FITT & SMART

Reading involves many parts of the brain. Struggling readers may not have clear neural connections between these regions. Until recently, it was believed that how a brain was wired to learn and read was permanent. Neuroscientists have found that is not true! Our brains have plasticity or neuroplasticity. This means that our brains can adapt and change. We can create new neural pathways for reading and learning success!

In order to create and strengthen neural pathways and develop cognitive, language and literacy skills we must use the F.I.T.T. Principal (Frequency/Intensity/Time/Type) and S.M.A.R.T. Goals.

F.I.T.T. Principle

We use the F.I.T.T. Principle to safeguard solid reading progression and rapid improvements. The four F.I.T.T. factors are frequency, intensity, time and type.  

F	Frequency	A minimum of five-days per week for cognitive brain training and a minimum of two-days per week for direct, explicit, multi-sensory instruction
I	Intensity	One-on-one individualized instruction and small group instruction when appropriate
T	Time	A minimum of 50-minutes for cognitive brain training session and a minimum of 60-minute for explicit, multi-sensory instruction sessions
T	Type	Relationship-based, personalized, adaptive and FUN

S.M.A.R.T. Goals

We use the S.M.A.R.T. Goals to ensure students’ goals are clear and reachable. This is essential to student performance, executive skills development and reading achievement.

S	Specific	We create specific structured and sequential reading goals that will ultimately lead to increased reading confidence and capabilities.
M	Measurable	We have the metrics that will tell us if students are moving towards their reading goals. Daily measurements allow us to execute immediate interventions and celebrate gains. When students can see a visual representation of their growth, they feel motivated to learn.
A	Attainable/Achievable	Reading goals will be challenging enough to inspire but not so big as to frustrate. Have big dreams for your reader overall, but we set smaller, incremental goals during the S.M.A.R.T. planning process in order to make those dreams a reality.
R	Relevant	We make sure your student’s reading goals are personalized and apply only to your student. Each reader’s journey is unique, and so will be their goals.
T	Time-bound	We use the F.I.T.T. Principle to effect significant change in a concentrated amount of time.