SERVICES
Pinnacle Education Services offers a variety of options to support students, parents, teachers, and practitioners. All services, programs, workshops and lectures are tailored to meet the client's needs.
FOR PRACTITIONERS
Consultation Services | Practitioner or Admin Training
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Neurological development of language, reading and writing.
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Science supported teaching methods related to language (reading, writing, spelling)
As with all our programs, workshops and lectures are tailor designed to meet the clients needs. Other topics for practitioners available upon request.
We work with both private and public organizations including schools, parent groups, and other service providers interested in furthering their understanding of current cognitive science research as it relates to educational practices and neurological language development.
THERAPEUTIC TUTORING
Pre-Kindergarten through Adult
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Reading
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Spelling and writing
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Math
To reach each student's highest potential, Pinnacle Education tutors find existing gaps in past learning, adapt and change instruction as needed, and teach skills using Orton-Gillingham based methods.
Our tutors custom design an educational program for each student. They deliver explicit, multi-sensory, structured literacy instruction matching a student’s neurological profile.
Students learn at a pace and strength just right for them, considering not only their unique challenges, but also the students many strengths.
About Our Programs
We begin by gathering information from a variety of sources: parent report, the student’s school, privately procured evaluations, specialists reports, neuropsychological evaluations, and our own skills assessments.
Our own assessments present the student with an opportunity to partner with the tutor so that both are the teacher. While the tutor is instructing the child, the student is teaching the tutor how that students brain best learns. Unlike traditional school tests, our assessments are not just about getting correct answers, but rather gathering all kinds of information. We utilize data from ALL answers, especially mistakes! Mistakes provide indespensible information. Often this understanding relieves a students anxiety and builds a trusting partnership.
The Program Plan
After the assessment, families are presented with their program plan: a living document. Although we encourage and provide specific feedback to students, they are rarely aware that we have specific goals and recommendations. Unless the student is older and prepared to participate in the program plan process, this process is for the adults.
While our primary focus is to help students reach their academic goals, we ultimately want students to leave us knowing how they learn and how to ask for what they need in a given situation. Upon graduation student’s have met learning goals AND gained self-advocacy skills. Our greatest joy is helping students “graduate” from their programs with skills and confidence.
The Lessons
Rather than teaching memorization of facts, our methods teach a structured systematic process. This enables struggling students to apply information to multiple situations. Our practitioners are exceptionally well informed regarding the most current research based practices, structuring each lesson to a student’s predicted needs, with the adaptability to adjust in the moment.
READING
Traditional classrooms often teach reading using memorization of sight words or guessing based upon pictures. These methods are problematic for many children, causing frustration. All of our reading programs use the simple view of reading, first proposed by Hollis Scarborough’s research. Cognitive research, along with the National Reading Panel findings, shows that using methods based upon the simple view of reading to be the most effective methods to build truly skilled readers.
Word reading is explicitly taught using both orthography (sounding out words) and morphology (word part meanings). Reading comprehension can be taught using a variety of methods: visualizing and verbalizing, chunking text into meaningful phrases, vocabulary instruction first focused upon connective words, and syntax (the structure of language). Download Reading Therapeutic Tutoring Details PDF
SPELLING & WRITING
Words
Spelling and writing are the most challenging skills to remediate, yet they are the most entertaining! These tasks often produce great anxiety in our students, so we input a good amount of creativity and amusement. In addition, we stress that perfect spelling is rarely necessary, though learning a process to spell is invaluable! Rather than perfect spelling, a student's goal is to increase spelling accuracy; good enough spelling that spell check works, significantly reducing editing time.
A structured, systematic process to spelling breaks down the task into steps which can be reproduced with any word. Once a student learns a spelling pattern, we teach them to use higher level thinking skills to determine which spelling choice applies to the current situation. This method improves both spelling and comprehension of words.
Sentences
We then take spelling to the independent level by teaching proper sentence grammar, syntax. Using our spelling concepts we expand and combine sentences. We use sentence combining to reinforce spelling and create writing that flows. Combining two to three sentences into one sentence is like exercising the muscle of spelling, grammar and written expression. Sentence expansion not only aids proper punctuation and the ability to express thoughts in complex ways, but most importantly students become comfortable with the editing and revising process. Changes don’t mean you did something wrong, they simply mean you found an even better way to express your thoughts—you leveled up your writing!
Paragraphs and Beyond
For more complex writing, we utilize the same structured sequential methods described by Orton-Gillingham, yet at a much higher level. Pinnacle Education tutors focus not only on the structure of paragraphs and essay, but more importantly the process—prewriting, write, revising and editing.
For all of our students, writing requires a significant amount of concentration, or cognitive load. Providing the student with a process to follow helps them work past their writing anxiety and reduce the concentration required to complete the task. This leaves the students with more working memory, thinking space, to choose stronger verbs and express their ideas more thoroughly. Download Spelling & Writing Therapeutic Tutoring Details PDF
MATH
Orton-Gillingham principles readily apply to teaching and learning math because math has its own language and structured process, with symbols and rules that need to be learned sequentially.
Multi-sensory, explicit, structured teaching methods turn abstract math concepts into concrete understanding. They give students strategies for mastering the language of math. To solve abstract problems, students develop a sense of numeracy, understand basic operations, and learn subject-specific vocabulary. Translating words into math symbols is taught with much support and guidance, to reduce frustration and increase repeated success. In all math instruction we are careful to move from the simple to the complex. Again, we are moving as fast as we can, but as slow as we must to ensure lifelong skills. Download Math Therapeutic Tutoring Details PDF
REMOTE TUTORING
Long before remote learning became a necessity, Pinnacle Education Services provided live streaming lessons via webcam. We’ve had years to hone our remote skills, researching creative ways to provide engaging services via the online format.
Pinnacle uses interactive and collaborative avenues to deepen the efficacy of online learning. Through online instruction, we present ingenious lessons creating engaging and productive instruction. In addition to effective instructional methods, the strong relationships between tutor and student develop just as they would in person.
Remote Learning with Pinnacle Education FAQs
EXECUTIVE FUNCTION SUPPORT
Homework/Project Help | For Middle, High, and Collegiate Levels in Reading and Writing
This service offers parents academic support, a village, in order to raise independent, confident young minds. As children grow into adults, separating from their parents is healthy but sometimes students still require guided support to reach their goals. Executive function coaching is most successful when parents are prepared to participate, students are asking for change, families want honesty and clear feedback. Executive function coaching often includes goals such as:
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Executive Function skills acquisition: task initiation, task switching, prioritizing, distraction reduction
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Tools to overcome resistance, avoidance and procrastination
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Time management: plan steps to projects, turn in high-quality work on time, brain breaks
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Study skills: develop tools, strategies and systems specific to their needs
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Develop metacognition (better understanding of oneself as a learner, self-awareness)
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Self-Advocacy: knowing what, when and how to ask for help, self-accommodating
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Increased responsibility, independence, confidence, and laughter!
Drop-in Lessons, Short-Term Professional Writing Coach
Drop-in lessons are short-term project based lessons. They are reserved for previous middle or high school students and adults with work related writing projects who desire an editor to work with them in creating a polished product.
Topics for instruction are brought to the lessons rather than provided by the tutor. Rather than remediation or teaching of new skills, these lessons are designed to support the student who needs a little boost with a particular assignment or project. Download Drop-In Lesson Details PDF