Hey there!
I'm Dr. Rebecka: Jesus Follower, Academic Langauge Therapist for Dyslexia, Teacher, Administrator, Speaker, & MOM of a struggling learner!
It was through the struggle where Cherish Children Ministries
was born, a mission that seeks to liberate children with
dyslexia, ADD, ADHD, and other spectrum disorders from
the curriculum industry by equipping and empowering them
with holistic education for success in who God The Creator made
them to be is what we are all about. JEREMIAH 29:11
Our Story... Listen HERE!
We encourage and equip parents and teachers to get the tools they need to ignite the brain and understand how these brilliant kids learn. Part of our ministry is that we get to share our expertise and experience with missionary friends working with children in schools and villages in other countries who would otherwise not have access to such teachings, content, resources, and HOPE!
Understanding and implementing the varied learning styles,
brain-based techniques, child psychology, reading strategies,
and the how and why behind struggling readers were all learned
in college, but never was the science of reading. You see, I found
myself in the 60% of educators who only learned balanced literacy, and THAT does NOT work for ALL learners. So, when I began homeschooling and "trying" to teach my kid how to read, it was tears every single day.
​
I was not able to teach my own child how to read. Sure, I could teach other kids, but not my own. Why? Dyslexia! Our days were defined by an overwhelmed mother trying everything under the sun to help this child, sifting through a never-ending stack of one curriculum after another.
​
Little did I know this would be the beginning of my journey where the road would eventually take me to dive deep into the science of reading, & becoming a dyslexia therapist. I learned to refrain from phrases such as, "get your mouth ready", "skip it and move on", "look at the picture", and those college methods to something different. Learning all about the brain, how it works, executive function, the Orton-Gillingham approach, primitive reflex integration, vision and directionality, crossover and rhythm, and so much more... has been my mission. WHY? Because, you see, I needed more, and although I had all of this training even at the doctorate level, it was not enough. I needed something to stick, something to LAST, and so did my kid, my students, and the teachers with whom I work, so: CHERISH CHILDREN MINISTRIES began as helping some friends learn all that I was learning and partnering with missionary friends so they could help their children too. I am passionate about providing dyslexia therapy for children & sharing my training, research, ideas, & classes with fellow educators and parents who have tried one curriculum after another only to continue to become frustrated and discouraged. My heart's desire is to give you evidence-based instruction that is ready to use for your own classroom: homeschool, private, or public. I continue to learn and create my own comprehensive classes (which also include equine and hippotherapy, completely research-based, kid-tested, and mother-approved, (Featuring Rocket Dog the Fun-Loving Beagle imagined by my own dyslexic learner) to help struggling learners all over the spectrum.
​
Our precious children need us to advocate for them. We know God says in His Holy Word, "For I know the plans I have for you, plans for hope and for a future, plans for good and not for evil, this says The Lord." Jeremiah 29:11. Growing up on the ranch, I always had access to horses and cattle. I remember riding my 4H mare, Cabba Rae bareback after school. There was nothing like it and nothing else seemed to matter during that time frame. Now, I get to take my love for children and blend it with therapeutic sessions for them before or after their tutoring sessions. When I see their eyes light up, and gain the first spark of confidence, I am reminded that I am doing exactly what God wants me to do...this is my purpose. To Help THESE PRECIOUS CHILDREN BE ALL THE CREATOR made them to be. It is no secret to The Lord, He did not make a mistake, He made these kids exactly how He wanted them, and no cultural expectations should be the divider between what The Almighty wants them to become and what labels society has placed upon them. The struggle is real...BUT with the right dose of love, encouragement, therapy, and a strategic one-on-one program, these kids will THRIVE!
Embracing children where they are, and sharing teaching strategies and exercises to help strengthen the brain for struggling learners has become a great mission where we get to take expertise to other countries and schools, helping to solve learning disabilities and spectrum disorders such as Dyslexia, ADHD, ADD, Autism, Dysgraphia, and others. Sharing TOOLS that WORK and GETTING RESULTS that LAST!
Every student, no matter if they are public schooled, home-schooled, or private schooled, no matter the grade level, and no matter the country, ALL students should be cherished as they are made in Christ's image. When we can come alongside mothers, teachers, and caregivers, and teach them how connections within the brain are KEY & give them the tools needed for success, THEN real learning can transpire. THIS can be done when we understand HOW these kids learn best.
​
We shift the focus to learning functions that are causing the issues and strengthen the weakness, rather than focusing on the symptoms. We recognize no one child will have the exact same function deficits as each one comes into the Cherish Children Ministries program with different needs, goals, expectations, and desires.
