Unique Learning Center LLC is a specialized education center that provides a range of diagnostic and individual educational tutoring service that supports students and parents from kindergarten to high school. We provide both online and in person (Summerville and North Charleston Area) tutoring services for reading, writing, math, communication, and behavior.
We are highly qualified educational specialists that serve students with
Our personalized sessions are conducted by specialists who have been trained in the Orton-Gillingham/Structured Literacy approach to reading, writing and math intervention as well as in ABA therapy. We design sessions to begin at each individual's instructional level. Utilizing multi-sensory approach, we make learning fun, engaging, and s
Our personalized sessions are conducted by specialists who have been trained in the Orton-Gillingham/Structured Literacy approach to reading, writing and math intervention as well as in ABA therapy. We design sessions to begin at each individual's instructional level. Utilizing multi-sensory approach, we make learning fun, engaging, and stimulating with the use of manipulatives, games, and activities.
"Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that is neurobiological in origin. It is characterized by difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities. These difficulties typically result from a deficit in the phonological component of language that is often unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities and the provision of effective classroom instruction. Secondary consequences may include problems in reading comprehension and reduced reading experience that can impede growth of vocabulary and background knowledge"
Reid Lyon, 2002
International Dyslexia Association
Dysgraphia is a specific learning disability that affect written expression. Dysgraphia can appear as difficulties with spelling, poor handwriting and having trouble putting down thoughts on paper.
Dyscalculia is a specific learning disability that affects the ability to acquire arithmetical skills. Dyscalculia learners may have difficulty with understanding number concepts, memorization of arithmetical facts, accurate and fluent calculations, and accurate math reasoning.
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The Orton-Gillingham/Structured Literacy based approach is a systematic, diagnostic, explicit, sequential, and multi-sensory instructional approach intended to be used with individuals who have difficulties with reading, spelling, and writing associated with Dyslexia. Research indicates this is the most effective treatment for Dyslexia.
Multi-sensory instruction is a way of teaching that engages more than one sense at a time. Using visual, auditory, tactile, and kinesthetic gives students more than one way to connect with what they are learning. Doing so aids in the retention of what is being taught, increases motivation, and allows the student to succeed.
Multisensory Math uses the same principles as the Orton-Gillingham approach and follows a progression of concrete-representation-abstract (CRA) to teach new math concepts. Students first learn new math concepts using hands-on, 3 dimensional, kinesthetic/tactile materials (concrete). Then they move on to drawing pictures of concrete objects (representational). Finally student convert the information into numbers and symbols (abstract).
Remedial instruction is designed to close the gap between what students know and what they are expected to know. These gaps may be due to frequent absences or trouble with specific targeted skills. Remedial instruction offers extra support to help students catch up to their peers by providing individualized, targeted lessons and homework assistance. Remedial instruction is open to all students, including those with disabilities.
The sooner a child with dyslexia is identified and receives appropriate instruction, the better the outcome. Consider:
For those reasons, and because many schools in South Carolina do not yet provide the instruction students with dyslexia need, we recommend having your child tutored in reading. The type of instruction most children with dyslexia benefit from is structured literacy. Structured Literacy approaches reading systematically and sequentially teach the sounds and symbols of our language. Many are based on the works of Samuel Orton and Dr. Anna Gillingham and are known as the Orton-Gillingham method. You do not need a diagnosis of dyslexia to begin tutoring.
Hiring a tutor is essential in helping your child make meaningful progress. Tutors expect parents to ask some questions either in a telephone interview or via email. Many tutors will have agreements/contracts that outline their remediation practices for your student. These agreements typically will answer most of the information below. If not, we have provided a list of questions to consider asking before hiring a tutor.
Here are some important questions for parents to ask about tutoring instruction and support:
Red Flag Answers:
Logistic Questions:
Payment Questions:
Measuring Progress Questions:
Iraida recently moved to South Carolina in 2018 from New Jersey, where she grew up. She attended the University of Minnesota and received her B.A. in Economics. After working in the corporate world in New York City and San Francisco for several years, she decided to change careers and become a teacher. Iraida received an M.A. in Special Education and has taught students with disabilities and reading disorders since 2003. In addition, she is certified as a Reading Specialist and has completed her Associate Level certification from the Academy of Orton-Gillingham Practitioners and Educators. Currently, she is pursuing a Certified Level certification from the Academy. Being dyslexic, she truly understands the struggles students have learning to read and write. Iraida has seen firsthand how utilizing the Orton-Gillingham (multi-sensory) approach can increase a student's academic potential and self-confidence.
