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My daughter was in the first grade when we started tutoring, she had just been moved into a GT class and is very bright but had no reading or writing instruction in K and also had some difficulties with handwriting. Kristina helped my daughter quickly get up to speed with her classmates and worked on areas that she needed extra support for. Over the summer we had only a couple of sessions with Kristina but she helped keep us on track and not only did my daughter not regress during the “summer slide” she gained a reading level. I can’t speak more highly of Kristina, she is professional, kind, lovely to be around, patient and engaging with kids, and an effective teacher.

Sarah S.Kristina is a phenomenal tutor

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I want to thank you so very much for introducing us to Amy and for including her in the Staten Island Letters network. When we contacted Staten Island Letters we were completely unsure of what our daughter needed in terms of speech therapy, or what we could achieve under the very stressful circumstance of having only about eight weeks prior to moving abroad during which to undertake any therapy at all. Amy helped us to strategize both pre-and post-evaluation and was practical, efficient, and communicative throughout the process of initiating and, later, undertaking, the speech therapy for our five-year-old. Having Amy come to our home twice a week was the perfect solution for us it definitely put my daughter at ease and certainly made our lives infinitely easier; Amy was always on time and ready to jump right in. Our daughter warmed to Amy immediately (not surprisingly, given Amy s warm personality and engaging demeanor) and looked forward to her sessions every week, constantly asking Is it an Amy day Within one or two sessions our daughter was making sounds she had never made before, and she continues to make amazing progress. I can’t praise Amy’s work highly enough and only wish we were remaining in the city so our daughter could continue therapy with her!

Leah ClarksonI also want to thank Long Island Letters generally for being such a great resource/business!

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Miss Shelley has changed our son’s life in a way we never thought possible. She is patient and kind, but most of all, effective. Our seven-year-old has been working with Miss Shelley for almost a year. During that time, our son has gone from below average to exceeding expectations. He’s more confident and fluid in his reading and writing and continues to make excellent progress. Most importantly, Miss Shelley deals extremely well with our son’s periodic lack of focus. She manages to bring him “back” to the table with her techniques and patience. I would urge any parent whose child struggles with reading to jump on the opportunity to work with her. Miss Shelley appears to use just the right mix of tools in her lessons. Repeating the basics, introducing new concepts, some games to keep things interesting, and finally, some reading and writing. We are truly grateful for Miss Shelley and continue to look forward to working with her in the future.

VassilikiShe’s absolutely wonderful and we are grateful to have found her!

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Kate worked with my 7-year-old son for a period of about 6 months, helping him not only with speech therapy but also with phonics and writing. During his time with Kate, he improved his speech annunciation, gained confidence and endurance in writing, and improved his skills in phonics. She always walked in with a huge smile on her face and brought an amazing energy to their session. Kate did a great job guiding a child who doesn’t like to sit still through an hour-long lesson, always ending with a game or a fun activity. My little guy looked forward to his time spent with Kate and never complained that she was coming, which is a huge help to a parent. She was always punctual and super professional.

Jennifer, mother of JosephKate is a fantastic therapist and teacher and I highly recommend her services.

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Rebecca is punctual, professional, and prepared each week she came with fresh materials. She was very interactive with board games and with visuals/videos/ & audio recordings Ezra looked forward to his time with her and really felt challenged, in a positive way (he's very bright and picks things up quickly, so he tends to get bored easily). Rebecca kept him on his toes and mixed things up enough to maintain his interest all the while progressing his development. With Rebecca’s guidance and encouragement, we are very happy with Ezra’s progress!

April & BarryRebecca has been wonderful for Ezra.

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Everybody I talked to (even my pediatrician) told me that I was worrying for nothing and that he was only a picky eater. I always felt that it was more than that. After fighting over and over and trying out every little trick or piece of advice I could find I finally decided to get him evaluated at NYU when he was 5. It turned out that my son had sensory issues when swallowing. They recommended feeding therapy. I reached out to Craig who put me in contact with an amazing person Christina R. Christina has a tremendous experience and is incredibly gentle and patient with kids. She connected right away with my kid (and with us!) and started to help him through play and positive reinforcement. She immediately understood my sensitive son and found her way through him, helping him to become more confident and to change his perception of food and mealtime into something positive. She also helped me with my struggles. Always here for me and my family. Each time I was lost and didn’t know how to react I would text her and she would answer me right away, texting me or calling me back with the best advice or tips, or just to reassure me and tell me that I was doing great. Christina has been incredible and helped my family and especially my little boy who is now comfortable with a lot of different food but most importantly he is not afraid to try new things and enjoys mealtime. Today was time for our family to say goodbye to Christina as her work with us was over. It was bitter-sweet. I was so happy that my little boy overcame his issues and fear but I was really sad to have to let Christina go. She feels like part of our family and we will definitely miss her. If your kid is struggling with food, I highly recommend you to ask for Christina, she is just terrific and I have no doubt she will bring you the help you need.

Julie & GregI noticed that my son had difficulties with food since he was 1 year old.

