Both the Florida Empowerment Scholarship (FES- UA) and the Personalized Education Program vouchers are designed to help private school and homeschool students.
Private school parents can often use the vouchers towards tuition or to improve their child’s academic skills.
Homeschool parents often use the vouchers to improve their child’s academic performance.
Note, many private schools and homeschool students are what we call neurodivergent right brain learners.
At 3D Learner, we help the neurodivergent right brain learner to improve their academic, executive function and related skills.
We define neurodivergent right brain learners as students who:
- Learn differently – sometimes called neurodivergent, visual, kinesthetic or right brain learners. These students learn best when they see and experience information.
- May have dyslexia, dyscalculia or a learning disability,
- May have ADHD.
- May be on the autism spectrum – especially intelligent students with Aspergers.
- Are often smart enough to succeed but lack some key skills.
In this blog post we will discuss three other ways to leverage both the Florida Empowerment Scholarship (FES- UA) and the Personalized Education Program vouchers.
1- Some homeschool parents want their child to enter private or public schools in the fall. The challenge is their child may be struggling with reading comprehension, math, attention, executive function and/or anxiety challenges. 3D Learner addresses all these issues and more. The May – August time frame is an excellent time to close the gap.
2- A few parents realize their child is too far behind and use the Florida Empowerment Scholarship (FES- UA) and the Personalized Education Program vouchers to close significant gaps utilizing a gap year. This has helped three students to make much more significant gains this year, than they would have made with traditional schooling.
3- Some states offer significant scholarships for students who meet the GPA (Grade Point Average) or SAT – ACT requirements. The Florida Empowerment Scholarship (FES- UA) and the Personalized Education Program vouchers can be used to significantly improve SAT – ACT scores. This allows students to both earn a scholarship that may be worth $20,000 to $29,000 over four years and to get into better colleges or universities. You can read more about this on our blog post in the Bright Futures Scholarship.
If you would like to discuss how we might help your neurotypical, neurodivergent and right brain learners leveraging the Florida Empowerment Scholarship or Personalized Education Program vouchers, call 3D Learner at 561-361-7495 or book a time on our schedule at Let’s discuss the Florida Empowerment Scholarship – Unique Abilities or Personalized Education Program vouchers.
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The purpose of this blog post is to alert parents of neurodivergent learners who might not yet have the GPA or SAT – ACT Scores for the Bright Futures Scholarship there may be a chance for your child to still earn the scholarship.
Note, the Bright Futures Scholarship is designed to keep our best and brightest kids in the state university system and to make college affordable for high performing students. The awards are worth approximately $20,000 to $29.000, depending on a student’s GPA.SAT – ACT scores and the tuition at the school they attend.
The Bright Futures Scholarship has two different award levels:
1- The Florida Medallion Scholarship – that requires a 3.0 GPA and a 1210 on the SATs or a 25 on the ACT and 75 volunteer or 100 work hours. This award is worth about $20,000 over 4 years — specifically 75% of the student’s tuition, so the value may vary by school.
2- The Florida Academic Scholarship – that requires a 3.5 GPA and a 1340 on the SATs or a 29 on the ACTs plus either 100 volunteer or 100 work hours.
Reading Comprehension, Reading Speed, Vocabulary and Test Anxiety Are 4 Key Issues we address. Call us at 561-361-7495 to discuss how we assess for these 4 items and how we might be able to help your child earn a Bright Futures Scholarship
3D Learner has helped two groups of students:
- The more traditional learner, who often has the GPA and test scores to qualify for the Florida Medallion Scholarship or the Florida Academic Scholarship. With the increased GPA and SAT – ACT scores, some students have been able to qualify for top universities elsewhere — where they would probably not have qualified without the increased GPA and SAT – ACT scores we helped them get.
- The neurodivergent right brain learner, who may need higher GPA and/or SAT and ACT scores to qualify for the Florida Medallion Scholarship or the Florida Academic Scholarship.
3D Learner helps students in 7 different ways to earn the Florida Medallion Scholarship and the Florida Academic Scholarships:
- We provide an assessment that looks at the present level of performance for reading speed, reading comprehension, vocabulary and executive function.
