- Susie Coughlin was concerned when her daughter struggled with reading skills at her public school.
- The mom of two was disappointed her district didn’t teach phonics as part of its literacy program.
- She switched her child to a Catholic school where the girl thrived after being taught phonics.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Susie Coughlin, 43, an interior designer from Falmouth, Maine. It has been edited for length and clarity.
When our daughter, Carter, started struggling with reading, we thought it was related to her late birthday and the fact that almost everybody else in her class was a whole year older.
Her father, Paul, and I decided that she should repeat kindergarten in her public school . In her first year, she’d been put in a Response to Intervention (RTI) program to improve her literacy skills. However, at the parent/teacher conference during her second year, we were told she wouldn’t receive RTI…