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Natalie was great. She was punctual, friendly, and quickly put our son at ease. We asked her to work on reinforcement of the math concepts our son just finished in 5th grade and she was very knowledgeable of the grade-level material. From my observations, she helped him understand the math concepts better. She worked with us on scheduling around conflicts and was very flexible in schedule sessions so he wouldn’t have too much time between sessions. Overall, we were pleased with Natalie and her work with our son. Would certainly recommend her to others and request her services again.

Robert G.We hired Natalie for summer bridge math tutoring for our son.

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Logan’s twin sister, Audrey, has had the pleasure of Cathy’s care for a slightly shorter time than that. Through the last year, we have noticed a definite improvement in all areas of the twin’s communication skills including verbal comprehensibility, aural comprehension, and overall learning skills including reading. Some of this can be marked back to inherent developmental growth and change in schools, but a large part we believe to be due to Cathy’s good work. The twins worked with another SLP for years and, although a wonderful person and therapist in her own right, her play-based approach often made improvement in the kids hard to gauge. Cathy s approach is much more traditionally pedagogic and started with her conducting many diagnostic tests to get a clearer baseline to read/picture of the kid's abilities and issues. From there, she developed a very well-reasoned course of therapy for both Audrey and Logan and they continue to benefit from Cathy’s skills and experience. Beyond her obvious professional expertise, Cathy has proven to be a kind and caring therapist and has extended herself when asked to participate in team meetings with our son's school. Cathy has also referred us most recently to an OT that we are beyond happy with, further proving her commitment to the overall well-being of her students. In summary, we consider ourselves very lucky to be working with an SLP of Cathy’s professional expertise and personal quality.

Toni & TimWe are very lucky. Our son, Logan, has been working with Cathy for just over a year now.

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Colleen has made a huge difference in our daughter, Sophie’s ability to read and write. Sophie (8years old) has dyslexia and has struggled for years with reading. Thanks to Colleen she has learned invaluable ways to decode and break down words, making it much easier for Sophie to read. Not only has Sophie’s reading abilities improved but so has her self-esteem. Colleen is patient, reliable, thoughtful, dedicated and we will cherish her help with Sophie always.

Joanne F.Thanks to Manhattan Letters, we found Colleen.

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Kristi is a truly outstanding speech therapist. She clicked instantly with our son Hugh and delivered almost immediate results. Other therapists fumbled as they tried to connect with our boy; it was maddening and frustrating. But Kristi skillfully tapped into Hugh’s potential and brought out his very best week after week. Watching Kristi work with our son filled us with hope and optimism about his future. Kristi understood our goals for our son and implemented a smart, holistic approach. Instead of teaching rote phrases, Kristi saw the big picture. She pushed our son to relate and really communicate with others. Kristi carefully planned her sessions with Hugh but also showed great flexibility and creativity at times in order to maximize every minute she spent with our boy.

John & LesleyWe are incredibly grateful to Kristi and to Manhattan Letters.

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She is very positive and has boundless energy, both for my son and for me. She is very responsive and takes the time to discuss my son’s progress, new ideas, or any concerns I might have. I really appreciate the role she has in my son’s life.

F.R.Joanne has been working with my seven-year-old son for a year now, and not only has she helped with his reading ability, but she is wonderful for his self-esteem as well.

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Great listeners, smart, and sensitive, and respectful of children. We could not be happier with our daughter’s progress and her new confidence. Of all the therapists/professionals we’ve met, both through EI and private, I trust the folks at Staten Island Letters the most. I highly recommend Suzanne as a speech therapist. My daughter is very sensitive and prone to anxiety; Suzanne was both in tune with Rose’s emotions and skilled at keeping the sessions focused. To me, this is no small feat with a 3-year-old. Suzanne always came prepared with a game to play, a project (such as arts and crafts, cooking) or a book, or a combination of these activities. She worked with Rose on a variety of language issues, as well as making choices, taking turns, listening. She used a visual (picture) schedule each time which seemed to help Rose feel more organized and in control. This was before Rose was in school, and it was with Suzanne that Rose learned to read a schedule. In addition, Suzanne was exceptional at communicating with us as parents. She actually listened to our concerns and addressed them head-on. We have had our share of therapists, and have found that this is not something you can take for granted. Suzanne is attentive, sympathetic, and dedicated, fun, kind, and knowledgeable. She challenges the child at the right level not too easy, not too hard. I highly, highly recommend Suzanne.

Margaret (Rose, 3, Harry, 13)Just want to say, Craig and his team are amazing!

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She has been able to improve and increase our daughter’s confidence lesson by lesson with patience and competence; through varied and productive didactic practice. Alexa has engaged our daughter in several activities that always kept her motivated and eager to learn literacy. My wife and I, both of us are educators, feel so fortunate to have had the opportunity to observe Alexa’s pedagogical skills. Alexa has had a big impact on our daughter’s literacy growth. Thank you Staten Island Letters!

Mario CostaAlexa has been an enthusiastic, reliable, well-prepared, and caring teacher for our 6-year-old daughter.