The VLC is not a school but a Specialist Learning Centre. The VLC delivers a team-based process. A teaching captain is assigned to oversee the program delivery and to be the main contact with the parents who then become an integrated part of the team. Schools can then be involved as appropriate.
In the case of home schooling, the curriculum, homework tasks, testing, and the program to earn credentials and provide oversight to the curriculum is up to the distance education school. This becomes the learner’s school and the VLC will work collaboratively with the school’s contact person and will actively address all IEPs or special needs developed by that school.
Whether the student attends on site at VLC and remains as part of a class or works with a distance education school, the VLC becomes the specialist provider of one to one teaching based on the special needs of the learner in collaboration with the learner’s parents and the contact person assigned by the school.
Learner Cohorts
At the Vancouver Learning Centre, we are equipped to serve students with many kinds of learning needs. Each of the eleven cohorts below describes a type of learner served by the VLC. The groupings are based on years of experience working with students and have been created for the convenience of presenting parents with appropriate information.
We take great care to ensure that each program addresses the needs of the student it is designed for. Since no two learners are exactly the same, all of our programs are individually designed and are built around each learner to provide them with the best support possible.
Parents Advisory
Learning disabilities are considered the cause of the problem when the teachers or parents are alerted because of a learner’s weak academic performance and/or behaviours that reflect lack of regulation and emotional maturity that are not grade or age appropriate. Learning disabilities are diagnosed ...
Programs include:
- Learning to Learn VLC Signature Tools and Programs
- Neurocognitive training: auditory processing; visual processing; executive function; memory and attention
- Academic training: reading (decoding, reading comprehension); writing (written expression, spelling); math (operations, problem solving); language; science; social studies; learning and organization skills; test taking
- Dynamic one-to-one faculty teaching of academic correspondence courses towards earning credentials at all levels/or following elementary school curriculum where appropriate
- Behaviour (CBT) and emotional support
Parents Advisory
Giftedness should be considered when parents are alerted by their own feelings or by the young learner’s teachers, that they are showing potential well above age and grade level performance ...
Giftedness should be considered when parents are alerted by their own feelings or by the young learner’s teachers, that they are showing potential well above age and grade level performance in language, motor abilities, or by early mastery of academic skills such as reading, writing, spelling, use of language, or mathematics.
VLC Programs include:
- Enriched Education for gifted young people showing advanced development
- School-age enrichment programs that focus on students' strengths and support their progression to advanced levels within VLC lessons
- Challenge-level instruction in specialized areas of student strength
Signs to look for:
- Advanced fluency in one or more languages
- Exceptional academic abilities in reading, writing, or math
- Eagerness and passion for learning in areas of interest
- A love for puzzles and complex games
- Talents in music, art, or sports
- Outstanding self-awareness and emotional intelligence
Some or all of these factors may be present alongside areas of concern in related areas. Explore other relevant sections, such as cohort #1: Learning Disabilities or cohort #4: Developmental Disabilities, like Autism.
Individualized programs can address both areas proactively.
Note: For Early Childhood Enrichment for Giftedness or Advanced Development (Ages 3-8), please see cohort #15.
Parents Advisory
Giftedness and Learning Disabilities appear together when both strong potential in some areas of test performance are present along with weak skills in others or when emotional regulation is immature. Giftedness with Learning Disabilities is diagnosed ...
- Learning to Learn VLC Signature Programs/Advanced
- Neurocognitive training if required
- Coaching in social and emotional skills
- Student underachievement, skill building
- All academic skills and curriculum support
- Advanced academic training in areas of strength
- Behaviour (CBT) and support if appropriate
Parents Advisory
Developmental (intellectual) disabilities and syndromes like Autism and Asperger’s, are considered when the learner’s performance in the ordinary skills of childhood in academic, cognitive, or emotional domains have not appeared at grade appropriate levels. Developmental disabilities are diagnosed ...
Programs included Language, Social, Behaviour and Early Academic Skills Training
- Early childhood (3-6 years) developmental delay/Learning impairment concerns
- School age (5-19 years) academic training; cognitive retraining; attention and behaviour training; executive function training; specialized procedures in learning to read, write, spell and do mathematics; build thinking skills
Parents Advisory
Children with behaviour disorders and emotional distress are often unsuccessful in the classroom. They demonstrate their unhappiness in a variety of ways. Children with ADHD are often unhappy going to school. Their best subject is recess or P.E. and their best day at school is the last day before summer holidays. They act out in class, or act the clown to avoid showing...
- Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
- Anxiety Disorders/with learning disabilities/with Giftedness/or both
- Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) is used in combination with academic programs
- Worry Dragons, a program that teaches coping skills is used at the VLC in combination with other programs for anxiety behaviours
- Giftedness program (see Giftedness Advanced Achievement)
Parents Advisory
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound effect on the education and learning mastery of children, youth and young adults. Scientists and educators are raising the alarm that for some learners the deficit in skills and knowledge that occurred during the COVID-19 in-class disruption of education could become a life-lasting problem.
An inability to mastery skills at their current grade level due to an inability to consolidate new skills or have built-in deficits from previous grades, compounded by the 18 month gap in regular in-class educational delivery and a variable quality level of virtual screen-based learning.
Each grade level from Kindergarten to grade 12 has specific curriculum in skills and knowledge that are delivered as routine. Students succeed as they meet mastery expectations of these skills. The next grade platform is based on the assumption of this mastery and the teachers proceed to teach the curriculum of the next grade from that point.
These new concepts and skills are generally taught over the fall and winter semesters and consolidated in the third semester. Students who do not take part in education and cognitive activities over the summer break, experience what is called the ‘summer slide’, where they lose two to three months of the previous grade’s skills as they start the first semester of the next grade.
Parents Advisory
Language, the ability to speak and communicate, is the carrier of intellectual development in all learning, and most particularly in academic learning. There are many causes of language delay. Hearing impairment, even if it is mild, and a whole variety of disorders like cleft palate or even simple blockages in the eustachian tubes in the ears, affect language learning.
Continue to Academic Underachievement and Language Development Delay
- Transfer from French Immersion
- English as a second language (English Language Learners)
- International school or school district transfer
- Transfer from cognitive based programs
- Health Issues
- Home schooling
Parents Advisory
A broad array of proven learning techniques are included in every individually target designed program as a basket of appropriate skills to help our students achieve an excellent learning performance for the rest of their lives.
The Vancouver Learning Centre’s programs focus on empowering students with essential, lifelong learning skills through individualized strategies. By addressing attention, memory, emotional maturity, and peak performance, the VLC combines proven techniques and one-on-one mentorship to help students overcome challenges and excel. These tailored approaches leverage neuroplasticity, enabling learners to develop skills that serve them well throughout their lives.
Parents Advisory
When disease, or the effects of chemotherapy/radiation, or head injury due to sports injury or to automobile or accident occurs, the learning journey is interrupted, sometimes in devastating ways. At the Vancouver Learning Centre, intensive and comprehensive programs have helped children, adolescents and adults achieve “personal best” outcomes. We are here for the long...
When disease, or the effects of chemotherapy/radiation, or head injury due to sports injury or to automobile or accident occurs, the learning journey is interrupted, sometimes in devastating ways. At the Vancouver Learning Centre, intensive and comprehensive programs have helped children, adolescents and adults achieve “personal best” outcomes. We are here for the long term and have achieved some remarkable outcomes well beyond expectations.
Parents Advisory
Home schooled students can benefit in a variety of ways from a partnership between the professional teachers at the Vancouver learning Centre, their primary home teacher, and the students themselves. There are many reasons why students need to be schooled at home and outside the public or private school system even in a large metropolitan area like Metro Vancouver, which is...
Continue to Home Schooled Students with or without Learning Disabilities
Support in achieving academic credentials through active teaching of correspondence courses and strategic teaching using unique VLC methods for school age students 5-19 years.
Other Programs
BOOST is a full-service program that includes 10 hours of one-to-one intensive teaching, coaching and mentoring on a specifically designed and targeted program along with 15 hours of supervised on-site practice. This can be combined with a distance education curriculum through a home schooling agency which becomes the student's home school. If an IEP is available...
- A full-service intense program for the full school day, or a ½ day integrated with school (8 a.m. – 2 p.m. OR 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.) meant to serve as a bridge to the next stage of education
- Support for earning academic credentials to earn a high school leaving certificate or General Education Development (GED) (or elementary school in special cases)
*Younger students are sometimes accepted
Parents Advisory
There is a huge difference in the learning approaches and learning environment between Grade 12 and the first year in a post-secondary institution. Students move from a highly structured and prescribed learning environment in high school to one that has few rules or boundaries. The classes are large, absence from class is not always noted, and time frames for handing in...
Continue to High School Graduates, College and University Entrance
- University readiness/university preparation for excellence
- University readiness for VLC graduates and alumni
- University readiness for new clients without VLC assessment
- Preparation for SAT and Graduate Record Examination (GRE)
- Preparation for university level math courses
- Post Secondary curriculum support
Other Programs
Some college and university students struggle to achieve the grades they need to pass their courses or to achieve good enough grades to enter graduate school programs.
