Destiny School - Home of Mediated Learing : Red Deer, Alberta Canada

Student Testimonies..

Colten Wilson
Grade Five Student

Destiny Christian School is like a home to me because:
People are friendly.
It is a safe place.
Teachers are caring and help me learn.
Teachers help resolve fights and then we are friends after.
There are lots of fun things to do.

I like where the school is located because there is lots of room to play outside.
I like FIE because it helps me with my precision and accuracy in everything I do.
Destiny is like a family.
It was misery before Destiny, no friends and classes were rough.
Destiny is great because it is a fun place to be Okay!
If Destiny was to close I would feel very, very, very sad.
I know that the school is going to grow because of Jesus Christ.

November 02, 2005
-----------------------------
TOP

Parent Testimonies..

Lorna Wilson
Mother of Colten - Grade Five Student

Prior to my son, Colten, starting school I really had not thought much about the whole education process other than hearing about issues from my family and the media. His big debut into school began in 2000 when he started Kindergarten in Airdrie and attended there until the end of Grade 3.

During that time I soon learnt that there was much expected from our children and the way they are taught is very different than what we had experienced in our elementary days. Colten was identified in Kindergarten to be in need of additional help and was enrolled into the “Early Literacy” program. He was one of the “group” who were taken out of regular classes to have extra reading time. Not only did it create inferior feelings but also, because children teased him, his self-confidence was destroyed. He did not feel safe and it was a HUGE daily struggle just getting him to return to school each morning and afternoon.

To ensure that Colten understood and completed his learning, it was necessary for me to do homework with him on a regular basis. He was very frustrated and detested learning so our evenings often ended with tears for both of us. In order to maintain our relationship I decided that he needed help from someone else, so I enrolled him into Sylvan Learning for two years. The 1:1 teacher/student ratio helped him slowly progress and regain some of his confidence.

When we relocated to Red Deer the hunt for a school began. From the first telephone conversation to our first meeting with you it was evident that you have a great desire to help children succeed in their learning and destiny for their lives. It was the first time that I had ever seen Colten excited about school. After looking at three other school options Colten had determined that Destiny was where he wanted to attend.

When Colten completed the MLE testing it showed him that he sees things in both directions, this has helped him understand why he had previously struggled with learning. Since doing the FIE exercises learning has proved to be less stressful and has helped him with precision.

Destiny is a safe environment for our children and the overall attitude from staff and students is VERY positive, it’s very much like a family team working together including every age group. There are NO bullies or reoccurring issues between students because they are instructed and shown how to accept each other as they are.

Colten is now in his second year at Destiny and the changes in his attitude toward learning, his self-confidence and desire to gladly attend school have been phenomenal. He LOVES to go to school and does not like to miss. He is more confident about himself and understands that he is special in his own way and he can learn even if he sees things differently than others. I asked Colten if we could move back to Airdrie and his response was, “only if you drive me to Destiny every day!”

Destiny has been a God sent for us and we thank you and your staff for the dedication, sacrifices, time and the many unnoticed things you do for our children. You understand that each student learns differently and offers something unique.

As a parent who values the quality of my son’s overall development into a confident, brilliant and successful adult I believe that it is of utmost importance that Destiny Christian School not only continues to educate our children but is given the opportunity to expand into a full Kindergarten to Grade 12 school. We will continue to stand with you and support you in the growth and success of our school – Destiny Christian School. Thank you and God bless you for your commitment.

November 02, 2005
-----------------------------
TOP

Petrina Gratton
Past Enrolling Mother of Three

I believe very strongly that Destiny School would be an asset to our already positive Chinooks Edge School Division.

Three of my children attended Destiny School 2004/2005 school year, grades 3, 5, and 8. They would still be attending if circumstances allowed.

Destiny’s Mediated Learning Enrichment Program provided my children with diagnostic testing which pinpointed the strengths and weaknesses of their brain’s cognitive functions. This program then provided specific tools, fourteen separate instruments used to strengthen and improve each cognitive function.

My children learned how they know what they know and gained knowledge and understanding of how they each processed information. This program empowered them to develop strategies for learning. It enabled them to understand and actively participate in learning for themselves. It was gratifying to see them take responsibility for learning.

The instruments M.L.E. equipped them with were bridged to all their subjects and transfer activities were created to further apply and understand how they learn.
My children now say “What is the strategy I need to do the activity?” rather than “I can’t do it!” I feel this M.L.E. program at Destiny School gave my children confidence in every aspect of their development. Destiny School would be an asset to our school community.

October 31, 2005
-----------------------------
TOP

Brenda Hilling
Mother of Christina - grade three, Joshua - Kindergarten

My two children have been attending Destiny Christian School as of the beginning of the 2005/06 school year. Christina is in grade three, and Joshua is in Kindergarten. I have had the opportunity to watch both children be assessed at different occasions by M.L.E instructors and have already seen the difference this program has made, especially in my daughter’s learning progress.
Christina is an average student, but has had difficulties with math and sometimes spelling. Her assessment showed that she tends to see the details of a subject instead of the “big picture” or framework, and also that she sometimes sees things from right to left rather than from left to right. As a result, some aspects of learning are a challenge for her, and she needs to be taught in accordance with her unique learning style.

I was able to apply the information from the assessment to help her at home, apart from school work. Her piano teacher and I were having a difficult time getting her to grasp note reading. Mrs. Mullen told me to ask my daughter how she would go about learning her notes, and to go with whatever works for her. She came up with her own system, and her piano teacher is noticing a marked improvement in her note reading, and Christina is much less frustrated!

With regards to her school work, I could never before figure out why she would mix up her letters when spelling words. For example, she would write ‘frist’ for first or ‘brid’ for bird. Orally she could spell them perfectly. It made sense when I found out that her ‘right-brained’ tendencies sometimes kick in and confuse the letter order. Now she knows what to watch out for, and I have told her to spell the word to herself quietly and to check that she has written it correctly. As for math, her teacher has started sending home some extra practice work that uses concrete, visual aids to help her understand math concepts. This really encourages me as in her former school, kids of her age were discouraged from using ‘props’ to help with addition and subtraction.

When Joshua was being assessed he was shown a complex figure and told to draw it. Well at his first try he couldn’t even draw a straight line. As Mrs. Mullen worked with him and coached him in using a system to figure out how to draw it, I thought she was wasting her time. We both thought that it was just too difficult for a five year old. But in about thirty minutes he could draw the complex figure from memory. I was amazed to see what he was capable of!

There are some conclusions I have drawn from what I have seen from the M.L.E program: