About RLS and About Learning Therapy

Home What's New Services at RLS About RLS Views & Visions Resource Room Media Center	About RLS Rothschild Learning Services is the private educational practice of Marcia D. Rothschild, M.Ed., who since 1993, has provided a therapeutic learning environment in which students not only improve academic performance, but gain valuable insight and skills that will enable them to become lifelong learners in today’s world. Marcia Rothschild, founder of RLS, holds a Master of Education degree in Special Education and has over twenty-five years of experience working in a variety of settings with both gifted and handicapped students and their families. She has co-authored or contributed to several works in her field and has provided instruction and consultative services to individuals, parent and professional organizations, and schools in the areas of learning enhancement, behavior management, and computer literacy as a productivity and life management tool. A therapeutic learning environment is not defined by its walls, but by its open and nurturing approach. It can be any place where learning stretches the mind without breaking the spirit. It is an environment in which the humanity of the student outweighs the demands of the curriculum, and in which students become responsible for their own achievement and gain confidence in their own ability to experience success in learning.	About Learning Therapy Learning therapy can be thought of as a form of tutoring; however, there are some significant philosophical and operational differences between the two. While tutoring focuses on the subject matter to be learned, learning therapy focuses on the student who must learn it. In learning therapy, the subject matter becomes the vehicle for helping the student develop a bank of learning strategies from which methods can be selected which will address not only the material to be learned, but also the source of the material (textbook, classroom lecture, reference materials, etc.) and the presentation style and requirements of the teacher. The philosophy behind learning therapy is simple. We've all heard the old Chinese proverb, "Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will eat for the rest of his life." During the average school career, students are expected to master a vast array of information and adapt to dozens of instructors, textbooks and learning environments. While it is useful–and sometimes necessary–for teachers to adapt the environment to meet the needs of individual students, why not teach the students to adapt to the particular demands of the situation at hand? Learning therapy teaches students to look for patterns among assignments, types of presentation, and teacher styles and to determine what adaptations, devices, or techniques would be most helpful–and then to use them.
	What Clients Say About RLS
	My son profited from his tutoring both in person and on the internet. Your use of divergent and creative techniques showed depth of experience and knowledge in how to help children learn material that challenges them as well as learn to learn. For a homeschool teacher and parent, time management is critical to success. Using the internet saved me time and money, and allowed for greater flexibility in scheduling to meet a variety of learning needs. M.W., parent Lilburn, GA

	As a student with Down Syndrome, my daughter was a unique challenge! We approached RLS, after a bleak meeting with the public school system, during which we were told that she would never read, write or do simple math. Perhaps Marcia's most memorable quality was that she had an almost intuitive vision of my daughter's mind. During their very first meeting, Marcia engaged her in focused play and conversation, looking for information and experimenting with a variety of creative materials. She allowed ample thinking time after posing questions. Every new approach seemed to open up new avenues for learning. Within a year, she introduced innovative software technologies. Within 5 years, my child was reading, writing, problem solving, an expert at the keyboard, testing at the third grade level, and full of self-confidence. None of this would have been possible without the guidance and devotion of Marcia Rothschild. S. C., parent Dunwoody, GA