Bravo! Tutoring’s Success Stories

Here are several of Bravo! Tutoring’s amazing success stories!

Jacob’s Story

Age: 10
Grade: 4
Emotional State: scared and hesitant

Jacob is a ten-year-old boy who was retained in the fourth grade. When he started fourth grade the second time, he was reading at the first-grade level and didn’t have much confidence in himself academically.

“Nothing seemed to get through to Jacob,” his mom, Lynnette shares. “We worked with him at home and even hired a private tutor to come to the house. But reading was like a second language for our son. It was like the rest of us were speaking one way and he spoke another.”

Jacob is extremely social and enjoys attending Boy Scouts. He has a special ability in art and draws intricate cartoon and anime characters. “Homework started taking over our entire family’s life. Although Jacob is one of the most easy-going kids in the world, he started fighting us big time on homework. One night we had a standoff, and he sat at the kitchen table for hours, refusing to move a muscle. That was our wake-up point,” Lynnette shares.

Lynnette and her husband Manual talked with Jacob’s teacher about the problem. She lowered the homework expectation and told them about Bravo! Tutoring. They brought Jacob in for a learning evaluation and signed him up for weekly sessions.

Results:

It took a while for Jacob to build a strong learning foundation since he had so many gaps in his. Simple tasks took him longer to process than other kids. Even though he was good at art, his handwriting was illegible, but after receiving handwriting therapy (similar to occupational therapy), Jacob started soaring.

Within three months, his writing skills improved and he was able to write a complete paragraph. His reading skills followed behind, and he crept up to the second-grade level. As his progress continued, Jacob was able to read and write at grade level. His spelling skills were still behind his peers but within a year, he was at grade level for every subject. Jacob started the fifth grade similar to his peers and by the second semester, made the honor roll.

“We can’t believe the progress that Jacob made. The exercises were different than any we had tried and that’s what made the difference for him. To say Manuel and I were blown away would be an understatement,” Lynnette tells us. “The improvement we’ve seen is phenomenal!”

Career Aspirations:

Manuel wants to be an artist when he grows up and has just won an art award at the local fair. He is bursting with pride over that…and his new grades.

Kathleen’s Story

Age: 14
Grade: 7 – Retained one year
Emotional State: Lost

Kathleen is a fourteen-year-old teenager who has been diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome. However, once more testing was provided, it was discovered that Kathleen also suffers from auditory and visual dyslexia.

She loves to listen to music with headphones and dance to the awesome beats she discovers. In addition, she creates intense fantasy worlds where she is often the heroine.

School and learning, however, have historically been problematic for Kathleen.

“Kathleen hated…and I mean hated…reading,” her mom explains. “Whenever I tried to have her read, she went into a major fit. After a while, I quit trying.” She adds, “When Kathleen was in the fourth grade, the school recommended special education so we went ahead and agreed to that. Almost all learning stopped at that point.”

Kathleen’s mom grew discouraged with the public school system and ended up home schooling Kathleen. It was a blessing for the social disparity Kathleen suffers from but her academic progress came to a sharp halt.

“After being referred to Bravo! Tutoring, my husband and I were skeptical,” Terri explains. “We had been met with so many road blocks before. Still, we didn’t have many other options. We both wanted to see our daughter succeed.”

Kathleen started weekly sessions with Bravo! and benefited most from brain integration exercises. She became more balanced and her voice gradually changed to a more normal tone. She also flourished from the Orton-Gillingham based reading program (Bravo! Reading) that she used. Also, Kathleen had serious auditory and visual processing issues that were addressed.

Results:

After approximately two months, Kathleen showed interest in sounding out words instead of guessing at them. She started reading easy first-grade level books then advanced to the fourth-grade level. Kathleen is still making progress in this area. Math has been difficult for Kathleen as well and she is now performing basic math problems such as multiplying three digit by two-digit numbers and doing long division problems. She was able to memorize most math facts, which helped immensely.

Previously, Kathleen’s visual and auditory memory skills were extremely weak, which kept her from recalling important academic information.