Mrs. Kelly O'Brien-Kelly is a certified special education teacher with 36 years of teaching experience for students with various learning abilities. She attended the University of Connecticut and received an M.A. in Education. She moved to South Carolina from the North and currently lives in Ladson. Ms, Kelly is a recent retiree from the Berekely County School District.
Mrs. Kelly will provide remediation and reinforcement of core skills and assist with homework support.
"I look forward to working with students who need a little extra support," Kelly O'Brien-Kelly.
Kate is an autism teacher in Summerville, South Carolina. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Special Education from the College of Charleston in 2017 with a certification to teach children in grades K-12 with emotional disabilities and intellectual disabilities. Kate has been working with students with ASD for approximately 10 years. She has experience with ABA therapy as well as 4 years of experience teaching a self-contained autism classroom. Kate was awarded Teacher of the Year at the school she is currently employed by for the year of 2021. Kate has a passion for teaching children with autism and has confidence in her ability to help improve children’s educational, behavioral, communication and functional skills.
What is R.E.A.D.®?
The Reading Education Assistance Dogs® (R.E.A.D.) program improves children’s reading and communication skills by employing a powerful method: reading to a dog. But not just any dog.
R.E.A.D. dogs are trained, tested, registered, liability-insured therapy animals who volunteer with their owner/handlers as teams, going to schools, libraries, and many other settings as reading companions for children.
When a R.E.A.D. dog listens, the environment transforms, a child’s dread is replaced by eager anticipation, and learning occurs. The handler is a skilled facilitator, too—shifting performance pressure off the child and providing support. In contrast, the child gets the supervised reading practice necessary to build vocabulary, increase understanding of the material, and gain fluency and confidence as a reader.
But Why Dogs?
Learning to read is often less about intellectual limitation than overcoming fears and being interested. As you may recall from your school days, fear can paralyze intelligence. Animals are ideal reading companions because they:
· help increase relaxation, slow heart rate, and lower blood pressure
· listen attentively
· do not judge, laugh or criticize
· allow children to proceed at their own pace
· are less intimidating than peers
· let the child become the tutor
What? Dogs Can’t Read!
Of course, they can’t. But they can be great listeners. And their presence creates an inviting and motivating environment that is:
· relaxed
· comfortable
· safe
· nonjudgmental
· empowering and FUN!
The Results are Stunning.
Participating kids make enormous strides in reading and communication skills while, along the way, building self-esteem, confidence, and social skills. Other bonus benefits include: performance in other subjects tends to improve, as does class participation, and attendance.
Milo is a 10 year old rescue dog. He loves listening to children read to him.
"Ms. Jimenez has helped our son from working on sounding out letters/words/ reading paragraphs to spelling and writing paragraphs. The confidence and growth she's instilled in him is immeasurable. Ms. Jimenez has been able to help our son in ways we could not through her approach to teaching and utilizing her therapy dog, Milo. Levi has grown to enjoy reading. We would be lost without Ms. Jimenez."
Amy Porter, Summerville, SC
"Unique Learning Center has helped my daughter tremendously with the challenges of dyslexia. She has improved in reading and writing, increased her confidence, and applied the strategies she learned at home and school. Ms. Jimenez is a partner and an advocate for her students. She develops personalized plans that fit our daughter's needs and has developed a rapport with her that is both fun and hard-working. She is also a fantastic resource to help navigate learning at home and school. We are very thankful for this program."
Amanda Goodson, Summerville, SC
"Tutoring helps me a lot. I can read better when I am at school and at home. She makes it fun and gives me treats. Tutoring gives me tips and strategies to use when I am at school. It makes me feel more confident on tests. I care more about my work and want to do better each time."
Karley Goodson, 5th Grade Student, Summerville, SC
Thanks to the support and expertise of Unique Learning Center, we’ve seen our son’s academic performance and overall confidence, and quality of life improve. Our son not only receives the Orton-Gillingham instruction he needs to succeed within the school environment, but we’ve received guidance and support negotiating his accommodations and help to apply OG and multi-sensory methodologies at home. One of my favorite parts of working with Iraida is that she truly cares about students beyond academic performance. She integrates student interests into lessons and supports flexibility in scheduling to allow for extracurricular activities. Our son’s mood is always improved after a session with Iraida. This is a testament to her approach to providing the needed academic support for success and building confidence.
