When her son Mason started third grade, Keywanda knew she needed to do something about his reading. She suspected he might have dyslexia because he had difficulty identifying “b’s” and “d’s”, relied on pictures to guess the meaning of words because he struggled to sound them out, and could only read at a kindergarten level.
A school psychologist and family friend recommended Wilson Language Training®. So, Keywanda reached out to Wilson for a list of reading tutors near her home in New York. She connected with a retired teacher with Wilson Reading System® (WRS) Level I and II certifications. Mason began working with his tutor twice a week.
At first, his mom was confused by the instructional approach. Keywanda didn’t understand the purpose of nonsense words: made-up words (like mot, lep, or sprock) that help students practice decoding skills without relying on memorization or context clues. “But after a while, it all came together like a puzzle,” Keywanda said. “He progressed like you wouldn’t believe. He reads now and if he gets stuck at a word, he sounds it out.”
Mason’s tutor was thrilled with his progress. “When I started working with Mason in the third grade, he was angry and had given up on school,” she said. “Now he asks what words mean when he doesn’t know them. I am so proud of him.”
The tutor credits WRS for his success: “It works because it’s consistent and incremental. Kids need a structured program they can hang onto. And it’s not too hard to progress to the next step.”
Mason is in seventh grade now and is averaging 80 percent in his grade-level English class. He reads chapter books and plays soccer and tenor saxophone. Looking ahead, he aspires to work in the IT field like his father or to be a professional soccer player.
When asked what advice Keywanda would give to other parents whose children struggle to read, she responded, “I would recommend Wilson. It is a great program.”