Think Smarter (Look At Things Differently)
My daughter Stacy was a 1st Grade student, in public school, in 1978 when we first noticed that she was having great difficulty reading. In 1978 I was the Headmaster and owner of Bloomfield Nursery School and Kindergarten, in West Bloomfield, Michigan. Being a knowledgeable educator and a concerned parent, my wife and I were first to sign up for parent teacher conferences that fall. The teacher’s assessment was bleak. She painted a picture of a child with a very low IQ and little hope. It didn’t add up in our minds, to the Stacy that we knew; but, we were the parents and very bias. Stacy remained in public school for the entire year and we witnessed no change.
The Montessori Schools were growing dynamically on the educational scene at that time. Associates urged us to enroll Stacy at the local Montessori. We knew the owners; they had a sterling reputation. So Stacy was enrolled and attended Montessori in the fall of 1979. When Stacy displayed the same learning problems at Montessori, their answer was repetition. Do the assignment again and again and again until you mastered it. While that approach may work well for 70% of the population, Stacy was a 30-percentor. No cigar!
It was a cold, snowy, February Sunday morning in Michigan. My favorite program of the week was called SUNDAY MORNING, hosted by Charles Kuralt. This TV magazine style show highlighted a variety of unique projects, programs, and individuals from coast to coast. On that morning, Kuralt was featuring The Gow School in Rochester, New York and the breakthroughs they were making with children who had ‘dyslexia‘. Within a few minutes of watching the program it was clear to me that Stacy most likely had the same condition. Research tells us that more than 80% of people with dyslexia are males. Learning about dyslexia and its causes and cure was still in it’s infancy.
Stacy was lucky to have two educators for parents, who didn’t buy the simpler explanation of a frustrated classroom teacher (and who happened to own a school.)
That same February morning, when Charles Kuralt signed off, I was on the telephone calling the Gow School. The next morning, Monday, at 9 AM I was in Rochester, NY, on the campus of the Gow School, observing the children, the teachers, and learning about the technologies used to teach dyslexics how to achieve in a school environment.
The following morning, Tuesday, I was at the office of The Bloomfield Eccentric newspaper, placing an open letter to its readership. My ad read: “If school is failing your child, come to my meeting to learn about an alternative.” I knew in my heart that others besides dyslexics were being tossed aside.
Thirty families showed up at my meeting in March; twenty-seven families left deposit money. I promised them that my school, The Moss School, grades K – 8, would open the following September. And it did.
Stacy and most of the students went on to successful school careers and graduated college. Stacy still lives with dyslexia. She became an Art teacher and now is a successful, recognized artist and mother. See her work, CLICK HERE.
Scrabble players excel when they look at the board differently too. That is one of the many skills that you will learn if you enroll into Scrabble 101.