Educational Therapy and Dyslexia Tutoring with
Syma Solovitch
Empowered Learners is a private practice in Davis, California that serves children who need extra support in reading, writing, and mathematics.
I incorporate a variety of multisensory approaches and methodologies, including Making Math Real and the Orton-Gillingham Approach to Teaching Literacy, which forms the basis for most current literacy programs designed for students with dyslexia.
I also integrate fun and thought-provoking games and puzzles into all my sessions because I believe that all children thrive with a challenge – whatever their unique needs may be.
Experienced with students with:
· Dyslexia
· Dyscalculia
· ADHD
· High Functioning Autism
· Executive Function Difficulties
· Diverse Processing Styles
Although the field of educational therapy has been around for decades, many parents are unfamiliar with the term. Educational therapists work one-on-one with a child, usually outside of the school. Children who work with educational therapists typically have learning differences. Some may have been formally diagnosed with a specific learning disability, such as dyslexia, dyscalculia, or dysgraphia; others may be struggling with broader learning challenges, such as executive functioning and processing skills.
Unlike a tutor, who focuses on improving a child’s grades in a specific subject, often reteaching skills that have already been taught in school, an educational therapist is a professional who is trained to understand learning differences and provide intensive interventions to address the underlying issues impacting a child’s learning. An educational therapist can also serve as a case manager, coordinating with allied professionals – educators, educational psychologists, pediatricians, speech-language pathologists, occupational therapists – to provide comprehensive support for the child.
For more information on Educational Therapy, see the Association of Educational Therapists website.
What is educational therapy?
Orton-Gillingham Tutoring for Students with Dyslexia (all ages)
Multisensory Appraoches to Build Reading Comprehension, Writing, Number Sense, Math Fact Fluency, and Problem Solving (elementary and middle school levels)
Executive Functioning (all ages)
Higher-Level Skill Development: Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, Research Skills (high school)
Writing Coaching, Including Support with College Admissions Essays (high school and college)
Editing (adults)
Services
From the day I first stood before a roomful of second graders, I was wowed by the imagination and insights of my students and determined to stretch my own learning and imagination to become the teacher they deserved. In the 35 years since, I have taught and coached children at every level; designed programs for a broad range of ages and ability levels (from gifted children in elementary and middle school to high schoolers struggling to meet graduation requirements); and served as an education research and evaluation consultant for the California Department of Education.
About me
Along the way, I’ve been named New York City Teacher of the Year for District 3 (Central Harlem) and served as a Master Teacher of the Teaching Mentoring Program for New York City. I designed curricula for the California High School Exit Exam, which was published by the University of California and adopted by numerous districts across the state.
I aim to make learning fun and engaging — whether for reading or math. To do so, I bring multisensory approaches into all my work. I have a master’s degree in Elementary Education and a credential in Educational Therapy. I am trained in the Orton-Gillingham method, which is widely recognized as the gold standard of reading programs for children with dyslexia
I am a writer and editor whose work has been published in numerous professional journals. I am also co-author of Down the Up Staircase: Three Generations of a Harlem Family, which was published in 2017 by Columbia University Press and received high praise from the media, including The New York Times.
But my greatest passion and sense of accomplishment remain working with young learners.
Testimonials
My daughter was diagnosed with dyslexia, and has been working with Syma for the past seven months. Syma uses multisensory tools and games to make every session fun. I often hear giggling during the tutoring sessions, and every time I ask how her tutoring session went, I invariably get a "Great!" accompanied by a huge smile. Syma's sessions have made my daughter a much more confident reader and thinker, and for the first time ever, her report card said she was reading at grade level. It's been amazing to see how much she has grown under Syma's tutelage. Thank you.
-Mersedeh, Castro Valley
Syma worked with our eight-year-old son for several months, and she was incredibly helpful! She was referred to us by an educational psychologist based on his needs after a comprehensive evaluation. Syma communicated with this psychologist, thoroughly reviewed the report, performed her own assessments, and created an individualized program, targeting the skills that our son needed to work on. She considered our input as well. Not only did she provide weekly individual sessions, she provided parent training and resources in order for us to practice these exercises with him outside of her sessions. Some of these topics included phonemic awareness, phonics, blending, sentence dictation, reading comprehension, reading fluency, inference, sequencing activities, and mathematics. She utilized multiple tools and modalities to engage him. She provided us with prompt and regular feedback on how the sessions went. He was able to acquire and maintain these skills. During the time that she worked with our son, Syma was professional and provided her honest perspective about his strengths and weaknesses. Most importantly, it was clear how much she was invested in his education and truly cared about his well-being! We would recommend Syma without hesitation!
-Tisha & Jay, Davis
Syma has worked with our nine-year-old son in math and reading for several years now. She uses many fun tools to build his number sense and math fluency skills. She also has creative ways to build his decoding and comprehension skills. We are very pleased with our son’s improvement in school and the new focus he brings to his work. Syma is both patient and firm. The sessions were always enjoyable, even when the material was challenging. We would strongly recommend Syma to anyone looking to help their child thrive in school.
-Ben & Amanda, Maui
Syma helped me tremendously when I was a young adult. I wanted to attend college but had educational deficits in college-level writing. Syma broke down the process of writing in a way that had been completely lost on me in high school. With Syma’s guidance, I was able to learn how to write essays that helped me shine and ultimately helped me get into a competitive university. The impact of her work with me was tremendous and lasting. I recommend Syma to anyone interested in improving their writing skills.
-Graduate of UC Berkeley
Over the past two years, Syma has been working with our 12-year-old son, who is dyslexic. She uses the Orton-Gillingham method. My son has made tremendous growth in phonemic awareness and decoding skills. He has gained more confidence as a reader. We have also seen improvement in his grades. He is more engaged in school and has less frustration when doing his homework. I am pleased with the growth my son has made and recommend Syma to anyone struggling with dyslexia.
-Angelica, Sacramento