PRINCIPLE 1: I CAN GIVE 5 MINUTES

For the struggling child there is never enough time. Time to play, time to read, or time for “academic catch-up”.

Extra help must take place in addition to day-to-day school work. It must be squeezed in after school, into their weekends, and into their summer vacations. Often for several hours at a time.

Childhood is a very short season, and hours are a heavy price. Five to ten minutes per day is, perhaps, a price a child can afford to give freely.

PRINCIPLE 2: PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT

Practice is the best instructor. WizardsSpell provides a framework for a child to practice and check words several times within a few seconds. Repetition and Feedback are immediate. The WizardsSpell feedback loop is depicted in the following figure.

Contrast this feedback loop with the typical list practice. The student completes the list, it is checked, and the student may or may not practice the words again. The student may not see the corrected list for several days. The typical feedback loop is large - it surrounds the test. The WizardsSpell feedback loop is small - it surrounds the word.

Repetition and Feedback. Immediate. As many times as needed.

PRINCIPLE 3: I'D RATHER WORK ON MY OWN

Parents wanting to help their children standardly give them pre-tests. These can often be a source of contention. None of us want to display our failures. WizardsSpell allows the child to practice on their own, without judgement. Self-paced; self tutoring; no shame.

PRINCIPLE 4: CONFIDENCE AWAKENS POTENTIAL

For years my daughter Lucy, spent good portions of her "free time" with tutors, speech therapists, or doing computer based "therapy". All of them helped.

But none of them directly helped her to get what she really wanted and needed. She needed to get an A. "It doesn't help me Mom, I still don't get good grades."

And she did care about her grades, though she would tell me emphatically at times that she didn't. Watch the face of a child who consistently expects failing grades. Watch that face, and you begin to understand how deeply she wants to succeed. Watch that face, and you begin to understand that saying you don't care is a pretty logical way of protecting yourself from disappointment.

Watch that face when she pulls off an A. You see something ignite. A light that had gone out shines through eyes that begin to say "I can do it".

I can do it.

I will do it.

I am doing it.

Confidence awakens Potential.