For all information, please contact the Director,
Miss Jane E. Emerson.

What is Emerson House?
Emerson House was set up in 1991 by Jane Emerson and Dorian Yeo and is a centre for primary-age children aged 5 to 11 who need extra help with Literacy and Numeracy and for those who would benefit from learning to Touch Type. At all times the well-being of the child and the parents is taken into account so that the centre builds the child's self-esteem and confidence through the experience of making successful progress. Emerson House works closely with parents and schools as well as other professionals in the field and related fields.

Who attends Emerson House?
The children who attend are usually of good intelligence but who are under-achieving because of various degrees of dyslexia, dyspraxia and dyscalculia. They may also have attention weaknesses on the ADD or ADHD continuum. Emerson House specialises in helping children who are motivated and keen to learn. The children are taught in small groups with some individual tuition and so benefit from extra attention from specialist teachers. Children attend from both the independent and state sectors. All activities are conducted at our centre in West London; some overseas children also attend an intensive English course before transferring on to British schools.

When do children attend?
Most children attend Emerson House for at least two mornings a week but some children attend full-time. The main aim is either to maintain children in their mainstream schools with support or to return children to a mainstream setting after two or three terms of intensive tuition. Some children do attend for individual lessons after school if their needs can be met in this way. Full-time children study Literacy, Numeracy and Touch Typing in the mornings and attend clubs in the afternoon to increase their general knowledge in History, Science, Geography and Art, as well as extra Touch Typing classes.

What sort of teachers are at Emerson House?
Jane Emerson, the Director, is a speech and language therapist with more than 25 years' experience of working with children. There are 12 teachers at Emerson House, varying from speech and language therapists to dyslexia and dyspraxia specialists, trained to understand and teach these children. Many of these teachers were either trained at the Hornsby Centre or attended Dorian Yeo's training courses for teachers at Emerson House. Dorian Yeo, who tragically died in 2005, was an experienced teacher who had written several books about multi-sensory Maths for Dyslexic and Dyspraxic children. Emerson House also works closely with other schools, centres and trained teachers and mainstream tutors to ensure that the child receives the best possible help and support at every stage.

How are children assessed for these conditions?
Children are seen for informal assessments of their Literacy and Numeracy to determine whether Emerson House can help them. If necessary, children are referred to recommended educational psychologists for full assessments of their intellectual potential and their attainments in the core subjects of Literacy and Numeracy. Other weaknesses in underlying skills can be identified so that an appropriate programme can be devised for each child. These may include referrals to other specialists such as physiotherapists or occupational therapists.

How do we help dyslexics?
The centre specialises in teaching children not only to read and spell well but also to enjoy reading as well as understanding what they read. This is achieved by ensuring that children are reading books at an appropriate level but also by training the underlying skills that contribute to reading success such as phonological processing or visual perceptual skills.

How do we help dyspraxics?
Children are helped to achieve joined-up writing whenever possible. They are also given an appropriate amount of work on paper so that their writing stamina can be built up gradually as their skills and enthusiasm increase. Most children learn to touch type in addition to handwriting, which takes some of the emphasis off work on paper which is hard for many dyspraxics. The longer-term aim is to move towards using laptops to produce written work. The Touch Typing programme is specially designed to reinforce reading and spelling skills as well as leading to competent typing levels.

Where do children go on to from Emerson House?
Most children either return to, or continue to mainstream schooling within Greater London.

For those children who are identified as needing more specialist support, a comprehensive service is provided to help parents to consider appropriate options for specialist day schools or for boarding schools which offer support or more full-time help.