The effectiveness of Cherish Children Ministries is that you can make it your own and continually modify it when and where needed.
Most curricula fail to give results LONG TERM, most assessments fail to give REAL results, most children fail only because those who love them most, simply do not know how to find the LIFE-CHANGING answers for LASTING RESULTS.
I began to construct brain integration strategies and lessons including the different ways kids learn into all of my lessons and allowed opportunities for varied settings including the ranch and with horses. I really started understanding how the brain functioned, including exercise and strategies that would help my children and students with dyslexia, ADD, ADHD, and autism learn to their greatest potential.
Allowing for learning diversity, uniqueness and individuality encourage teachers, parents, and students to experience REAL SUCCESS.
Understanding how kids learn best has been the vehicle to bridge learning styles to lifelong learning. Coming alongside fellow homeschool moms and educators, helping them understand how to get kids excited about learning, teaching varied learning styles along with dyslexia, ADD, and ADHD are some of the things we help our clients learn. BUT, in order for them to see the big picture, we encourage and equip them to find the purpose for what they are doing, the why behind it, and master the strategies to help unique learners, even struggling learners.
​
I liken what Cherish Children Ministries does to coaching a sport's team. Not every coach played professional sports. Success as a player is not necessary to be a good coach. Great coaches know the game better than the players. Parents know their kids better than anyone. Your expertise has to do with crafting strategies and helping your children see what they can't see while they are in the game of learning. Coaches focus on how to make bodies move in the right ways to get maximum performance from their players just as you, parents, and teachers, focus on ways to maximize your children's performance along the educational road. Parents and teachers enable gifted children to perform to their highest God-given potential because they can convey the right kind of information that causes growth, self-awareness, and flexibility in critical moments. THIS is what we get to do, and we are passionate about it.
​
You see, I don’t have any special power that you don’t have. YOU know your kids! Your kids are smart, and they WILL SUCCEED with the right protocol, and with the right dose of love and
encouragement, you will THRIVE.
Our Mission
Cherishing every child in whom God created them to be and HOW they learn!
Cherish Children Ministries seeks to liberate children with dyslexia, ADD, ADHD, and other spectrum disorders from the curriculum industry by equipping and empowering them with holistic education to turn the struggling learner into a thriving achiever.
There’s nothing more defeating than trying to follow an unsustainable protocol that leads to frustration and ultimately taking steps backward and seeing no progress.
Our mission is to shift our focus to learning the functions that are causing the issues and strengthen the weakness rather than focusing on the
symptoms.
No one child will have the exact same function deficits as each one comes
into the Cherish Children Ministries program with different needs, goals,
expectations and desires.
The effectiveness of this is that you can make it your own and continually
modify when and where needed.
Most children fail only because those who love them most, simply do not know how to find the LIFE-CHANGING answers for LASTING RESULTS.
Cherish Children Ministries equips and trains parents and teachers how to assess each function, set measurable goals, follow a sustainable plan to help your children and students reach their fullest potential, and get the support you need to successfully accomplish everything you need to THRIVE.
How We Get RESULTS
Focusing on supporting EVERY CHILD in becoming a confident READER!
Our proven therapy methods are so effective, we teach young learners how to read, help struggling readers quickly catch up to grade level--often in just 8-10 weeks. Over the years, we have had many frustrated parents tell us about the reading struggles they were having with their children. The most difficult visit with parents is probably, the one where the parents are informed their child is behind in reading. Most teacher prep programs teach the balanced literacy approach to reading instruction. While this approach does in fact work for some, it does not work for all students.
Most teacher prep programs teach Balanced Literacy, however, the science is clear that when we use Structured Literacy, this works for 95% of our students. The Science of Reading is much more than "just" phonics. TRUE, while phonics and spelling are both windows into our children's learning, they help show us what they know and still need to learn, foundational skills are just as important. Foundational skills, when accompanied with phonics and phonological awareness, help to support FLUENCY, VOCABULARY& COMPREHENSION. These three elements are critically important to developing strong readers. When these three are delivered at the right time, with the proper amount of instruction and practice, CHILDREN WILL THRIVE!
English has over 170,000 words, and kids need to know around 3,000 words to read 95% of text. There are only 44 phonemes (sounds) in the English language that we teach children to help them read and decode most words.
Decades of scientific studies shave proven that phonics and phonemic awareness training not only improves, reading but also increases spelling abilities and reading comprehension.
Our therapy lessons are quick-paced, interactive, and engaging and only take about an hour each day.
The proven process we use in our lessons to teach children to become READERS is the authentic combination of systematic phonics, phonemic awareness, multisensory instruction, explicit instruction, and practice practice practice.