Sundae Sunday!

Do you want a homemade mint chocolate chip sundae?  John and Matthew can make one for you!  When the twin brothers were younger, they were like all kids their age wanting sweet desserts with every meal.  Their parents decided to make every Sunday their special day to have sweets ~ a small sundae ~  Sundae Sunday!!  Fast forward to December 2024, when Santa brought the young men an ice cream maker for Christmas.  What a great way to utilize their literacy skills by reading the directions on how to operate their new appliance.  Matthew and John found a way to apply their new reading skills by looking for recipes in ice cream cookbooks.  So when it is their week, they can make a different kind of ice cream for the family to enjoy!  This includes reading the ingredients and checking what they need to buy, following the recipe’s directions, planning how long it will take from start to finish, so they know that their Sundae Sunday will be a success!  Last week’s treat was mint chocolate chip sundaes, using fresh mint from their garden, finely chopped and shaved chocolate was a hit with everyone! 

Reading was not always a positive experience for the boys. Wendy, their mother and top advocate explains why and how the 1:1 Literacy Tutoring impacted the school experience for John and Matthew! 

When Wendy enrolled her twin boys John and Matthew for Virtual literacy tutoring, she never dreamed how far it would take them and the impact it would have on them and their learning – even at school! 

Shortly after John started in the Virtual Playhouse Literacy session, Liz, his tutor and Cindy Marie noted that he was able to read at a level far higher than his speech clarity. We know individuals with Down syndrome often struggle with clear articulation, so we don’t base their reading level on their ability to read out loud clearly. (Fun Fact – their articulation often improves as they practice reading out loud!) 

Wendy was so happy to learn that her twins could read at a much higher level than the school had placed them. She wrote: “Thanks to the data from this program, I was able to get the teacher to reevaluate their reading levels, omitting verbal deletions of the plural and tense endings. She did not mark those deletions as errors, and when she tested John to make sure the tenses were accurately comprehended. He was evaluated using 2 books at the J/K F&P scale. In October, before I pushed for this, his teacher had him “barely” reading a level C book. The new results with the level J/K books were 90% and 80% accuracy with good comprehension.” 

At GiGi’s Playhouse, we also value all forms of communication and build this into our purposeful progressions. John and Matthew struggled to answer open-ended questions with verbal answers, but they totally rocked the multiple-choice questions. This showed us they were comprehending what they were reading. 

Wendy brought this information to her school as well. “I got more info on comprehension testing too! The teacher agreed on testing with multiple-choice instead of fill-in the blank or relying on expressive language. The teacher tested both boys, first with fill in the blank and expressive language, and their comprehension was 0-20%. She went to multiple-choice testing and both were at 80%.”  This is proof that the type of assessments used matters and will hold them back if done in singularity. You have to look at the person as a whole and allow them to shine. It’s dangerous not too! 

“John and Matthew were so frustrated at school, but now they are much happier. I have so many mixed emotions about this. Relief and sadness to name a few! Thank you for your continued support!” 

If you’re passionate about helping others and want to play a part in someone’s learning journey, we need YOU! Sign up today to become a tutor and help a loved one reach their full potential. Click HERE to learn more!