Screening & Intervention

Too often, dyslexia isn’t identified until third grade or later. By that time, a child with reading problems has only a one in seven chance of ever catching up to grade level in reading.

Although intensive reading instruction can be helpful at any age, results are better when a child receives this type of instruction in the early grades. We believe results are likely to be best of all when preventive action is taken even earlier – when a child is four or five years old.

No program has addressed this opportunity to prevent reading failure in children of this age – until now. Nemours BrightStart! provides free screenings and intensive instruction for four- to five-year-olds in Duval County, Florida so they can get a great start on learning to read.

The BrightStart! program does NOT diagnose 4 year olds as having dyslexia, since young children commonly develop skills at different rates. The goal of the screening program is to identify children who MAY have dyslexia and are significantly behind their peers in developing pre-literacy skills. The goal of the intervention program is to help these students catch up by stimulating the fundamental skills needed to become readers.

Screening

Nemours BrightStart! conducts screenings and educational intervention in select childcare centers throughout Jacksonville. For children who do not attend a preschool where the program is offered, screenings and intervention are available at our offices at 841 Prudential Drive, Suite 1600 and occasionally at other community locations.

In a session that lasts about 20 minutes, trained screeners meet one-on-one with each child and give simple tasks to measure language skills important for reading, such as letter recognition, letter sounds, vocabulary and breaking words into syllables.

Throughout the screening, we try to help the child feel at ease and we frequently give positive feedback for participation. Parents receive a brief summary of their child’s results, and are encouraged to ask any question about early literacy and their child’s progress.

Screenings are not intended to “label” a child; rather, they are simply used to determine if a child is behind in reading readiness and could benefit from our educational intervention.

Intervention

Children with results in the lower 25 percent of the screening scores qualify for intervention. With parent approval, children are placed in small groups of no more than four children for educational lessons. Highly trained teachers provide instruction from lessons specially designed by Nemours BrightStart!

Typically lessons last about 30 minutes and are held twice weekly during the school year for eight to 10 weeks. At the conclusion of the intervention, children are screened again to measure their progress, and parents receive their child’s results. Additional information to improve early literacy skills is provided when needed. Summer intervention at select voluntary pre-kindergarten sites is a new addition to our services in Duval County.