I simply never tire of watching students strengthen their learning abilities through using the SOI modules (learning booklets) in the area of Cognition, Memory, Evaluation, Problem-solving, and Creativity. I remember leaving meetings focused on our daughter’s challenges in school feeling discouraged and frightened. We were told she had low comprehension.
A parent does not stop by the bookstore and buy a book on comprehension that would solve the problems being experienced in the classroom. Fortunately, SOI came into our lives when our daughter was nine and SOI knew how to teach comprehension! In her case, we learned it was visual comprehension that was the roadblock in learning how to read as revealed when she took the SOI Assessment of Learning Ability.
When I became trained in SOI and opened my own learning center in 1989, I became fascinated with the SOI process of assessment and development of individual learning abilities. In my first year of serving students, my confidence increased dramatically. I was not tutoring students in curriculum; I was using the SOI materials to develop and strengthen the ability to learn curriculum.
One of my favorite memories was working with a teenager on a module that developed ability in the area of geometry. After spending about twenty minutes working hard, he sat back, put his hand on the back of his head and said, “Wow, my brain feels hot! I don’t think I have been in that part of my brain before.”
Now in the year 2016, still fully involved in SOI, having my second SOI Learning Center and serving adults and students of all ages, I carry a confidence in the SOI approach that is rock solid. I observe light bulbs turning on that reveal higher levels of comprehension. I watch visual and auditory memory be strengthened through learning how to truly pay attention and focus on information.
I observe the process of developing evaluation by comparing and prioritizing information. I see students struggle with problem-solving as they seek out the exact answer as in test taking. As they keep working, frustration develops into tenacity. Finally, I love watching the spark of creative thinking develop. I always smile when I remember the eight-year-old student staring at a page in a creative module for a long time. All of sudden, with a big smile, she said, “Hey, I got a great idea!” She now works for Disney Company!
To empower individuals to develop the ability to learn with confidence, accuracy, stamina, and determination is the foundation of SOI Systems. Dr. Mary and Dr. Robert Meeker developed the key to learning.
I live by my statement, “To teach is a verb. It requires action on the part of the teacher. To learn is a verb. It requires action on the part of the student.”
It is simply genius.
written by: Diane Hochstein, Senior SOI Program Consultant & President of SOI Service Company