Leap Into Literacy Program


Establishing Excellent Early Literacy Skills in Preschool Students Ages 3-5

 

Do you want your preschooler to. . .

  • Become an exceptional listener and reader?
  •  Begin school with a strong set of core skills in place?
  •  Have fun and enjoy learning?

 

Did you know...

  • 40% of America's 3rd graders are not reading at grade level regardless of race and socioeconomic background. Research has shown us that the earlier we begin literacy instruction the more successful students will become. You brush your child's teeth everyday to prevent cavities and improve dental health-we must think this way about literacy. Buffalo Hearing & Speech Center's Leap into Literacy Program can help guide the way!

Goals of the Leap Into Literacy Program:

  • Our goal is to maximize your child's success with language and literacy skills. Establishing a strong foundation of early literacy skills through skilled instruction can prevent later reading problems when students advance into elementary and middle school and may take a student who would have been an average reader to a superior reader.
  • The curriculum's unique design allows the instructor to take each student to his or her fullest potential. For example, we may bring a student with average skills to above average or help a student with weak literacy skills to improve and diminish or eliminate the problem before it becomes more severe.
  • Providing your child with high quality, scientifically-based instruction is the key to our success. The Leap into Literacy program was designed by a team of education and language experts at Buffalo Hearing and Speech Center. The curriculum's philosophy and instructional methods are based in the latest science from the National Early Reading Panel and the clinical expertise of BHSC staff. 
  •  We also aim to empower parents with the tools to work on language and literacy skills at home in ways that fit into your busy schedule. Throughout the program we will provide education, modeling, and easy at home and "on the go" activities.

What skills does the Leap Into Literacy program address?


Children begin establishing the building blocks for successful literacy in early infancy. They build on these and other key foundational skills to acquire school age literacy skills. With this in mind, we follow a "building the foundation" approach with our students. The following targeted skills are addressed in a hierarchical, multi-sensory, fun and engaging manner:

  • Auditory Processing Skills: Students are taught basic attention, listening, and memory skills in an auditory context. These early listening skills are an important precursor to later classroom success and the ability to attend to and understand what has been heard and read. In addition, students are explicitly taught strategies focused on taking ownership of their learning. Strategies such as asking questions when you don't understand or changing your environment to be a better listener are introduced to promote critical self-advocacy skills students can take with them throughout their academic careers.
  • Expressive and Receptive Language Skills: Lessons focus on comprehension and expression of targeted language concepts and vocabulary. Work also focuses on answering and formulating yes/no and "wh" questions and the development of oral narrative skills, including sequencing and retelling events. These language skills are critical to fostering success with later developing conventional literacy skills (e.g. understanding what we read and write).
  • Phonological Awareness Skills: Lessons focus on improving student's ability to discriminate, identify, and manipulate the words, syllables, sounds, and rhyme that comprise spoken language auditorily and verbally using a multi-sensory, hierarchical approach. Phonological skills are critical for both memory and later reading fluency and spelling.
  • Print Knowledge: Work focuses on print knowledge skills such as book handling; alphabet and environmental print knowledge; and sound-letter correspondence. It is critical to establish with students that print reflects meaning and to establish an understanding of the alphabetic principle in order to set them up for later success with spelling and written language.

 

Will the Leap Into Literacy Program be effective?

Yes, the instructional technology has been used in several different BHSC programs with excellent results:

  • A modified version of the Leap Into Literacy Program was implemented with typical preschoolers by BHSC staff at Cleveland Hill School in the Universal Prekindergarten classroom. Pre-to-post testing revealed significant improvement in all areas assessed. When pre-testing was conducted only 29% of students had emergent literacy skills in the superior range. After receiving the program, post-testing was conducted and revealed 60% of students had skills in the superior range.
  • A more intensive version of the Leap Into Literacy Program was implemented in BHSC's center-based preschool classrooms with students with speech, language and/or hearing deficits. On average students demonstrated significant improvement in emergent literacy skills, from a mild disorder to skills within normal limits.
  • BHSC's school-age Language to Literacy Program, which services students age 6 - high school, utilizes the same targets as the preschool curriculum. It aims to go back and teach the skills taught at the preschool level, as older students often have deficits because they lack that early foundation. Pre-post testing results have consistently shown significant improvement in phonological, listening, and reading skills since its inception in 2004. This successful program now sees over 150 students per year in Western New York and operates at sites nationally.

 

Class Schedule  

   Summer Session - 7/9/13 through 8/21/13

   Fall Session - 10/7/13 through 12/17/13                                  

 

Class Structure

  • Each class is 90 minutes in length
  • There are 6-8 students in each class grouped appropriately by age.
  • Class instructor(s) include Speech Language Pathololgists and/or Special Education teachers and one classroom aide
  • The student's parent/guardian is required to meet weekly, during a pre-scheduled time, with the speech-language pathologist.
  • Classes are held in the summer, fall and winter. Space is limited and is offered on a first come first serve basis. Most major insurances are accepted.
  • Classes are offered at both our Amherst and Buffalo locations depending on enrollment

Click here for a scholarship application

Location:
Buffalo Hearing & Speech Center is located at 50 E. North Street Buffalo, NY on the Buffalo-Niagara Medical Campus.

Our Amherst office is located at 5225 Sheridan Drive (Georgetown Plaza), Williamsville, NY.

 

For more information contact:

Matt Hitchcock - 716-885-8318 ext. 2300 or mhitchcock@askbhsc.org