About BeeSmart Concepts
Burnham Boehling and Jean Claud Bios
Burnham Boehling
Having raised six children and watched over their development, I became interested in learning styles. After a period of classroom volunteering, I began in-service training in Language Fundamentals at Riverside School, a school primarily for dyslexic children in Richmond, Virginia.
Following my training I became certified by the Academy of Orton-Gillingham Educator's and Practitioners and after nine years of service at Riverside School as a Language Fundamentals tutor, I began my private practice and traveled to schools in the Richmond area.
Tutoring in the high achieving private schools was a new challenge as my students were often beaten by a day in the classroom. Consequently, I designed games to re-enforce mastery of the skills necessary to develop fluency in reading and spelling. I have been using these games for the past ten years and know that the games have been a major component in keeping the interest of my students as well as developing mastery.
After 20 years in the profession, I am publishing my games which were designed to be portable for tutors, compact for teachers, and available with instructions for parents. Most of the time, depending on the skill of the players, the games can be played in 5 minutes. The games are designed to be sequential, multi-sensory, explicit and cumulative, which is the Orton-Gillingham method. These games have been used by other professionals in the Richmond area and have been found to be diagnostic, therapeutic and prescriptive.
Jean Claud
Immediately after college I began teaching at The Achievement Center, a private school for learning disabled students in Roanoke, VA. This was my first encounter with the Orton Gillingham method of instruction. This method worked with children who, in the past, had not made advancements in reading and spelling despite having above average intelligence.
After moving to Richmond, VA, I became a Language Fundamentals teacher at Riverside School . There I received additional training using the Orton Gillingham approach. After practicing this approach of remediation and completing all requirements, I was certified by the Academy of Orton Gillingham Practioners and Educators. While at Riverside School I met Burnham Boehling who shared a similar passion of teaching. Our passion grew out of witnessing highly motivated and intelligent students who underachieved.
After my own children entered school, I began tutoring at the private school they attended. I became involved in the formation of a special class for students who benefitted from an explicit, sequential and cumulative type of instruction.
During this time Burnham approached me to co-author a workbook to be used with struggling readers. I was both interested and challenged.
The result was a system based on the Orton Gillingham approach, bringing in additional strategies that we have found successful.
Purchase games and "Struggling Readers Instructional Guide" online or order by check...