Coby’s Story During the Resilient Reader Program

During our consultation, I noticed that Coby had some missing skills necessary for early reading, and that his motivation to read was already low, even at his young age. His parents weren’t sure if it was too early to supplement Coby’s learning, but we discussed how starting early can preempt a lot of the social-emotional distress that comes with struggling in school quietly for years. 

We began the Resilient Reader program during the fall of Coby’s Kindergarten year. 

Coby’s parents had a feeling that Coby was struggling with literacy as he was entering Kindergarten. They weren’t sure what specific aspects Coby might be struggling with, they just had a sense that he wasn’t ready and they didn’t want him to fall behind in his first year of “real school”. 

Because he hadn’t yet experienced the academic struggles that many older kids have been dealing with for years, Coby was very open to learning all of these new strategies and was excited about the possibility of becoming a better reader. Coby’s parents were also eager to learn ways to preempt the academic back-and-forth that can sometimes happen with kids struggling in school.

Through a series of tweaks to how Coby and his parents spent their time together, combined with my direct work with him on early reading and writing skills, Coby was able to gain confidence in his reading and writing skills and, halfway through Kindergarten, Coby was moved to the advanced reading group. 

His parents shared that their home felt calmer, and that they wished they had had these games and skills for their older children! Their older children also let me know that they loved the new games their parents played with them and the focus on positive moments at home. The parent framework aspect of the Resilient Reader program ended up helping the whole family.