Lucy Frye, Summerville, SC
"My son Stevan was Kindergartener when Covid hit. He started to enjoy learning and reading when schools switched to online learning. He fell behind, and I was looking to find a tutor for the summer at the end of the first grade. I'll be forever grateful for meeting my son's tutor Ms. Jimenez. From the get-go, Stevan enjoyed lessons with Ms. Jimenez. He was looking forward to seeing her. They started with the basics of reading, doing the tactile multisensory approach. That was a breakthrough for Stevan. With his ADHD, this approach keeps his body and mind occupied, and he can focus and understand the material. Ms. Jimenez is always so patient and understanding. Stevan has improved his reading, writing, his penmanship tremendously. He is now in 3rd grade and receiving wonderful grades. He still sees Ms. Jimenez twice a week and enjoys those lessons!"
Vera Markovic, Summerville, SC
"My son was newly diagnosed with dyslexia in fourth grade, and we felt lost. I was given the number for Ms. Jimenez and called her out of desperation. Even though she was, at the time, a full-time special needs teacher and had a full tutoring schedule, she was willing to take on our son and his very severe dyslexia diagnosis. Throughout our almost three years of working together now, we have seen our son progress immensely! She has always gone above and beyond to help our son, even attending IEP meetings, helping advocate for him and his needs, but most importantly, giving our son confidence and the ability to read! We will forever be grateful for her!"
Lauren Ragland, Summerville, SC
"My daughter struggled with decoding and word attack strategies. As a result, she had difficulty
comprehending what she read. Her interest in reading began to decline, she began “fake reading”, and any assignment that required writing was a struggle. She struggled with written communication and including key details in her writing. Since she began tutoring her confidence has increased tremendously even though she still stumbles sometimes when reading however, she will stop and use a strategy to help her say the word correctly. When reading now she knows when a word doesn’t make sense and she will go back and reread. These are all strategies that I thought I could help her with to overcome the challenges she faced with reading. Needless to say, I wished I had reached out sooner to get her the prescriptive support she needed. Ms. Jimenez is very professional and finds ways to connect with my daughter which motivates her. My daughter looks forward to her tutoring sessions with Ms. Jimenez. She doesn’t see it as one more thing she has to do. Surprisingly, my daughter enjoys the writing sessions the most. I have seen huge improvements in her writing and she’s always eager to share her accomplishments and what she is currently working on. She does not get frustrated with writing assignments anymore she puts forth more effort to work on her own and then ask me to check over her work. Before she began tutoring is was almost like she had a mental block, she would have difficulty knowing how to get started on her own and would totally miss the mark when answering questions or having to provide a written response. Now I provide very little support. The prescriptive tutoring program combined with Ms. Jimenez dedication and passion for teaching has made a drastic difference for my daughter improving her self-confidence with reading and writing."
LaToya Smith, Ladson, SC
"Since I began tutoring I feel more confident about reading and writing. Before I began tutoring I felt that reading was hard and I had a difficult time answering questions. Tutoring has helped me with my writing skills, for an example when answering questions I can now write a response with details and cite evidence to support the answer to my question. I can sound out and pronounce long words the correct way."
Jayla Smith, 7th Grade Student, Ladson, SC
" As a parent, it is hard to see your child struggle in school and not know how to help them. When my son was finally diagnosed with dyslexia, I realized that he needed specialized instruction in order for him to learn effectively. The team at Unique Learning Center is very knowledgeable about dyslexia and how students with dyslexia need to be taught. Since working with Ms. Jimenez, my son’s reading has greatly improved. Ms. Jimenez’s multi-sensory approach to teaching has kept my son engaged and excited about learning to read."
Sarah Johnson, Summerville, SC
Outstanding Academic Excellence Award 2024 for most academic improvement in his class.
Our Dyslexic Children-2020
https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=oJ7xa6meD2Q&feature=emb_title
I AM DYSLEXIC - Short Animated Student Film
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1b2rHhFajE
Dyslexia Awareness Part 1: Module 1 - About Dyslexia
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgHDQeZ5QuA
Dyslexia Awareness Part 1: Module 2 - Dyslexic Strengths
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4VRjQnBoWM
Made By Dyslexia-various videos
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLBUsgxhf_otK_qKoZnP0pA/featured
TEDx Talks Dyslexia
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=ted+talk+dyslexia
The SummervilleJournal Scene Community Newspaper, Jan. 3, 2024 https://www.postandcourier.com/journal-scene/community-news/therapy-dogs-visit-knightsville-elementary-students/article_55011760-a371-11ee-a09d-df101618d96e.html
Every student has unique needs for support. Tell us more about what you are hoping a tutor can do for you, and we will start on a plan to help you get what you need.
1400 Central Avenue, Summerville, South Carolina 29483, United States
Monday - Friday: 2:00pm - 8pm
Saturday: By appointment
Sunday: By appointment
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