Continue to College and University Coaching Services for Underachievement
VLC Signature Programs in Learning to Learn, and Academic Achievement are applied at the post secondary level.
Parents Advisory
When a learner who has been away from a regular learning program decides to go back to school, both confidence and new skills can be the key to their success.
Continue to Young Adult (18+ years) and Mature Student Training Program to Re-enter Schooling
The Vancouver Learning Centre offers tailored programs for young adults and mature students returning to education after a break. By enhancing cognitive, academic, and executive function skills, VLC equips learners with the confidence and tools needed for success. Services such as executive function coaching, mind mapping, and essay writing support are customized to each individual’s goals. Begin your journey back to education by contacting Andrew Taylor to discuss personalized reentry plans.
Parents Advisory
Note: For children 6 to 12 seeGiftedness, Advanced Achievement. Children develop skills at various rates. While most young learners are bright, curious, and eager to learn, some display accelerated...
Continue to Early Childhood Enrichment for Gifted Children Showing Advanced Development (Aged 3 to 8)
Children develop skills at various rates. While most young learners are bright, curious, and eager to learn, some display accelerated development, often remarkable even when accompanied by learning disabilities or conditions like autism. Recognizing and nurturing this early development is essential, as it often signals exceptional potential. Without adequate support, these children may experience distress or anxiety.
For children aged 3-5 who learn outside a structured classroom environment, there is often an opportunity to progress at their own pace. These children may acquire skills beyond those of their kindergarten peers, explore interests passionately, and develop a readiness to thrive in school. However, when children accustomed to learning freely enter a traditional classroom, they may face challenges adjusting to standardized instruction. For them, topics may feel repetitive or unengaging, potentially dampening their enthusiasm for learning and even for school.
Signs to look for:
- Advanced Development in Young Children
- Advanced language skills or fluency in multiple language
- Proficiency in foundational skills, such as reading, writing, or math
- Intense curiosity or passion for learning in specific areas
- Interest in puzzles, complex systems, or problem-solving
- Talent in music, arts, or sports
- Exceptional personal awareness, emotional intelligence, or social skills
When young children display remarkable abilities, recognizing and nurturing this early development is essential.
Parents Advisory
A child's success in school is heavily reliant on their ability to comprehend classroom instructions and engage in age-appropriate play and learning. As they progress through grades, mastery of foundational skills in reading, spelling, and math becomes increasingly critical, even with one-on-one assistance. By grade four, academic success hinges on language proficiency...
Continue to Early Childhood Language Delay in English (Ages 3 to 8)
Language development is a natural process for all children, but when delays occur, this can significantly impact intellectual growth and school success. For children aged three, language expectations include the ability to communicate in 2-3 word sentences, follow 2-3 word instructions without repetition (e.g., "Go upstairs, get your blue socks"), and learn new words daily through exposure.
Failure to meet these milestones can lead to serious challenges. Entering kindergarten without age-appropriate language skills puts children with language delays at risk for lifelong consequences, particularly in English and French-speaking contexts in Canada. Potential causes may include genetic or brain-based disorders, hearing impairments (even mild), or limited exposure to English from early caregivers.
At the VLC, programs include:
- Direct teaching of vocabulary comprehension and usage
- Vocabulary development focusing on nouns, verbs, and pronouns
- Introduction of simple words, including names of body parts, colors, numbers, etc.
- Encouraging sentence formation and response to commands
- Helping children name themselves and their family members
- Facilitating the understanding of common objects through storytelling
- Developing skills in reading comprehension, spelling, writing, and mathematics, along with general knowledge about time, place, and the calendar
Parents Advisory
When students transfer the language of instruction they also need to learn the vocabulary and methods used in English language instruction. This provides an important challenge to young learner, which, if overcome, can help them become bilingual successfully...
Continue to Students Transferring from French to English Language Instruction (Grades 2-12)
Transitioning from French-language or French-immersion instruction to English-language instruction presents unique challenges for students. Unlike their new English-speaking classmates, who may have already accumulated hundreds of hours in English-based teaching methods, students transferring from French instruction often find themselves at a significant disadvantage. This shift can lead to anxiety and hinder classroom confidence, ultimately affecting overall learning success. Such anxiety can disrupt the learning process, making the transition even more daunting.
For students with learning disabilities, the challenge of mastering a new language and curriculum without foundational skills in English becomes exponentially greater.
At the Vancouver Learning Centre (VLC), we employ innovative strategies to build foundational skills and facilitate a smooth transition, aligning learning outcomes with each student’s natural abilities. While this process requires time and dedication, it ultimately empowers learners to become bilingual and succeed in both languages. Success stories from former VLC students inspire confidence in current learners and their families.
See stories of our success here.