Hume schools tackle reading comprehension

Nevada Daily Mail

Maximizing reading comprehension is being addressed in a new program at Hume Elementary School.

Superintendent David Quick said parents came to the school board last year to say their child had greatly benefitted from a curriculum offered by the Vision Intervention Program of Springfield, whose Web site is at goodvision4all.org. "They paid to have their child tested and go through the therapy," Quick said Tuesday.

"They said their child's reading improved by three grade levels in six months. You can have students whose eyes wander and don't stay on the line. They read part of a sentence and skip to another sentence.

"Consequently, there is no comprehension. There are some bright kids who have this problem. They could have 20-20 vision and still have undiagnosed vision issues. You train their eyes to follow the line."

Quick said the Hume R-8 board sent second grade teacher Jenny Madison and Title 1 instructor Amanda Querry to an orientation session in Kansas City last spring and to Springfield to qualify as instructors last summer.

Explaining that Madison and Querry are now training other teachers and will soon test the school's 75 elementary students to see if any of them need the special instruction, Quick said, "We have some we're pretty sure are candidates, but we will test all the kids to find out for sure."

He added that the program is costing the district $5,000 this year and $500 for each year thereafter. "Reading is the foundation of all learning," Quick said.