Key Indicators of Learning Progress

As parents, it is normal to wonder whether your child is learning “enough” during each session when working with an Educational Therapist. You may worry that your child isn’t moving quickly enough to catch up to peers and grade-level standards. These are common concerns, but it is important to keep in mind that deep learning and understanding are not always linear or rapid.  

For children with underlying learning differences, learning takes more repetition, practice, and time. When working with an Educational Therapist, the goal is not to see how much can be taught in a single session but to help your child truly learn, remember, and apply what they have been taught independently. Sometimes, a session may focus on just one small targeted skill. That is okay! In fact, it is often exactly what your child needs. 

Building a Strong Foundation

A child who learns a new concept and can still remember it the following week has made meaningful progress—progress we can build on. That learning becomes part of their foundation, giving us a strong base from which to develop the next set of skills. When we move too quickly, children can become overwhelmed, and we risk sacrificing that foundation. Think of learning like building a house: we want to make sure the foundation is strong before adding another floor. If the foundation isn’t solid, adding more material doesn’t make the house stronger—it can actually make the entire structure less stable.

For example, it is completely normal for an emerging reader with dyslexia to need several months to learn the alphabet and basic letter sounds. What matters is not how many sessions it takes, but whether those letters and sounds become automatic skills that the student can carry with them into all areas of literacy and learning.

To expand on this example, there are many layers to truly understanding each letter and its properties: whether it is a vowel or consonant, uppercase or lowercase, print or cursive, and whether it represents a long or short sound, just to name a few. When these skills become automatic, a student can quickly recognize and analyze a letter when encountering it in an unfamiliar word, improving their overall fluency and making reading less laborious. So, when your child tells you they spent their session learning about “the letter e,” remember that there is much more than meets the eye! 

When Progress Appears Slow on the Outside

This kind of learning can sometimes feel slow or not as exciting from the outside, but important changes are happening beneath the surface. Your child is developing connections, practicing skills, building confidence, and learning how to approach something that was once difficult. Repetition isn’t a sign that your child isn’t progressing. Repetition is often how progress happens.

Key Takeaway

We want every child to experience the confidence that comes from truly knowing something, not simply being exposed to it and then moving on. We know that quick pacing is why classroom instruction simply doesn’t work for so many students, especially those who are neurodiverse learners. 

Our team of experienced Educational Therapists/Specialist are committed to meeting your child where they are, moving at a pace that allows them to be successful, and building the strong foundation they need for future learning. Progress doesn’t have to be fast to be meaningful. Sometimes, the most important progress happens one small step at a time.

Written by Stephanie Broytman, Director of Education, MA, CALT