Services

We Work with Schools

Academic Matters provides comprehensive and practical recommendations for school and home, including strategies tailored to the child’s specific learning needs and profile of strengths and weaknesses.

Teacher training

Colleen Berge trains mainstream educators to become aware of students with difficulties in manipulating or articulating ideas, sensory input, and planning and how to modify instruction accordingly.

After determining the student’s strengths and weaknesses, a program of remediation is constructed and a schedule set for work with Academic Matters. Twice weekly meetings and a system for communication with the school and parents is set; the plan will be reviewed after six weeks, at which time progress is reported and adjustments may be made in the student’s remediation program.

Talks, Workshops and Lectures

"Common Learning Issues and Classroom Approaches"
Ethical Culture Fieldston School, April 12, 2002

"Common Learning Issues and Classroom Approaches," is a workshop designed for educators that focuses on the difficulties students frequently encounter in learning reading and writing skills in lower elementary grades. Examples of useful multi-modal strategies that are effective in reaching students with a variety of cognitive strengths are demonstrated and discussed.

"Making Sense of Psychological Reports"
Ethical Culture Fieldston School, April 24, 2002

"Making Sense of Psychological Reports," is a lesson designed to present educators of grades 1 through 4 with a brief summary of common learning issues in a typical test batter. Examples of specific learning disorders (i.e. nonverbal learning disability), other weaknesses and their impact on learning, implications for curriculum development and classroom management are discussed.

"Special Issues in Math Learning"
Ethical Culture Fieldston School, May 10, 2002

"Special Issues in Math Learning," is a workshop designed for lower elementary educators that focuses on the role of language in math learning and the ways in which teachers can provide support for students in heterogeneous groups. This session focuses on how spatial difficulties and memory affect math skills. Tasks designed to determine specific problems in math learning are demonstrated.

"The Look of LD"
St. Aloysius School, 2006 / Elisabeth Irwin High School, 2009-11

This lecture, oriented toward educators, asks teachers to consider current students with academic trouble and provides educators insight on how to identify characteristics of specific learning disorders, specifically pertaining to insufficient memory and disorganization. It provides resources for further inquiry into strategies of academic remediation.

"Academic Remediation: Helping Your Child Acquire Strategies for Success"
Horace Mann School, November 18, 2008

"Academic Remediation: Helping Your Child Acquire Strategies for Success," is designed for the parents of high-school students, though educators and students are encouraged to attend. This lecture introduces parents to concepts of LD, Academic Remediation and neuro-psychological educational evaluation, LD and SAT procedure, explaining LD to children and tools for success.

"Barriers to Entry: Strategies to Help Struggling Students"
Elisabeth Irwin High School, April 20, 2010

"Barriers to Entry: Strategies to Help Struggling Students," is a workshop designed to address typical problems of production for LD and non-LD students. This workshop designed for educators focuses on the differences between teacher expectation and students understanding. It also focuses on defining problems of deficient output.