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WINTER 2017 HOMESCHOOL IOWA 15
Has Your Child Been
DiagnosedWith Dyslexia?
BY SONIA CULVER, M.A., CCC-SLP
Wondering what to do next? Seeking an individualized
tutoring program for your child might be necessary. There
are franchise and independently-owned practices that focus
on improving a student’s ability to read. It can be daunting
trying to find a resource that fits your child’s needs. There are
many questions that should be asked to help you determine
the right fit for you and your child. Below are some important
questions to ask when seeking out a tutor.
1. What are your qualifications? It is important to choose
a tutor who is trained in identifying underlying missing links
that may be contributing factors to your child’s reading delay.
Tutors who do not have an education background may not
be able to identify these important missing components with
your child’s abilities.
2. What specific assessments do you use to monitor
progress? Does the tutor have specific tools to measure the
progress? If not, a family can invest a significant amount of
time and money into the efforts that they are not certain are
working. It would be very frustrating to get a year down the
road and realize that the approach is not working and needed
to be adapted a long time ago.
3. How do you communicate my child’s progress and
status to me? How often and what does that communica-
tion look like? You should receive emails, phone calls, and
progress notes. Ask what information will be conveyed in
those updates. You should expect at least some data to be
collected on a weekly basis.
4. What specific strategies do you use for children with
reading decoding issues? Are they research based? Is it a
“cookie-cutter approach”? Does the tutor believe that one
program fits all students’ needs?
5. Do you work with reading comprehension (under-
standing) and, if so, what strategies do you use? If the tu-
tor’s strategy to work on reading comprehension is something
like this, “We have the student read a paragraph and ask him/
her questions about the paragraph,” that is really just assess-
ing. That is not giving him/her effective tools to help him/her
retain information. If this is the only strategy used, I would seek
out another tutor that has training in helping your child to cre-
ate images in his/her head of what is being said and what he/
she is reading. This will help him/her to retain information.
6. How often do we need to come for sessions and how
long are the sessions? Expect 1-3 times per week for ap-
proximately 30 minutes to an hour. This will vary depending
on your child’s needs and your family’s availability. Creating a
healthy balance between helping your child achieve academic
success and letting him/her be a kid is important.
7. How are you different from other tutoring services?
Can your tutor tell you specific ways that they are
different?
Sonia Culver, M.A., CCC-SLP is the founder of Enrichment Therapy and
Learning Center, P.C., with locations in North Liberty and Urbandale,
Iowa. Her passion is to change kids’ lives by helping them to achieve
effective communication skills and academic success.
stories like ‘Joan has 12 apples in her bag’ for him to solve.
He kept asking for more challenges at school, asking to do
more. We named states and capitols. I knew I could supple-
ment and add critical thinking questions to our family time
as the boys grew up.”
That struggling second-grade student has grown up and
now owns a private library in his home. “Both the boys are
readers. One concentrates on technical works and the other
fictional books,” Hentschel says. “I am so proud of where
they are today, and want to share these lessons with others
working with a struggling learner. Reading together should
be a warm, comfortable experience for children and par-
ents.”
In 2013, Hentschel and Suzanne Peyer, her sister and a
graphic artist, partnered to put the homemade phonics sys-
tem into a format parents could use with children as young
as three to jump start reading skills. During this time, the
sisters suffered the loss of their mother, which challenged
the writing and editing process. “We were able to stay close,
stay focused on the project through the obstacles and chal-
lenges of full-time jobs and living in separate states. It was
difficult, but we persevered and published Aardvark to Zuc-
chini Phonetic Alphabet Book in 2016. We also formed a
company, Aardvark to Zucchini Press,” shares Hentschel.
“Writing this book with my sister was so much fun. The
italics, color, and bold print used in the book reinforce the
lessons and then are repeated throughout the book just
like I wrote on my whiteboard years ago,” Hentschel says.
“Suzanne illustrated the book beautifully. We would send
ideas back and forth to finalize how to artistically represent
a word. It has been rewarding to read thank-you letters
from parents whose children have learned and gained con-
fidence in reading lessons.”
For the tech-savvy family, Aardvark to Zucchini Press
launched an app in October 2017. “The app has all the
lessons the book does, and it allows projection of the les-
sons on the wall for larger families or classrooms,” said
Hentschel. “Age 2 or 3 would be good age for introduction
to the book. The sentences are colorful, the subjects sim-
ple and fun.” Hentschel enjoys seeing others benefit from
the work she did to help her children learn to read when
they were young. “We purposely selected high-quality cot-
ten paper so the book will wear well,” Hentschel said. “One
parent reported their child selpt with the book because he
loved it so much. We were showing the book at a museum,
and a child was dancing with it. It is rewarding to see others
benefit from the lessons just like my children.”
For more information about this full color, 192-page
textbook-quality book, visit
where you can preview a chapter. The website uses the
same fonts that are in the book. Aardvark to Zucchini Press,
Inc. is offering a 20% discount to Homeschool Iowa readers
using this code: IAHomeSch20 on their website store.
Laura Carlson is an Iowa born, raised, and educated writer liv-
ing in central Iowa. Her hobbies include gardening, reading, bicy-
cling, and of course, writing. She is a graduate of Iowa State Uni-
versity and has worked as a diner dishwasher, website developer,
cleaning lady, and addictions therapist. Her motto is “Life: Live It”.