O’honna’s Story

When given two options of how to help 6 year old O’honna, her parent was in a difficult situation. O’honna’s parent had to choose between holding O’honna back and keeping her in kindergarten, or finding interventions outside of the classroom to help her child succeed. Reading below a kindergarten level at the end of her first school year, O’honna was unable to read or spell three letter words and did not consistently know the alphabet. 

Despite struggling with it, O’honna desperately wanted to read – navigating books and stories was her dream. 

Because of her wish to read, O’honna’s parent made a decision to try out SLD Read at O’honna’s Grand Rapids Public School. When she first started working with SLD Read, O’honna couldn’t understand why she had to learn so slowly. She just wanted to start reading. 

“There was this drive,” says Christine Gavin, Education Services Manager of SLD Read’s Grand Rapids office. “And because of her spiritedness, she was just like, I know this. I just want to read.” 

Gavin was O’honna’s tutor for her first 15 lessons, while O’honna’s future tutor was an intern. During these lessons, Gavin got to know O’honna’s personality and work ethic. 

“Despite wanting to be a reader, there was still hesitation from her of being able to do it,” says Gavin. “She knew it, but she was hesitant to show it. She didn’t want to be wrong.” 

O’honna ended up completing just under a school year’s worth of lessons with an SLD Read tutor. Quickly, O’honna began showing signs of improvement both inside and outside the classroom. Her confidence began to glow. 

“After winter break is when they really started to see her shine,” says Gavin. “And we began to see her come into her own.” 

Throughout 43 lessons, O’honna worked hard to learn to read. It paid off. Having completed the SLD Read program, she is now going into second grade reading at grade level and spelling a grade above. 

“That’s two years worth of growth for her in those 43 lessons,” says Gavin. “That is fantastic.” 

O’honna is now a young, avid reader, who loves books about unicorns. According to Gavin, her parent and the school are both thrilled with the progress she has made. 

“This is why the school loves having us in their building,” says Gavin. “Because they know the importance of working 1:1 with those students. The individualized approach helps the students succeed because it’s tailored towards the child.”

Gavin continued: “The child doesn’t have to fit the program. The program fits the child.”