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Hoover Learning Group, the leader in dyslexia therapy and academic coaching in Middle Tennessee, has announced the open enrollment of Hoover Academy, an alternative education choice for elementary-aged children with reading disabilities.
Hoover Learning Group’s innovative charge to develop the academy leads the way in meeting a great need in special education. Featuring transformational teaching, the academy is distinctly different from other options: It offers students instruction by qualified dyslexia therapists and practitioners in six subjects.
Children with language-based reading disabilities, like dyslexia, need specialized education. Given the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on education, coupled with an already declining trend in reading proficiency among Tennessee fourth graders, Hoover Academy stands in the forefront on combating this educational crisis. Many public and private schools are not equipped with the manpower or knowledge to meet the needs of children with reading disabilities, which is the predominant learning disability. One in five people have dyslexia, which translates to one in five children. So, roughly 20 percent of the student population will most likely need specialized instruction. For children with poor reading skills, proper intervention at the proper time is key to becoming a proficient reader.
Why is all of this so important? Reading proficiency predicts futures. With hard work and a highly trained professional at their side, children can master reading.
Hoover Academy opens doors for young learners to access a range of academic disciplines -- such as math, science, history, music and executive functioning -- by using multi-sensory, interactive and hands-on learning approaches. Each course uses a curriculum that engages young minds and provides effective learning strategies.
The star of the academy, though, is the reading remediation, which utilizes a dyslexia-specific intervention tailored to each child’s needs. Take Flight – a comprehensive intervention for students with dyslexia – is an accredited dyslexia therapy program developed by the Luke Waites Center for Dyslexia and Learning Disorders at Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children in Dallas, Texas. Accredited by the International Dyslexia Association and the International Multisensory Structured Language Education Council, Take Flight incorporates the five pillars of reading: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension. Hoover Learning Group has already seen many students succeed in this curriculum and is an expert in administering it. Students of the academy would receive four hours a week of specialized instruction in Take Flight. Currently, Hoover Learning Group is offering dyslexia intervention training in Take Flight at the therapy level.
“Our goal is for students to graduate from our program with significant gains in the areas of reading and math," says director and founder, Natalie Hoover. "We hope to give students the intervention they need through highly trained instructors and to offer the dignity of choice in their future education. Our goal is to make literacy available to every student that walks through the door.”
One important difference in Hoover Academy from other dyslexia specific schools is that it is designed to be a one-to-two-year program, offering only a short reprieve from generalized education during which students can obtain the necessary tools to learn in the general education setting. The goal, then, is to steer students back to an academic setting of their choice with a new sense of confidence, a tool bag of learning strategies and a greater knowledge base to enable success in any mainstream classroom.