The Vancouver Learning Centre
a Transformative Partnership for Students with Learning Disabilities or Attention Deficit Disorders
Senior Psychologist and Founder
The Vancouver Learning Centre is a seasoned full service, full or part time educational experience in a safe, vibrant learning environment. We have four decades of experience in delivering outstanding, transformative outcomes to sudents with learning differences.
Principal and Head Teacher
The Vancouver Learning Centre is Unique
We enter into creatively designed, team-based, one-to-one learning partnerships with each learner.
Each individualized program is anchored in the science of neuroplasticity where effective brain function, applied to academic tasks, to emotional strength, and to strong executive function is optimized with targeted intervention to deliver outstanding personal best performances.
In these stressful times, the VLC’s focus on the importance of people — students, parents and teachers — is more important than ever.
The VLC is exceptional in its experienced, specially trained faculty.
Dr. Gerri Schwartz is the VLC’s senior psychologist and founder. She has decades of direct clinical experience in assessment and especially in the creative design and supervision of the programs that emerge from the two disciplines she represents—Education and Psychology.
A teacher herself with long-term classroom experience, she trains each faculty member and continues ongoing professional development to take advantage of the new emerging knowledge in the field of neuroscience.
Andrew Taylor is the VLC’s Principal and Head Teacher. He has a very special natural talent as teacher, coach and mentor to the VLC faculty and students.
Andrew has two decades of experience in teaching and creating the personal best outcomes we see at the VLC. He leads the VLC teams of teachers as we craft and sensitively deliver each individualized program.
The VLC Advantage for Students with Learning Disabilities, ADHD, ADD and Anxiety Disorders
Learning Disabilities are considered by teachers and parents when intelligent students are not developing key academic skills such as reading, writing or math, or cognitive skills such as language, or organization skills such as executive function at the same rate as their peers.
Learning disabilities are diagnosed when test performance on subtests of standard tests of intelligence, such as the WISC V or Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale 5, indicates significant differences between strengths that signal potential and weaknesses, that do not occur by chance.
Behaviour, anxiety, and attention disorders (ADHD, ADD) are often associated with learning disabilities, as learners respond to difficulties in the classroom by underachievement or misbehaviour.
Attenton Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (difficulty with focus and attention) has two root causes:
- The problem is brain-based.
- The problem is due to a variety of inappropriate responses to learning difficulties.
In both cases, teachers trained in the VLC Signature Programs such as Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) will address these issues as part of a creative individualized program design.
LEARN MORE — LEARNING DISABILTIES LEARN MORE — ADHD and ANXIETY DISORDERS
Three Pillar Strategy
In these stressful times, new learning issues are emerging that need urgent attention.
In response, the VLC is introducing three new exciting programs that will be integrated into each individualized program using the Three Pillar Strategy to optimize personal best outcomes.
Executive Function
The emergence of human ability to think flexibly:
- to reason in an abstract manner,
- to organize,
- to plan ahead,
- to initiate,
- to adapt,
- to solve problems,
- to apply new learning to novel tasks
This forms the overarching network of skills needed for excellence in learning and thinking across the broad array of cognitive, academic and emotional performances.
Emotional Intelligence
Emotional Intelligence is the essential ability, a skill, and behaviour that allows one to tap into the emotional framework, signals, and cues of our lives. It opens our awareness to our own feelings and to the feelings of others. It encourages empathy, compassion, and kindness. It expresses our noble qualities of integrity, decency, honesty, kindness and striving beyond ego for a good outcome for others as well as oneself.
High order Emotional Intelligence creates social success in our relationships and interactions. It provides the motivation (the ‘juice’) for excellence in performance of all kinds.
It is the critical component for academic and life success.
Creative Thinking
Creative Thinking creates an array of possibilities for each learner to move beyond the margins of the tasks given through their own curiosity, passion and talent. At the Vancouver Learning Centre, we teach THINKERCISE through proprietary methods that leads to the application of creative thinking to academic and life tasks. This can be transformative in achieving outstanding outcomes.
These robust life-lasting skills in the approach to problem-solving and learning challenges will provide VLC students with a unique toolkit for future success.
Next Steps
to get the very best outcome for each learner.