- We work with the student to set Goals. Since reading comprehension, reading speed, GPAs and SAT and ACT scores are measurable and there are defined targets, this focuses the student’s mind and ours.
- Even students with excellent GPAs often have a reading comprehension level that is below grade level. We have helped these students to improve their reading comprehension 2, 3 and even 4 grade levels.
- We improve reading speed. One student was reading at 125 words per minute and was unable to finish the test or to get test accommodations. We helped him to improve his reading speed to 300 words per minute, while improving his reading comprehension 2 grade levels. This allowed him to finish the test and improve his SAT test scores by 270 points.
- We help students improve their GPAs. This can allow them to qualify for the scholarship, get into better schools and be more successful in college.
- We lower their anxiety. Using both the Safe and Sound Protocol ® and HeartMath ®, our students are able to be much calmer than they would otherwise be.
- We improve their self-esteem and confidence, often by seeing their practice test scores continuously rise.
One student did the math and realized he would have to work over 2000 hours in college to pay for the same amount the scholarship was worth. He created a $20000 check made out to him and put it over his desk. It resulted in a student who was not yet motivated to become highly motivated., We helped him to increase his GPA his last two semesters to a 3.75 and his SAT scores high enough to earn the Florida Medalion Scholarship.
Note, the hard-working student with a high GPA and low-test scores is often the easiest to help. They just need to improve their reading speed, reading comprehension, and math skills, while lowering their anxiety. They often get tricked by the wording on the test and really benefit from our vocabulary building, efforts to improve their math, reading speed and reading comprehension levels; and they become much more confident as we teach them test taking skills.
Neurodivergent Right Brain Learners Often Have Significant Upside Potential
The neurodivergent right brain learner may need more foundation skills.
Who is a neurodivergent right brain learner?
We define neurodivergent right brain learners as students who:
- Learn differently – sometimes called neurodivergent, visual kinesthetic or right brain learners. These students learn best when they see and experience information
- May have dyslexia, dyscalculia or a learning disability
- May have ADHD
- May be on the autism spectrum – especially intelligent students with Aspergers
- Are often smart enough to achieve the Bright Futures Scholarship, but lack some key skills
The neurodivergent right brain learner may appear to be unmotivated, but in many cases money and getting into the right college are motivating.
Our Experience with Neurodivergent Right Brain Learners and the Bright Futures Scholarship
Our initial assessment often uncovers foundational skill gaps that may hamper them in school, on the SAT or ACT, in college and beyond. These might include:
- ADHD issues, where they lose focus when testing.
- Processing speed issues, where they read tortuously slowly.
- Working memory issues where they just do not remember things.
- Language and vocabulary issues. Both the SAT and ACT are written in a tricky way that often confuses the student who does not understand high frequency words (e.g. except, but, greater than, always etc.).
- Math skills, especially with respect to algebra – that is the focus of the SAT and ACT math sections. Combine this with the tricky questions and good students often get scores closer to 500 on the SAT when they should be getting 600 to 650.
- Test anxiety — when one has the other challenges, anxiety often follows.
- Belief in themselves. When a student has always struggled on standardized tests, they often do even worse on the SAT and ACT.
The good news is that with practice, they can often do far better.
If you would like to discuss how we might help your neurotypical, neurodivergent and right brain learners earn a Bright Futures Scholarship or improve their GPA and SAT – ACT scores call 3D Learner at 561-361-7495 or book a time on our schedule at Let’s discuss the Bright Futures Scholarship.
Students today are often struggling with reading fluency, reading comprehension and/or math.
