like the child is progressing faster as, at this stage, the child is being taught advanced concepts which take a lot of time to understand. The rote memory concept does not work here (the child has come to a stage where mere mugging up wouldn’t help). It is the stage where the child learns to understand the logic/syntax/reasoning behind it. 

At this stage, the trainer tries to wean the child from illustrated study materials and push the child toward notebook/blackboard-based training.

Step 4: The Butterfly Stage

Developing the child to be independent and making him mainstream-ready

This is the ultimate result we all are looking for. At this stage, the child is trained to be independent in learning. He is prepared to read a concept, understand, and implement it. When the concept is confusing, the child is taught to approach a teacher and ask his doubt. 

The child is also trained to self-learn through internet study materials, library books, dictionaries, and thesaurus.

“The ultimate goal of a remedial educator is to make the child develop to a point where he no longer needs a remedial educator. Becoming independent in a classroom setting is the first step towards becoming independent citizens.”
-Pavithra Palani
Principal, BRIGHT- The Learning Center

FAQ about remedial education

Q1: When can I start remedial education?

It is ideal to start with pre-reading activities at the age of 2.5 years. However, most parents identify the lags during early primary classes or kindergarten. Remember that it is easier to close the gap between the child’s skill level and the required age-appropriate skill level if you start early.

Q2: Can the remedial educator go in coherent with the mainstream syllabus?

Yes, but if the child cannot understand the basic concepts, it is useless beginning with advanced concepts. Therefore, there would usually be a gap between the remedial program and the mainstream syllabus. However, we can reduce the gap over time and make them at par with the mainstream syllabus.

Q3: Will all special needs children require remedial education?

No, if your child is lagging in academic progress, it is best to choose a remedial educator.

Q4: Do I need different remedial educators for different subjects?

One remedial educator is enough for basic concepts, and some educators are experienced in teaching all children up to 10th or 12th grade. However, if your child chooses specialized subjects, you need specialized remedial educators.

Q5: Can I enroll my non-verbal child in remedial education?

Yes, although verbal skills are a plus in academic training, it is also possible to train a non-verbal child in areas like reading, writing, and comprehension.

Q6: How many sessions would my child need per day?

Consistency is a primary pillar for remedial education; thus, we recommend five weekly classes. Each session can extend from 30 to 60 minutes, depending on the child’s capacity.

Q7: Can I watch my child’s remedial classes?

Yes, parents are welcome to stay during the classes. We encourage parents to be a part of the training process. We also provide home programs and training schedules for the parents to continue the practice at home.

 

Q8: Would it be a group session or one-on-one training?

Remedial education is always conducted as one-on-one sessions as each child is different in the learning pace, methods, materials, syllabus, etc. However, when training classroom independence in later stages, we prefer to train the children in small groups to improve joint attention skills.