Early success in acquiring reading skills usually leads to later successes in reading as the learner grows, while failing to learn to read before the third or fourth year of schooling may be indicative of life-long problems in learning new skills. In other words, The “Matthew Effects” refers to the idea that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. When children fail at early reading and writing, they begin to dislike reading. They read less than their classmates who are stronger readers. And when children with disabilities do not receive adequate remediation, they read less – and learn less from reading - than non-disabled children. As a consequence, they do not gain vocabulary, background knowledge, and information about how reading material is structured. “That psychologist talked about if children aren’t reading at grade level by third grade, they will struggle for the rest of their educational career,” Boschee said. “So third grade is a real marker for reading well.” Another foundational basis she uses as a guide in her work comes from educational theorist Lev Vygotsky. “He says that unless you diagnose exactly where they’re reading, you’re wasting your time,” she said. “So you have to diagnose … you have to know where that zone is to teach them how to fly.” It’s a team effort, Boschee said. “It’s not only the pilot (that makes the plane fly) … you have to have a team. You have to teach mom and dad. I was working with a family yesterday of a first grader that was looking at possibly entering special education in Iowa,” she said. “The child’s mom said to me, ‘I have all of these tools that you gave me that I had no idea were available for me to help.’ “Once I diagnose (a child) with an assessment, I can tell the parents with 96 percent reliability and accuracy and validity that what I tell them is true,” Boschee said. “It’s a research-based tool, and that’s why the program works … the tool that I use for reading is going to show their rate, their accuracy, their fluency and their comprehension.” Read2Soar is designed to help people from kindergarten through age 18 improve their reading skills. Boschee has formed a limited liability company to allow her to market her reading program. “We have to take ownership of it so it’s not borrowed, I guess, and I’m writing the curriculum to share with other teachers and districts,” she said. Her program has a track record of success, starting with a reading clinic at Northern State University in 2009. In 2012, Boschee began a two-year stint as superintendent of the Christian school in Volga. She implemented Read2Soar there, and reading scores went up 75 percent. Today, she makes her home in Vermillion, and works as a graduate coordinator at Morningside College in Sioux City, Iowa. “I’m working with programs there, including gifted and STEM, and I realized that I sort of missed working with children, so I started giving talks at the (Vermillion) library, and I have eight children now (that I’m helping),” Boschee said. One child lives in Omaha, and the young reader and Boschee communicate via video conference on their computers. A second child is from the Sioux City area. The remaining children that she helps with Read2Soar visit Boschee in her Vermillion home. “Families come, and a lot of times parents sit off to the side where they can still hear and see, because they want to hear the phonics, and they want to see what we’re doing so they can implement that at home, as well,” she said. As children’s reading skills have begun to blossom, so have the inquiries about Read2Soar. “People want to know about it. Parents want to know what I’m doing; small schools in Iowa are contacting me and asking me to do professional development programs,” Boschee said. “Lately it has just been me talking, getting the word out, but I am working to copyright the curriculum as well, and then go in and do professional development for teachers.” Boschee said she was inspired to develop Read2Soar when hit with the realization that she is passionate about the teaching of reading. “It’s an area that I’ve studied to the point that I have an understanding, based on research, of what needs to be done,” she said. “When I was an elementary teacher for 16 years, I didn’t know what I know now. I just began listening to parents at church, listening to parents while in line at the coffee shop as they talk about their children, and hearing how frustrated they are with their inability at reading, or their lack of interest in school, or how they can’t get them to read a book.” That frustration being expressed by parents reflects similar feelings felt by their children when it comes to reading. Read2Soar offers children a way to confront those frustrations and overcome them. “In general, we are systems people. Give me a system to do, over and over again, and if it works, I’ll keep doing it,” Boschee said. “… I don’t know that it’s really unique. It’s a research-based program integrating assessment and activities that work.” vBy David Lias If your family suddenly needs surgical care, where will you turn? You want someone to ease your fears, lessen the stress, and take the time to comfort you and your family. No referral necessary. Call Yankton Surgical Associates, PC today for a consultation. 605-668-9670 2525 Fox Run Parkway, Suite 204, Yankton www.yanktonsurgical.com Kynan C.Trail, MD, FACS HERVOICEvMAY/JUNE 2017v21