Three of the greatest educational risks are:
- Parents often do not know what their child’s present level of reading fluency, reading comprehension and math skills are at
- Students who learn differently (i.e. neurodivergent, right brain and kinesthetic learners) often fall behind — as neither school based or home school curriculum may be consistent with how they learn best
- Without testing, parents may not be aware of how their child learns best, where their child is strong and where their child struggles
The opportunities for parents include:
- There are real benefits with an assessment that shows you::
- How your child learns best
- What are your child’s strengths and challenges
- What is your child’s present level of performance for reading fluency, reading comprehension and math
- If needed, the assessment can help educators to tailor a program to:
- Capitalize on how your child learns best
- Improve their reading speed, reading comprehension and math skills
- Help you to be the coach your child needs
- How you can help your child be all they can be
How 3D Learner Assesses for Success
Mary called and was not sure about her child’s reading fluency, reading comprehension and math skills were at. She had tried two years of dyslexia treatments. Mary was not interested in labeling, but she was very interested in knowing:
- How her daughter learned best
- What her daughter’s strengths and challenges were
- What was her child’s present level of reading comprehension, reading fluency and math
- If there were significant gaps, could we help her daughter get to grade level or above
- Whether what we offered could improve her child’s baseball and soccer skills. Mary knew that her daughter would be even more interested in help, if it could make her better at baseball or soccer.
Mary shared a few of her frustrations, that included, her daughter:
- Understood stories when Mary read them to her, but struggled with silent reading comprehension
- Read more fluently, but often had difficulty remembering words she had seen and not mastered
- Was good at math, but was now struggling with math word problems.
We then asked Mary what her daughter was good at, Mary shared that her daughter:
- Had an excellent memory for things she had seen and experienced
- Was a good person — who loved playing with younger kids and cared about seniors
- Was good at baseball and soccer but was inconsistent. Three area of concern were:
- Her daughter would sometimes lose focus during a game
- In baseball, she would sometimes hit the ball well, but too often she would pull the ball foul
- In soccer, her shots often went to the right side of the goalie
- Her daughter was frustrated that she was not doing as well as she wanted to
We shared this infographic with Mary and explained how we assess for how the student learns best and whether they have a visual processing, executive function, dyslexia and/or anxiety challenge.
- Many smart struggling kids learn differently. They are often a neurodivergent, right brain or kinesthetic learner, who learn best when they see and experience information. This is important to know, because if they learn differently, it alters the way you teach them, the curriculum you may choose, how you parents them and how one coaches them in sports.
- 74% of the students we see have a visual processing issue – they may see the whole field or the whole room, but their eyes have difficulty converging. This often results in their skipping words and/or liens when reading and having difficulty catching a ball.
- The executive function challenges we often see may include:
- Difficulty sustaining attention and either being hyperactive or impulsive. When we assess a student with the Interactive Metronome ®, we often see that a student’s body moves faster than their brain. In sports, this results in hitting the ball too early. In baseball that would explain pulling it foul or for a right footed kicker, hitting the soccer ball to the right of the goalie. In life, the attention issues may results in a child losing focus when doing work or during a game
- The working memory assessment often shows a student has an excellent visual memory, but has difficulty remembering what they have heard or read
- The Dyslexia Assessment shows where a child is strong and where they struggle. We can assess for Dyslexia and we can also tailor a program that focuses on the key issues
- The reading comprehension assessment shows two different challenges:
- A number of students are below grade level
- Some students are at grade level, but the assessment shows they should and could be well above grade level
- Our math assessment shows us where a student is at and where they struggle
- The anxiety assessment often shows the student gets very anxious in certain situations
Mary asked about the tools we use and whether it is different from what schools and psychologists assess for. We shared that:
- The key assessment tool we use is the Structure of Intellect Assessment ® that shows how a student learns best, where they are strong and where they struggle.
