Staff Writer

“Q-U-A says ‘kwa’ as in squash. O-U-G-H-T says ‘aw’ as in thought. S-I-O-N says ‘shun’ as in television,” Matt Gedaro says as his tutor Judy Morrell flips through a series of flash cards.

After testing Gedaro with a three-inch stack of cards, Morrell introduces the 12-year-old Scarborough boy to a new sound. 

“Say ‘village,’ and then say ‘damage,’” Morrell says and Gedaro repeats the words. 

“A-G-E says?” Morrell asks. 

“A-G-E says ‘ij’ as in village,” Gedaro says. 

Gedaro, a student in Kelly Crosby’s sixth grade class at Scarborough Middle School, attends tutoring sessions twice a week at the Masonic Learning Center on Congress Street in Portland, and has been for three years.

Theresa Gedaro, his mother, says when he was behind in reading levels and struggling with schoolwork his second grade teacher recommended the center. Since then, she says her son has improved confidence in school and caught up with his grade level literacy expectations.

As one of 59 centers in the northeast region, the Masonic Learning Center opened in 2002 and has tutored more than 100 students with language-based learning disabilities to date. Supported by local Masons, the largest and oldest fraternal organization committed to charitable work and volunteerism, the center offers free tutoring sessions twice a week for students with some degree of learning disability, Center Director Barbara Labrecque says.

Nearly 15 to 20 percent of today’s population has some degree of dyslexia and two out of every 10 students are complete traditional education without additional learning assistance, Labrecque says. Using the research based Orton-Gillingham approach to teach children, she says tutors use audio, and visual elements as well as kinesthetic elements, or “learning by doing.”

Matt Gedaro pulls a tray containing a sand-like substance from the nearby shelf and begins tracing letters with his finger as he says each letter out loud. He then traces the letters on a rubber mat three times, and again on the back of his chair.

“It’s a visual to auditory connection. Tracing is that multi-sensory element. They feel it so they remember,” Morrell says, noting when her students are struggling she often sees them tracing letters on the table or in the air. 

A special education teacher at Gorham Middle School, Morrell tutors two students at the center, but also uses similar techniques with her students at school. 

“I pull kids out for reading and use this [approach] extensively,” Morrell says. “They need the systematic, repetitious approach.”

In order to become a tutor at the center, Morrell had to complete a yearlong training program with 100 hours of supervised tutoring. She became certified and started tutoring Matt Gedaro in 2006. 

“When he first started we were going through one syllable words and sounds,” Morrell says. 

In his third year at the center, Matt Gedaro is working through the fifth and final level of the Orton-Gillingham approach, spelling out words such as orthodontist and using the one-syllable sounds he’s learned along the way to spell it correctly. 

“I really didn’t understand breaking down words, and I was not a good reader,” Matt Gedaro says of when he first started at the center. “Now I’m getting 100’s on all my spelling tests.”

Labrecque says students are allowed to attend tutoring sessions twice a week for up to three years. She says as students progress through the structured Orton-Gillingham approach, Labrecque says some may reach the same level as Matt Gedaro within three years, while others may not, but with a waiting list of nearly 30 students, she says the center needed to established a maximum.

“We’re looking to get children to ability or grade level. Often their ability is above their grade level,” Labrecque says. 

Tutoring sessions for Kirby-Marie Kenney, 11, and her brother Joseph Kenney, 9, both of Standish, have helped improve their performance in school and at home, mother Rhonda Kenney says. 

With both of her children having difficulty spelling, de-coding words and behind their respective reading levels, Rhonda Kenney says when her father – a Mason – told her about the center she put them on the waiting list. 

The six to eight months her children had to wait concerned her, Rhonda Kenney says, but since her children have started the program their skills have “definitely improved.”

“It’s really helped their confidence,” Rhonda Kenney says. “Her teachers said she’s still a little behind, but they’ve noticed a big change. She’s broke out of her shell and she’s not so shy. Joseph enjoys reading now and being read to. That’s big progress there.”

Rhonda Kenney says parents should advocate for their children – having them tested for possible learning disabilities and helping them through tutoring.

“With multi-sensory learning, it helps them lock it in so it’s solid,” Rhonda Kenney says. “And because they are tutored one-on-one the success is a lot better.”

For more information about the Masonic Learning Center serving southern Maine students, contact Barbara Labrecque at 773-4949.