Career Aspirations:

Kathleen is interested in being an author of fantasy novels. Although her writing skills are still a bit below grade level, her story content is amazing. Kathleen creates worlds that have action, adventure, and detailed characters. With her new found skill set, we are sure she will become a great success!

Finnan’s Story

Age: 18
Grade: 12
Emotional State: frustrated and embarrassed

Finnan is an eighteen-year-old senior who was diagnosed with high functioning autism when he was a toddler. By the time he was in fourth grade, he was so stressed out by public school experiences that his parents chose to home school him.

“There was an immediate calmness that took over Finnan once the pressures of school were lifted,” his aunt, Linda relates. Still, Finnan failed to make much academic progress. By the time he was in middle school, he was refusing to read and becoming shy and withdrawn.

Even though Finnan was obviously bright and quite verbal, he was not understanding concepts necessary for school and life performance. His family signed him up with Bravo! Tutoring one session a week.

Results:

Finnan’s first growth came in reading abilities. Where he once stared into space when presented with reading assignments, he began sounding out words. Comprehension was difficult at first but with auditory skills training he soon began understanding what was read.

“We were so happy when Finnan was able to scroll the internet and research information on trains by himself,” Linda relates. “Finnan loves trains and he began retaining massive amounts of information about them.”

Writing was the next hurdle that Finnan had to overcome. He hated to write and picked at his messy handwriting. It would often take him twenty or thirty minutes just to start a writing assignment.

“Lisa used picture writing and a lot of other unique exercises that not only piqued Finnan’s interest but gave him the tools he needed to write effectively. When I recently showed his parents the writing assignment he completed, they were blown away. It was at grade level, organized, and it held our interest.”

Finally, Finnan’s math skills were addressed. Even though he was a senior, his math abilities hovered around the third-grade ability level. This embarrassed him greatly. We met him exactly where he was and built up math skills step by step alongside brain integration exercises, memory building, math facts memorization, and sensory activities. Within six months, Finnan was mastering basic algebra.

“We are so grateful for what Lisa and Bravo! Tutoring have done for Finnan. He has a future now,” Linda shares.

Career Aspirations:

Finnan wants to be a train engineer or conductor. He is also interested in computers.

Michelle’s Story

Age: 6
Grade: 1
Emotional State: Lacking confidence

Michelle is a six-year-old girl who has a hard time sitting still and focusing. She loves jazz and tap dancing and looks forward to dance recitals where she gets to dress up and show off her abilities. Performing in front of people is her passion!

But school is another story. From the second she entered kindergarten, Michelle struggled, and not just academically. Social skills seemed to evade her as well.

Michelle had a hard time keeping up with her peers and paying attention was absolute torture for her. Even following simple directions that the teacher gave was difficult for Michelle. In addition, she was struggling to complete assignments and had a really hard time retaining information. Her grades, of course, were not at the passing level, and the teacher was talking about retention.

As Michelle fell further and further behind, she felt different than the other kids in her class. She began acting up and found herself in daily “time outs”, which only made her feel worse about herself. After being referred to Bravo! Tutoring by a friend, her parents opted to start with a learning evaluation.

“Lisa was awesome and Michelle’s specific needs were mapped out. We found out what our daughter’s strengths and weaknesses were. For instance, we had no idea that Michelle struggled with auditory memory. That is why she couldn’t remember what we told her to do,” her dad, Ryan, explains.

Results:

After just six months, Michelle can focus and her confidence has soared. She finished the kindergarten year without being retained. “We were nervous all summer, wondering if we should have retained her,” Ryan explains. “But when she started first grade, we were surprised and happy.”

Michelle no longer needs to be given “time outs”. She is keeping up academically and is now making friends easily. She also decided to try martial arts and is loving that, although she loves dancing more.

Recently, Michelle received a school award and came home with a certificate and a whole lot of pride. She was rewarded for being the most cooperative student in October, and her parents are so proud of her progress! Her grades remain above average and her future is bright.

Career Aspirations:

Michelle wants to move to New York City and become a dancer when she grows up. She is especially interested in theater and is hoping to perform in a community play this year.