Comments from a principal, a special educator and a psychologist
- A principal asked a special educator why their public school stopped using this assessment. The special educator said “We are required to find a disability in order to provide services. This assessment does not do that. 3D Learner has the luxury of focusing on tailoring a program to help a student succeed
- A psychologist commented, “I wish we could shift our focus from labeling to how to help a child succeed”
- The Visagraph ® we use to show if there is an eye tracking issue can show both the initial challenge and can be used post training to show the results Here is a video that shows a student’s eye tracking before and after training. He commented,. “I now enjoy reading and do much more of it”
- We use the Mindprint Assessment ® developed by by the University of Pennsylvania to assess executive function skills
- We use a Woodcock Johnson ® Reading Comprehensive Assessment
- We use the Core Dyslexia Assessment ® developed by the University of Florida to assess phonics, phonemic awareness and reading fluency. It also helps us to see if the child has dyslexia,
- We use the Perceptions Math Assessment ®
- We use Heartmath ® to assess for anxiety
When we assessed Mary’s daughter we did find that:
- She was a neurodivergent, right brain or kinesthetic learner who learns best when she sees and experiences information
- Her daughter had a number of skills that were well above grade level, but struggled with a few key skills
- She did have a significant visual processing issue
- Attention was an issue and her daughter’s body was racing faster than her mind This explained some of the self-control and sports related issues
- Her visual memory was excellent, but her auditory memory was weak
- She no longer has significant issues related to reading fluency, but there were some areas where she could benefit from additional training
- Her reading comprehension was a year below grade level
- Arithmetic was not an issue, but that word problems were
- Anxiety was an issue
Mary has the flexibility to prioritize training and her daughter was able to make significant gains over the next six months in reading comprehension, math, attention, visual processing, and self-esteem. Her baseball and soccer skills improved too. Mary commented that knowing my daughter was a neurodivergent learner with visual processing and executive function challenges changed everything, and addressing the whole child changed her life. She also added that by helping to improve my daughter’s baseball and soccer skills, you engaged her in the process.
If you would like to discuss your child’s situation and learn more about how we Assess for Success, you can call us at 561-361-7495 or click here to schedule an Assess for Success Conversation. Note, these assessments can be done in person or via zoom.
When a parent is told that their child is at risk of being retained, their initial response is often full of emotion. Frustration, anxiety and even guilt are felt. We can relate to that. As parents and Directors of 3D Learner, we strongly encourage parents to take a proactive approach to helping your child succeed. At 3D Learner our goals are to:
- Help parents realize that third grade retention risks are not your fault.
- There are a number go Good Cause Exemptions to help your child to avoid third grade retention and to be promoted
- Help you be an Informed, Empowered and Proactive parents who:
- Work together to help your child to be promoted
- Understands the depth of your child’s reading comprehension and related issues
- Becomes even more aware of your child’s strengths and challenges
- Partners with your child’s school and the right outside professionals to help your child to make significant gains in their reading comprehension and processing skills, so they are promoted and are much more successful in 4th grade and beyond
If your child is at risk for third grade retention or grade retention in any grade, we encourage you to join us for a presentation on March 13th at 9 pm on:
How to Beat Third Grade Retention or Other Grade Retention Risks by
Improving Reading Comprehension
Click here to register or
Call us at 561-361-7495 to discuss your situation or click here to schedule a
Beat Third Grade Retention by Improving Reading Comprehension Conversation
As one mom said, “How is it that after 5 minutes, you appear to understand my son’s strengths and challenges better than people who have known him for years?”
Our advantage is we have been helping bright right brain learners succeed for 27 years.
5 Key Points About Third Grade Retention
1- There are a number of Good Cause Exemptions that can be utilized to help a child to be promoted. The Florida Department of Education has created a valuable Read to Learn Document that can help you understand your options.
2- Most students facing third grade retention are 1, 1.5 or even 2 years below grade level in reading comprehension. If their reading comprehension issue is not addressed, the student is likely to struggle even more in 4th grade. After 3rd Grade, students are expected to READ TO LEARN; there is no more emphasis on reading instruction in the general classroom. That is the time when math, social studies and science require students to understand what they read. It is also a time when the print gets smaller, the pictures disappear and students with reading comprehension really struggle. Conversely, students who make significant reading comprehension gains by 4th grade have done much better.
3- In a small number of cases, third grade retention is right for a child. The child does not have sufficient all-around foundational skills to succeed in 4th grade. These might include cases where the child has a late summer birthday, they may have learning and attention challenges, and they would be better off not being promoted. This past year, we helped a few students where parents chose to homeschool their child, have a catch-up year, and make the decision about promotion later. In Florida, the Florida Empowerment Scholarship provides parents whose child has a qualifying disability to get around $10,000 a year that can be used for tutoring. For other students, there is a Personalized Education Program scholarship for $8000 that can be used for tutoring.
4- Many students facing third grade retention are right brain, kinesthetic or neurodivergent learners, who learn differently than the way most schools teach. These kids learn best when they see and experience information. They may also have dyslexia and/or working memory, processing speed, attention and/or visual processing issues.
