Seeing Stars

I talked with Dr. C. today. She has been sick for the past couple of weeks, which is why I haven't heard from her. She made up for that by offering to loan me the "Seeing Stars" program for Jared. It's a reading, spelling, phonemic (ever heard of that word?) program for children like Jared. She believes it will work for him. In fact, she told me to buy it.

When I researched it, I saw the lovely price tag of $400. That is sarcasm. There's nothing lovely about that price. But, I'm speaking as someone who has never had to purchase a learning program, so maybe more experienced folks might actually find the price lovely. She also said that, following Seeing Stars, he'll move on to another program she recommends. I've yet to see the price of that one yet. So, the fact that she's willing to loan me the program for a while definitely makes up for the fact that I hadn't heard back regarding Jared's evaluation.

I am still praying for a breakthrough and hopefully Seeing Stars will provide that. Here's the description:
       The Nancibell® Seeing Stars®: Symbol Imagery for Phonemic Awareness, Sight Words and Spelling Program successfully develops symbol imagery and directly applies that sensory-cognitive function to sight word development, contextual fluency, spelling and increasing the speed and stability of phonemic awareness. The program begins by visualizing the identity, number, and sequence of letters for the sounds within words, and extends into multisyllable and contextual reading and spelling.
       This new program may be a missing link in literacy development. Developing symbol imagery directly stimulates dual-coding (the integration of imagery and language) for the reading and spelling task. Long overlooked, this important function can now be assessed and developed.
       It is common for individuals to gain years in reading, reading fluency, and spelling in just weeks of intensive instruction.  Developing symbol imagery is necessary to become an independent reader.
 
Unfortunately, that description sounds daunting to me, as I've never even had an urge to teach someone to read, much less stimulate someone's dual-coding. In fact, if I were asked if I'd rather learn Russian, I might prefer that. Lord, help us!

We wait in hope for the Lord; he is our help and our shield. Psalm 33:20 (NIV)