Ethan’s Story

Age: 7
Grade: 2
Emotional State: confused and unaware

Ethan is a second-grade boy who was diagnosed with high functioning autism at age two. Although he communicates well with others and has social abilities, he wanders off from the group and is often seen staring into space with a blank expression on his face. The kids like his kind demeaner, though, and often ask him to play.

Reading, writing, spelling, and math were difficult for Ethan. He would start off strong with an assignment then fade fast, as if losing interest in it. He often got in trouble at school for wandering out of the classroom when the teacher wasn’t looking. Although he didn’t do anything in particular, he would be found in random places.

“We wanted better for Ethan,” his mom, Maria told us. “I knew Ethan was smart. It’s just that nobody could seem to access his brilliance.” Marie switched Ethan to a private school for kids with learning disabilities and started seeing improvement just from that. “He wasn’t in special classes anymore and just being one of the kids helped him so much. But we wanted more for our son. Autism doesn’t have to be like a death sentence. Ethan has a lot of strong qualities we wanted to build on.”

Maria and her husband, Niran signed Ethan up for sessions three times a week even though they lived over an hour away. “We couldn’t find a program like this near us so we decided this was the perfect time to sacrifice for Ethan’s future. We don’t regret it one bit.”

Results:

Since Ethan was diagnosed with autism, it took him longer than most kids to make progress. First, Ethan’s focusing skills increased. He was able to listen and tune into the teacher. He also quit wandering so much and was able to sit in his seat for longer periods of time.

Finally, Ethan began reading! “We were so excited when Ethan came home and read a simple book to his younger brother. I can’t lie. I started bawling like a baby,” Maria shares.

Once Ethan could read, a whole new world opened up for him. Signs and logos drew meaning and he got excited when recognizing them and knowing what services they provided. His reading skills kept growing and soon, he was reading at grade level.

At this point, Ethan could barely form letters so we tackled hand writing and writing skills. This took a while but he eventually could compose simple sentences. “We would have been happy with reading skills alone, but when Ethan was able to write a sentence that made sense, we were blown away,” Maria relates.

We are now working on Ethan’s math skills. He is able to add and subtract one- and two-digit numbers but is still struggling with abstract thoughts and symbols.

“The world is now Ethan’s playground,” Maria tells us. “When your child is diagnosed with autism, it feels like his world ended before it began. Now we have hope that Ethan can live a normal life like anyone else.”

Career Aspirations:

Ethan wants to be a policeman or an Uber driver when he grows up.

Cody’s Story

Age: 11
Grade: 5
Emotional State: Anxious and withdrawn

Cody is an eleven-year-old boy who has struggled academically since kindergarten. His mom, Yvonne, thought it was something she was doing wrong, and felt guilt and frustration whenever they locked heads over homework, math facts, or poor grades.

When Yvonne and her husband, Michael, heard about Bravo! Tutoring they scheduled a learning evaluation. “We were told how Cody learns best and that he has indications of dyslexia,” says Yvonne. They signed Cody up for sessions two times a week and started seeing progress almost immediately.  

“Cody loves going to his sessions…to the point where his younger sister gets jealous. She wants to go, too!” In the past, Cody would get nervous when it was time to take tests or when he was asked to read in front of the class. He became shy and withdrawn when performing in front of anyone…except baseball. Cody is a superstar when it comes to sports!

Results:

Once Cody started attending sessions at Bravo!, Yvonne noticed a huge difference in his attitude. “He is positive now and feels like he can do things instead of hiding from them,” she relates.

We are so grateful to have our son back,” Yvonne adds. In school, Cody’s reading and math scores have improved significantly. As a result, his grades have risen dramatically. He is approaching the honor roll, something he had never considered possible. But even better than that, he enjoys learning now because it is easier for him.

Cody is eager to read now and he even likes to draw pictures, which is something he avoided before. He used to get teased by other children in his class because of his messy artwork. In addition, Cody no longer gets in trouble at school for his inability to pay attention. He can focus on assignments and because of that, his grades and the ability to learn without help have improved.