5- By capitalizing on your child’s strengths and addressing their challenges, it is often possible to both beat third grade retention and to position your child to be far more successful in 4th grade and beyond.
Note, we have helped third graders to:
- Beat third grade retention and score well above grade level by 4th grade
- Improve their reading comprehension by 3 grade levels in a year
A year later his teacher commented, “He made more progress in a year than any student I have had in 27 years of teaching”
- Improve their academic and athletic skills, boost their self-esteem and lower their anxiety
If your child is at risk for third grade retention or grade retention in any grade, we encourage you to join us for a presentation on March 13th at 9 pm where we will be discussing:
How to Beat Third Grade Retention or Other Grade Retention Risks by
Improving Reading Comprehension
Click here to register or
Call us at 561-361-7495 to discuss your situation or click here to schedule a
Beat Third Grade Retention by Improving Reading Comprehension Conversation
Reading comprehension is a LOT about language and visualization! This is especially true for the right brain learner, who learns best when he or she sees and experiences information.
So much is being discussed about how children learn to read or being taught HOW to read. These “reading wars” have been going on forever! No doubt, they will continue for a long time to come. The truth is…THERE IS NO ONE WAY TO TEACH READING!!— Yes, I said it!
Every child is different. They come to school from varying backgrounds and experiences, and with those experiences come the words or language they are comfortable using. We need to meet kids where they are at- NOT where others think they need to be.
YES, children need to understand, know, use and be able to manipulate or change around sounds that are letters (which are symbols for sounds, but most kids don’t make that connection right away.) Not all children will learn to do that at the same time or at the same rate.
Multiple factors are needed for children to be successful to learn to read and even more to improve reading comprehension. Just like the cartoon suggests, we view our students from multiple perspectives, and rarely look at the whole child and what that child is good at or comfortable doing.
The right brain learner often has a longer list of strengths and challenges than others do. (picture source www.priyankadutta.com)
I have read thousands of reports over the years. To most parents, these reports can be overwhelming. Lots of words and pages of what they assessed and what the child is not good at. Most psychology professionals will report on a child’s strengths but that often gets lost when so much is suggested as to what should be addressed to help the child succeed. One of the most common findings is that a child is “weak in phonemic awareness” or “decoding skills”. It seems like other findings and suggestions – which admittedly are many- are overshadowed by the push to believe that if those skills are worked on exclusively, things will get better. Parents are bombarded by the notion that they need to have their kids spend hundreds of hours practicing and remembering rules of when certain sounds are made and that just by being able to sound out words, they will be able to comprehend what those words mean.
Many parents believe, The Science of Reading premise is that the Simple Formula of Reading is:
Decoding X Reading Fluency = Reading Comprehension
For many of us–and the thousands of students I have worked with, this just is NOT the case!
I, for one, need to have an understanding of what a word means… a picture in my head of an understanding of the word, within a context. In short, I need an understanding of LANGUAGE!
So many of our students can actually learn to decode. In isolation, they are able to tell me the individual sounds, and can put them together. What they struggle with is transferring or generalizing that skill when reading!
Another one of my favorite quotes is:
“Scientists have determined that it takes approximately 400 repetitions to create a new synapse in the brain- unless it is done with play, in which case, it takes between 10 and 20 repetitions!” Dr Karyn Purvis, a child development expert.
At 3D Learner, I have coined the term Flearning ® — where our goal is to have our students learn from AHA moment to AHA moment, by discovering the patterns. For the right brain learner, it is incredibly important to leverage their visualization skills and to make learning Fun.
Language, and the use of words come from play and discovery. As parents, it is vital that we create an environment where this is possible. It is also vital that we look at the whole child and sort out what things they CAN do and encourage that. If we only focus on what a child CANNOT do, they lose so much, self-esteem suffers, and anxiety takes over!
Understanding where the Science of Reading fits in the BIG PICTURE of what your child needs will lead to a way better outcome for success for your child. Not every child learns exactly the same way. What we do know is that the most effective way for kids to succeed in reading is for them to make connections: with their teacher, with words and with their experiences. If we listen and observe, they will show us what they need.
