Frequently Asked Questions

FAQ Introduction

The director, Janice Schreiber-Poznik, M.S., opened the Madison Reading and Learning Center in 1998, after five years of private practice, due to the increasing number of students experiencing difficulties in acquiring basic literacy skills. Today, the Madison Reading and Learning Center is a centrally located center in Madison, Wisconsin that serves children with a wide array of learning challenges.

What is the Madison Reading and Learning Center?

The Madison Reading and Learning Center (MRLC) is a small learning center that services approximately 35-40 students each academic and summer semester. The primary goal of the center is to help learners of all ages experience successful growth in areas of academic need with one-on-one and small group instruction tailored to their unique strengths and challenges.

What Type of Learners Do We Serve?

A large percentage of our students have been identified with a variety of learning differences that are now expressed as dyslexia, dysgraphia and dyscalcula (reading, writing and math). The most common challenges that we help to remediate are in the areas of reading disabilities. Developmental reading disorder can create a significant delay in the acquisition of literacy skills if not addressed appropriately in kindergarten and first grade. Because dyslexia is a language based learning disability, learning to read, write and spell in the early grades is perplexing due to problems associating the spoken sounds of the language with the written symbols representing those sounds. Poor phonological awareness, visual and verbal memory problems and expressive language problems such as word retrieval, all contribute to the condition that is called dyslexia. We also support students with other learning profiles and provide enrichment instruction, homework and study skills support and math instruction.

The Center also works with adults who need basic skills training, adult literacy training, functional literacy improvement, on the job skills coaching or training in improving their personal math and reading skills.

What Research Based Instruction

Research and experience clearly conclude that individuals with specific reading, spelling and writing problems need instruction that includes an integrated program of phonology, syllable instruction, morphology, syntax and semantics. This teaching needs to be systematic, direct, sequential, cumulative and multisensory.

Learning Partnerships

Center professionals create learning partnerships with the student's support people including classroom teachers, specialists, parents and psychologists when possible. We also help monitor and create appropriate curriculum accommodations and use of assistive technologies. We have worked with students and their school district in helping develop an IEP that works best for the student and coordinates what the school and the Center do to help the student learn.

Who Are the Teachers?

All MRLC teachers are skilled educators (many with DPI certification) with expertise and specialization in content areas as well as explicit multisensory structured language approaches (Orton Gillingham, Project Read and Lindamood-Bell). MRLC teachers have experience with students who express a variety of learning disabilities and strengths.

Evaluation

Upon referral, diagnostic assessment tools are used to augment information provided by private and public school psychologists and school evaluations. After a student's learning profile is understood, an individualized program is created. The Director then makes an appropriate match between student and teacher.

Where do you tutor?

Most after-school tutoring is done at the Center which is located at 2702 Monroe St. in Madison, but we will also tutor students at their schools, whether during the school day or after school, in public libraries, at the homes of different tutors or at other locations that are convenient for the students.

When do you tutor?

Tutoring can be done any time. Some students are tutored during the school day at their schools. Most others are tutored in the late afternoon, but arrangements can be made to fit the schedule of the student, whether preschool, school age, or adult.

How Long Does the Tutoring Last?

Unfortunately, this is a difficult question to answer before meeting students and learning about their needs. Frequency and duration depend on the child's strengths, learning problems and gap in prior education.