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A Message from
the Principal
I am often asked what inspired me to open Laurel Academy,
back in 1995. The answer begins with my father, Sidney Ledson,
who undertook to teach my sister and me to read when we were
just two and three years old. He outlined his trials and successes
in a bestselling book, Teach Your Child to Read in 60 Days.
Thereafter, disenchanted with our local public school, he homeschooled
us for a year, which led to our acceptance into a full-time
gifted program and the publication of his second book, Raising
Brighter Children.
My early education, and the variety of school environments I experienced, which
included various public schools, a publicly-funded gifted program, and a private
girls’ school, have been one of the sources of my own passion for education.
For, in experiencing such diversity, one has the opportunity to see how different
approaches felt and worked — from the student's point of view -- and to
see how much one's experiences affect one's personal, academic, and emotional
development.
Some years later, when I was a teenager, my father opened a school in order to
offer other children the same early education with which he had provided my sister
and me. My experience working at his school, where I began as an assistant and
working my way up until I eventually became the principal, allowed me to experience
just how rewarding working with children can be.
I learned there that children are excited and primed for learning — about
almost anything and from an early age — when high but attainable goals
are set by enthusiastic, skilled and inspired teachers, using appropriate and
abundant materials, in an environment of respect and encouragement.
Our success in using a systematic phonics approach to quickly teach young children
to read, and witnessing the children’s wonder at their new skill, was the
starting point in my decision to expand the program so that it would not only
accelerate the acquisition of language and math skills but would also place appropriate
emphasis on social development, physical health, the arts, science, history and
literature, and a full range of academic subjects for children from pre-kindergarten
to Grade 8.
From the beginning, it was my intention to offer an enriched program across the
whole curriculum, with individualization in the core subjects of reading, writing
and mathematics, in the firm belief that all of our students could benefit from
such programs, and progress further and faster than is often expected by educators.
Laurel Academy was founded on that belief. Its success in achieving its goals
may be the main reason the school has almost tripled in size since its inception.
I believe that a small school can best support and nurture its students, and
I work consistently with the teachers to determine ways in which this ideal can
be realised. I am the author of the school’s reading program and the key
instigator of each of the school’s other principal programs. I monitor
all areas of the curriculum, and I value the opportunity to know each and every
one of our students--and, of course, the opportunity to witness them mature and
develop into thinking, responsible and creative young adults.
I have worked, first-hand, with a wide range of students, from those identified
as "gifted" to those with autism, Down's syndrome, and other learning
disabilities, and I have seen how much an individualized, systematic approach
to teaching can benefit them all. I have studied child psychology and development
at University of Toronto. Early in my career, I completed the Kindermusik® teacher
training for teaching music to young children and taught music, using this method,
to children from two to six years old; I trained in the Kumon® method
of teaching mathematics and used it as a supplementary math program in school
for
a number of years; I have attended various teaching seminars and workshops, including
training in using the highly-successful Handwriting Without Tears® program;
I have served on the Board of Directors of a private high school for gifted students,
and I am a certified academic therapist with the Canadian
Academy of Therapeutic
Tutors (Orton-Gillingham).
Vee Ledson
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