At 3D Learner, we provide an Integrated, Engaging, Fun and Effective way to improve reading fluency and reading comprehension.
If you would like to discuss how you can put your child on their Pathway to Reading Fluency and Reading Comprehension Success call us at 561-361-7495 or click here to schedule a no cost Pathway to Reading Fluency and Reading Comprehension Success Conversation.
(call us at 561-361-7495 and ask about our assessment special)
(Especially for right brain, kinesthetic and neurodivergent learners)
How to improve reading fluency and reading comprehension is a goal for many students who qualify for the Florida Empowerment Scholarship and the Personalized Education Program.
The term dyslexia has attracted a great deal of information. Many parents invest in a dyslexia treatment. Frequently this will improve a child’s reading fluency (i.e. how fluently a child reads out loud), but reading comprehension challenge persists. At 3D Learner, we focus on how to improve reading fluency and reading comprehension with an integrated, engaging and effective program. We also address executive function, visual processing and anxiety challenges.
3D Learner offers a focused assessment that can be done in person or online, that addresses the following questions:
- Whether your child is a right brain, kinesthetic or neurodivergent learner. For the child who learns differently, it really helps to know that and to find a program that leverages their strengths, identifies and addresses their challenges and helps your child to improve both their reading fluency and reading comprehension.
- Whether your child has dyslexia — and where their reading fluency is strong and where they struggle.
- What your child’s present level of reading comprehension is
- Whether your child has a visual processing challenge — over 74% of the students we see either skip words and/or lines when reading
- How to improve your child’s reading fluency and reading comprehension
To discuss how to improve your child’s reading fluency and reading comprehension call us at 561-361-7495 to discuss your specific situation.
3D Learner — Offering a Strength Based Program to Improve Reading Fluency and Reading Comprehension for over 26 years
Since 1997, 3D Learner has been helping students to improve their reading fluency and reading comprehension. With what has become known as the Florida Empowerment Scholarship for Unique Abilities and the Personalized Education Program for others, we have been able to help more students with Florida’s vastly expanded voucher program.
3D Learner specializes in helping the right brain, kinesthetic or neurodivergent learners who often:
- Remembers details from places visited, even from years ago
- Learns best when they see and experience information
- Are a lot smarter than present results would indicate
- Often have two, three, four of the following challenges:
- They skip words and lines when reading
- They can focus on that which interests them, but lose focus when the work is hard or frustrating
- They have difficulty remembering what they heard or read
- Anxiety and frustration often occur when doing academic work
For voucher students, we are offering a two-hour assessment – tutoring – feedback session when you purchase one hour from 3D Learner through the Florida Empowerment Scholarship or the Personalized Education Program. You can either:
- Purchase an hour and call us at 561-361-7495 or
- Call us at 561-361-7495 to discuss your specific situation.
3D Learner Results for Right Brain, Kinesthetic and Neurodivergent Students
We have helped a second grader to improve her reading comprehension 3 grade levels in 7 months
and a 9th grader to improve her reding comprehension 4 grade levels in 6 months.
A homeschool student had been through 2 years of dyslexia treatments, but her comprehension was still at the kindergarten level, even though she was in 2nd grade.
With our help, she was able to:
- Significantly improve her reading fluency
- Improve her reading comprehension by 2 grade levels in 4 months and by 3 grade levels in 7 months
- Significantly improve her attention, visual processing, and confidence
- Read 23-chapter books on her own, after not having read one previously
- Go from a struggling dancer to the top group, because of their improved neural timing, working memory and confidence
A 9th grader improved her reading comprehension by 4 grade levels in 6 months.
Her mother commented: “Her reading comprehension has increased four grade levels, and she has increased her rate of reading by 100 words per minute. Her ability to comprehend what she is reading has also improved and she doesn’t hate reading for the first time in her life”.
For voucher students, we are offering the assessment – tutoring session with a separate parent consult, if you purchase one hour from 3D Learner through the Florida Empowerment Scholarship or the Personalized Education Program. You can either:
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Purchase an hour and call us at 561-361-7495 or
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Call us at 561-361-7495 to discuss how to improve your child’s reading fluency and reading comprehension and more.
For non-voucher students, we are offering this $250 value for $124.
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