Welcome to The Reading Room & The Math Mentor Centre, formally Linda's Reading Room. Our primary goal is to help children 4-17 who are struggling with Reading/Spelling & Math. Simply put our program equips kids with learning tools they will use for a lifetime.
We work with High School Students, Kids on the Spectrum & Children with Learning Disabilities or Anxiety
We enjoy working with kids that learn outside the box! We can directly invoice The Ministry of Children & Families, Home Schooling Associations, Jordan's Principal. We meet kids exactly where they are at, build relationships and mentor them through the process of acquiring life long Reading and or Math tools.
Summer Programs
Summer program sign up starts now! Give your kids the tools & confidence to succeed at the next grade level. Sampling of our programs;
- The Catch up
- High School Math Preparation
- Pre-Calculus Preparatioin
- The Standard
- Kindergarten Prep/Learn to Read
Please see our Summer Programs page for more information of each program
Our Values
Therapeutic- We are relational by nature, our student teacher ratios never exceed 2:1. We believe learning is a vulnerable process therefore we set up our atmosphere to honour the kids on that journey.
Fun- Games are used to reinforce learning concepts. Trampoline dodge ball, soccer, table hockey and ping-pong breaks are given to help with motivation & retention.
Results Orientated- Rewards are given to motivate kids through the hard patches and to help them acquire the life-long Reading & Math tools they will need.
The Place......Kids Love to Learn.
Why do some students have difficulty Reading?
Children may fall behind in reading because of gaps in phonemic awareness and code knowledge. If left untreated, it may create a lasting reading disability. These problems have nothing to do with intelligence or ability but rather how children decode text into speech sounds to form meaningful words. Some children may have difficulties memorizing sound-symbol association or have visual tracking issues resulting in the child losing track of what has been read. The Reading Room addresses all these reading difficulties in a way that is fun, therapeutic and results orientated.
Why do some students struggle with Math?
There are many reasons why a child could struggle with Math. The reasons we most often see are;
- A hard time with focus therefore missing important steps in the process.
- Too often memorization is used as a major tool at the expense of understanding concepts.
- Lack of confidence, kids that have experienced setbacks become quickly intimidated which leads to avoidance and a stress response.
- Many do not see the connection between the theory and application.
- Students can have a hard time relating or changing their mind set in order to understand the process & patterns of Math.
Please click here to learn more about our Math Program
How can we help?
Our Reading Program is Phono-Graphix certified and phonetically based emphasizing the correspondence between letters and sounds and the ability to decode words. We also provide direct instruction and guided practice to include sight word recognition, reading comprehension and vocabulary skills.
We provide a free assessment in order to identify the gaps a child may have.
Who are we?
Our program has been recommended and referred by Parents, Resource Teachers and Speech Pathologists for over 10 years.
Shawn & Lori Bishop have been teaching and training for over 20 years. The path to their tutoring business has been unconventional. Lori has her BA in Communications & English from SFU. Shawn has a BBA from BCIT and a double Masters from VIU. More importantly than schooling, they have both have worked in the trenches.
Lori Bishop is the co-owner of the Reading Room & Math Mentor Centre. She has been working with children for over 18 years, specifically working with the Reading Room for 8 years. Lori worked in Social Services for 8 years where she worked as a program manager and assistant manager for teens and adults with developmental disabilities. Lori was an Educational Assistant for 2 years at Nanaimo Christian School. She loves children and has two of her own.
Shawn worked with high risk youth and teens for 4 years including a stint at a group home for high risk youth in East Vancouver. He has coached 4 seasons of baseball/soccer he currently is a head coach for Football Nanaimo. Shawn’s business background is in Human Resources (including Training & Development, Behavior Science & Performance Management & Assessment) Marketing and Corporate Sales. He has managed and trained at every job he has had since the mid 1990's. Shawn has a huge passion for growth and personal development for both himself and those around him.
Together they worked in Children’s ministries and ran the children’s programs and Sunday School at two churches they attended. They work with Heritage Home School Association and have both completed their criminal record checks.
The Reading Room & Math Mentor Centre are Vancouver Island Owned & Operated
The Phono-Graphix instruction has been 98% effective at solving reading problems at any age, or ability level. It is researched based, developmentally appropriate, straightforward, concrete, powerful, creative and affordable. Source; www.readamerica.net
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