Academic Skills

Skills such as reading for purpose, understanding course outlines, assignment breakdown and completion, research skills, organization of self and belongings, test taking, time and stress management are all necessary for success and well-being at school. However, children and youth sometimes require extra support or repetition of teaching or explicit instructions of how to master these skills!

Our Academic Skills program is designed to give students the opportunity to develop their abilities in a wide range of skills, depending on their needs. Program participants work one-on-one with trained tutors to identify and work on their specific areas of challenge and learn how to utilize their areas of strength. Learning these skills can help to increase success across many subject areas and reduce the stress level of the overall school experience.

Tutors work with participants to gain an understanding of what their daily events and expectations are. After this is clearly understood, the participants work with the guidance of their tutor to create an easy-to-follow, effective method of keeping track of what has been done and what needs to be done. Participants also complete a ‘learning styles inventory’ that help them to determine what style of learning and studying is most effective for them (such as visual, auditory, reading, etc.). It is also important for children and youth enrolled in our Academic Skills program to develop self-advocacy skills to effectively communicate their learning needs to parents, teachers and other professionals within the school environment. Personal stress-management strategies are taught to participants to increase their ability to manage themselves during stressful events such as test-taking or public-speaking. If required, students also complete a cognitive/behavioral program to assist with anxiety.

Our Academic Skills program is accessible for children and youth aged 6-16. Students can come for a specific time frame to complete a number of tasks, or they can come throughout the school year to receive the extra assistance they require (and reduce stress for both student and parent!). If you know a child or youth that may benefit from support and guidance in any of these areas, please download a registration form or contact us at the LDA-SVI for further information.