Photo by Joselyn King Wheeling Country Day School students, from keft, Maddie Kirchner, T.J. Eddy and Keira Kinkus spend time in the school’s Center for Multisensory Learning.

WHEELING — Too often, schools base their curriculum on what is best for the average student, but the problem with that is there is no average learner, says Elizabeth Hofreuter, head of school at Wheeling Country Day School.

“When we do that, so many kids fall through the cracks,” she said. “What we’ve found is children with dyslexia in particular are brilliant and creative, and have the ability to think in ways the typical learner would long to do. But the pathways in their brains don’t operate the same way, so they need multiple senses in order for it to stick the way learning sticks for a typical child.

“The truth of the matter is, it’s better for all learners — it’s just all learners don’t require it in order to gain new information.”

The Center for Multisensory Learning at WCDS seeks to provide additional learning stimulation for students identified as being dyslexic.

One in every 10 people have dyslexia, according to data compiled by the American Dyslexia Association.

At WCDS, there are 220 students and through screening about 20 have been determined to have dyslexia.

There is at least one teacher for every four students, and sometimes the ratio is one to three, according to Hofreuter.

Students with dyslexia are those who struggle with recognizing letters or numbers, and attaching a sound to that symbol.

Often these students become frustrated that they can’t learn the way the other students do.

They become angry and disruptive in class, and may never learn to recognize numbers and letters properly without intervention.

In the past, they may have been thought of as “lazy,” or not as bright as other students.That is why it is important to identify dyslexia when the child is still a toddler, according to educators.

“We just got to figure out their learning style, and what we have to do to get that information to them individually,” said teacher Theresa Kowcheck. “We have to work a little harder to say, ‘How does each child learn?’ And our job is to learn how that child learns best.”

Students enrolled both in Wheeling County Day School and in the learning center spend their mornings at the learning center, where they focus on phonemic awareness, spelling, vocabulary, reading comprehension and fluency, grammar writing and math.

Students from other schools, and those who are home schooled, take advantage of the learning center in the afternoons for a fee.

WCDS fourth grade student Maddie Kirchner said “it’s better here” at the learning center, and puts forth an exuberant energy as she learns. Her teachers call her “Tigger” for her constant bouncing, and she rocks frequently in her chair.

Kirchner said she has learned to break down words into vowels and consonants, then to rebuild them with the help of a dry erase board.

Also used to help in the reconstruction of the words are “manipulators,” which can be blocks, marbles, rice or even marshmallows.

Teacher Joe Jividen has students lay on the floor and form letters with their bodies as they learn to make the connections between words and symbols.

“I frequently talk about the highest feeling you can get as a teacher is watching that kid that kid who has struggled break through, and you see the light bulb go off,” Jividen said. “As an educator, you can see it in their faces.”