Reading and Language Art Centers, since 1991, have improved the reading and overall academic skills of thousands of southeastern Michigan students.
Its latest center has recently opened up in the lower level of the Pee Wee Patch Child Development Center in Lake Orion.
RLAC’s academic and remediation tutoring helps students of all ages significantly improve their grades, become independent learners and raise their self-esteem.
It offers specialized programs to meet the unique needs of individuals with learning disabilities, dylexia and Attention Deficit Disorder.
RLAC provides year-round one-to-one and small group tutoring and assessments of reading and educational skills.
Tutoring is done in all subjects. Adults are also encouraged to take advantage of RLAC’s programs.
The center uses their nationally accredited program, Phonics First TM, a structured, sequential, cumulative and multisensory approach to reading and spelling. It has proven very successful for students, even those who have struggled with the reading and spelling process.
This approach has been nationally accredited by the International Multisensory Structured Language Education Council.
It’s based on the Orton-Gillingham methodology. Students are taught through simultaneous sensory pathways (visual, auditory, tactile and kinesthetic) to master sound-symbol recognition, phonics sounds and decoding skills.
Lexia Phonics-based reading software is used at home by many students to expediate instruction at the center. It provides structured and sequential reading skills development and three age-appropriate programs for use at home.
The center’s tutors have all completed specialized training in the Phonics First approach. In addition to this intensive training, tutors pursue ongoing professional development.
All tutors have bachelor’s degrees and many of the tutors have advanced degrees in education and years of classroom experience. Tutors are selected for their understanding of and sensitivity to the frustrations many learners experience.
Evelyn Peter is the founder of RLAC. She came to the United States as a child from Austria and was taught phonics when it was discovered she was a low reader of English. .
When she later decided to help children who were struggling with reading, Peter sought out the best program to help them achieve reading skills. Phonics FirstTM was developed based on these ‘best practices? in reading instruction.
A student’s initial skill level is determined with a basic skills assessment which evaluates the range of individual’s skills in relation to decoding, encoding/spelling, reading fluency and comprehension. RLAC’s programs are diagnostic in nature, which allows tutors to determine, on an ongoing basis, which skill areas need to be addressed.
The center also has a special reading readiness program for three, four and five year olds. Children who participate in this program will enjoy a variety of fun age-and skill-appropriate multisensory games and activities designed to engage young children to hear the sounds and patterns that make up words.
Depending on the child’s skills, activities including rhyming, sound play through phonemic awareness, letter recognition, letter-sounding relationships, sound blending and word segmenting.
RLAC Tutoring Center is located at 1796 South Lapeer Road, Suite 4. Other locations include Bloomfield Hills, Shelby Township, Farmington Hills and St. claire Shores. For more information on the center’s programs call 248-693-4591, visit www.RLAC.com or email: info@rlac.com.