Career Aspirations:

Cody wants to either be a professional baseball player or a doctor when he grows up. He loves science and is intrigued with helping people.

Aiden’s Story

Age: 13
Grade: 7
Emotional State: angry

Aiden is a kind seventh-grade boy who tends to be shy. He has suffered from bullying in the past and withdrew into an angry state. Words seemed to trap in his throat the longer his learning disability went on. He disappeared into video games for solace, often losing hours at a time as a means of retreating.

“Even though Aiden could read at slightly below grade-level, he stuttered and stammered so much when he read out loud that the kids teased him. A couple teachers even called him out for it in front of the class,” Aiden’s mom Nicole shares. “It was a terrible time for our entire family. We hated putting limits on his video game time because it was the only escape he had.”

Although Nicole and her husband, Greg, talked to teachers and the principal, the bullying continued. “We started watching Aiden lose the spark of life he always had,” Nicole says. “His smiles faded and laughter was rare. We knew we had to do something besides what the school had to offer. We couldn’t afford private school and since my husband and I both work, we couldn’t swing home schooling Aiden.”

When they found out about Bravo! Tutoring, Joe and Nicole signed Aiden up for sessions two times a week. At first, we focused on his reading skills. It was also discovered that Aiden struggled with visual and auditory processing skills.

Results:

Within a few months, Aiden began sounding out words with ease and quit stuttering when he read out loud. This was due to the Bravo! Reading Program that works like magic for kids with dyslexia and other learning challenges. Simple auditory and visual activities not only helped him process information correctly but also gave Aiden the confidence he needed.

After six months, Aiden’s grades rose significantly. He was still behind but he had solid C’s and B’s. As he eased into the mid-levels of the Bravo! Learning System, his writing skills took off as well. His video game time lessened and the family breathed a sigh of relief.

Although some kids are still mean to Aiden, he is not being teased for reading difficulties. His parents are talking about switching schools so Aiden can have a clean start. His confidence increases every day, and they just enrolled him in martial arts, something he refused to do before.

Career Aspirations:

Aiden still loves video games and has found some online friends. He now thinks he will be able to go to college and learn computer programming. “We owe this all to Bravo! Tutoring,” Nicole tells us. “This program is heaven-sent!”

Abby’s Story

Age: 12
Grade: 6 – Retained in 4^th grade
Emotional State: scattered

Abby is a twelve-year-old girl who has had ongoing reading and writing problems. She had to repeat the fourth grade even though her mom tried private a widely known academic learning center, vision therapy, and switching to a private school. Abby attended numerous school intervention programs that only left her angry and upset. She started engaging in odd behaviors to get attention and her social skills suffered as a result.

“I tried everything I could think of,” Alison relates. “Nothing worked until I found your program. From the start, it worked for Abby. In a matter of months, I started seeing a glimmer of the smart daughter I knew I had.”

Abby loves animals and shows her sheep at the local 4-H level. She also raises rabbits and has two dogs she adores. Her mom recently enrolled her in a dog training course, something they never had time to do in the past. “We battled homework for hours every night, so that only left room for 4-H. I was even considering taking Abby out of that to focus on her studies,” Alison confesses.

Since Alison herself is a first-grade teacher, it was frustrating to watch her daughter fall further and further behind. “I know this sounds ridiculous, but I felt like Abby’s failing grades were a direct relationship on my ability to teach. Until I found Bravo! Tutoring, I had no idea how Abby learned and what to do to help her learn more easily. I just kept throwing more academics at her…which obviously didn’t help.”

Results:

Alison signed Abby up for sessions three times a week to start. This gave her a fast influx of help and gave her the learning foundation that she desperately needed and wanted. After six months, Alison scaled the sessions down to one day a week.

Abby is now maintaining a solid “B” average, and she bursts with pride when she tells you about it. “I get good grades now,” she beams. “And now I get to spend more time with my animals!”

Career Aspirations:

Abby wants to be a vet when she grows up and for the first time ever, that goal seems achievable. She had given up on this dream because she knew it involved a lot of schooling, something she learned to avoid at all costs.