The Paladin program uses multi-sensory strategies and specifically chosen support materials to teach, remediate, and facilitate students' individual learning. These strategies are designed to help children with learning challenges "learn how to learn." Included in these strategies are resources and techniques for improving the processing, reading, spelling, math, and language abilities of the students. In addition, we also help students add study skills and organizational techniques to their arsenal of learning strategies.

Encoding/Decoding

Students with language-based challenges such as dyslexia and dysgraphia do not learn the rules of language intuitively. In order to function to their full intellectual ability, they require a multi-sensory teaching approach that specifically focuses on the basic letter and sound relationships and the structure of language. We use proven teaching materials such as the Wilson Reading System.

Written Language

The Paladin program focuses heavily on helping students develop good communication skills including written expression. Children with learning challenges often have difficulty organizing thoughts well enough to put them on paper and can often be poor spellers. Teachers in conventional settings often grade spelling in written language tasks, discouraging students with learning difficulties. In the Paladin program, students develop written language skills by focusing on one cognitive task at a time, using materials that are specifically designed to support this approach. We focus first on grammar and sentence structure, then on paragraph and essay writing. Our program leverages activities and topics that students genuinely enjoy to help ensure mastery of learned skills. Support materials and direct instruction encourage students' written self-expression through practice in relating their experiences and explaining their ideas.

Reading Comprehension

All good language arts programs help children develop skills in drawing inferences and conclusions that lead to true comprehension. The Paladin approach takes into account the fact that children with learning challenges tend to function on a very concrete level. By employing strategies such as visualization, retelling, paraphrasing, and brain mapping, Paladin teachers are able to help students "see the moving picture" of language. This approach goes well beyond word recognition to comprehension of reading passages.

Processing

Processing training is an essential part of the Paladin program. Simply put, processing is how the brain takes in and interprets information, such as perception and interpretation of shapes, colors, words, sounds, etc. Some children come to the Paladin program with visual and auditory processing problems. Processing training provides a series of drills and exercises designed to improve a student's ability to perceive, chunk, and retain information. For students who may struggle with the important skills of copying material from a chalkboard or taking notes from a speaker, Paladin techniques develop the visual and auditory processing skills of memory, perception, attention, and tracking ability. Once these skills have been developed, the student is much more likely to succeed in the general education classroom. All learners can benefit from these exercises. Just as a runner stretches before running, we train the brain before we teach.

Study Skills

One of the key elements of academic success is the mastery of good study skills. All of the recent research on ADHD, dyslexia, and learning disabilities acknowledges that these students have strong tendencies towards disorganization and poor study habits. The Paladin program uses specific tools and strategies to assist students in acquiring these skills. Our teachers show their students how to organize class work and homework, while introducing time management and scheduling skills. Teachers assist students in creating and maintaining a classroom binder, homework binder, and assignment book. Spot checks are performed, and commendations, rewards, and in some cases, grades for older students are given for improvement.

Learning-challenged students have great difficulty breaking down text to a manageable level. Therefore, they get very overwhelmed when having to study or read material from lengthy chapters. Teachers assist students in creating study guides. Once students are proficient at completing and utilizing the study guides, they are taught to develop and create their own guides. Application of this highly useful tool is essential to the student's success in secondary and post secondary schools.