Encouraging Success
Our Mission
We provide specialized learning services that unlock the fullest potential of our students. Thrive is a unique approach - we believe it is more important to identify cognitive and academic weakness and develop a plan that works at the root of the problem, rather than labeling a student with a specific disability.
Underlying Philosophy
The Building Blocks of Learning
We know that every student has strengths and weaknesses that can be identified, built upon, and strengthened. The Building Blocks of Learning is a framework for explaining why children experience different learning and/or behavioral difficulties associated with the classroom.
Developed by Nancy Mather, Ph.D. and Sam Goldstein, Ph.D. to provide a bridge between research and educational practice to help students in a practical way, the framework provides a structure to assess a student’s areas of strengths and weaknesses, and the details of that assessment can be effectively organized for decision-making on interventions, modifications, and accommodations. Taken from observations and testing results provided during the evaluation process and assessed through the framework, the “Blocks” are arranged in a triangular fashion with foundational skills forming the base, symbolic skills forming the second layer, and conceptual skills forming the highest level.
The Building Blocks for Learning chart is available below as a PDF reference for understanding student learning patterns, and for educational therapists or other educational professionals to target functional skills to address the student’s needs.