Diamond seems to relish time with the books. Now 5, she's starting to read beginning words. One recent afternoon, she pulled out her homework just 20 minutes after walking in the door. Defell says Diamond breezes through some of her work so quickly that she's often asked to tutor classmates. But on the emotional end, it's still a battle, despite some steady improvements.
Differences can be subtle Sometimes the impact of the child-parent centers can seem subtle.
A little girl who sat in the back of the classroom all year suddenly learns the alphabet. A painfully shy boy recites a story from memory in the final weeks of class. A grandmother who barely read to her children before the program now takes regular trips to the library. And then there's Diamond. Despite the disappointing recent report card, Diamond's teacher was encouraged by the girl's behavior in the final weeks of school.