New French pilot program helps students with dyslexia

When Megan Bach, 21, looks back on her high school years, she remembers the rewarding feeling she would get helping students who felt stuck in their subjects.

As a francophone herself, French learning was always something she was drawn to.  

When the opportunity arose to launch a program for struggling students, she jumped at it.

Since July, the Learning Disabilities Association of New Brunswick has been piloting a new French immersion program in the Fredericton region to support students who live with dyslexia and other learning disabilities.

Bach opened the program on her first day on the job as a French tutoring program co-ordinator, after the association received a helpful donation.

The association already offers English-language tutoring to students in person in Fredericton and online in other areas of the province. 

"I've always wanted to be a teacher, ever since I was little," said Bach, who has been working along experienced French immersion teachers to build her tutoring skills.

"Seeing the kids come in … they want to be here. And I can tell that. They're always happy when they come out and that's the most rewarding part."

The program is an intensive intervention, which involves implementing more individual instructional time for students outside the classroom to focus on teaching specific skills, based on science of reading principles, according to the disabilities association.

"It's been a long time coming," said executive director Ainsley Congdon. 

"We realize that there is a gap in service."

She says the program is tailored to individual student needs, in order to meet them where they are in their learning and support them through the process.

"We move through the material at the pace of the student because we want them to have confidence..and mastery of the skills," said Congdon.

The program uses two streams — one titled Watermelon Works and the other Pratique Phénomique — that were developed by Ontario teachers.

The streams were each built with students with learning disabilities in mind, with an emphasis on decoding and consistently building the base knowledge to limit student struggle.

The goal is for the students to take what they have learned in the program and more confidently apply them in the classroom.

Parents highlight need for advocacy

Kim Quartermain of Fredericton said she came to an immediate stop to try to get her 12-year-old son, Dax, into the program.

He was diagnosed with dyslexia in the third grade. Tutoring has been a great help in keeping him feeling comfortable in his English subjects.

Quartermain said they have been in search for French help since he began to fall behind.

"I think the teachers [in New Brunswick] do a great job…to make sure that everyone's understanding and moving things forward, '' she said.

She noted there is a high demand for French-speaking educators and a low availability of tutors in New Brunswick, which is a bilingual province.

"I just think in today's world, you have to advocate for your medical care and in the education system," she said. 

The pilot program is being offered to students free of charge until January. If it continues after that, it will be offered with a small registration fee.