The Therapeutic Learning Center was founded and managed by Maria Bagby in 2005 making TLC, now, one of the best independent centers in the US. In her 20+ years in the field of academe, she was fully convinced that in order to be truly successful in school and in life, one must be committed to address the gap by providing a child-centered approach. Most importantly, Maria made it a priority to not simply conform to traditional teaching since it makes it difficult to meet the underlying needs of struggling learners. Since then, Maria decided to comprehensively study dyslexia, ADHD and, eventually, all other learning challenges to advance her own knowledge and ideas in understanding these problems. In 2013, she continually practiced this principle and moved to open a center in the tropical beaches of Solana, California.
Maria spent years searching for the best programs and refining the most powerful methods and materials into a comprehensive strategic approach to meet the learning challenges that arises in the student population. The learning center drastically evolved through the years as it partnered with Jill and David Stowell (The Stowell Learning Center) to help them achieve their vision of developing the underlying skills necessary for efficient learning to attain academic success. Fueled by Maria’s passion to help thousands of students develop their strengths and achieve their academic and personal goals, TLC grew as a dynamic institution that chooses to adapt as the need of every learner changes. She perseveres to ask, learn more, delve deeper to the realms of cognitive skills as she collaborates with knowledgeable professionals in application of the latest studies on the fields of neurosciences. We work with the best neuropsychologists, child/adolescent psychologists, Speech/Language Pathologists, and other professionals in the field.

Maria built and trained a dedicated group of clinicians who are committed to truly making a difference in the life of each and every student. All of our passionate clinicians have bachelor’s degree in Psychology and one clinician has a masters in Language while another has completed her masters in Education and Teaching. This diverse team of specialists use a variety of interventions, techniques, and modifications to meet the developmental needs of every learner.

Aside from the intensive training on the programs and therapies developed by Maria and the Stowell Learning Center, we collaborate with our clients in our one-on-one and group sessions to continuously evaluate and accelerate each student’s development.

Maria has been an instructor in several training programs, has helped in the development of the Colorado Student Assessment Program from its state level and has openly shared her expertise in both public and private schools. She even aided a national teacher excellence program come to reality with the Milken Family Foundation. Maria’s role in the outlined programs allows her to share her expertise, in both public and private schools, with her clinicians making them better suited to work with each client and meet their needs.

A learner’s improvement can be detected as early as a couple of weeks, but the developmental process depends on the number and severity of learning challenges that have to be dealt with. Quality education takes time and we aim for every student to become independent, comfortable and efficient. In most cases, it would take a couple of months to see quantifiable results but this life changing experience will always be worth the wait.

Each student has several differences in learning strengths and challenges; therefore, each progress at different rates. But in all cases, we guarantee to provide the best solutions and assistance to help each student reach academic independence and success. If we feel that we cannot address your concerns, we will partner with the family to find someone who can.

TLC designed strategies and therapies to develop a solid foundation for learning. We do not want to provide band-aid solutions, instead we aim to provide permanent solutions that will help improve weak underlying processing skills.

Our therapy generally focuses on improving and developing underlying weak skills as an essential foundation to efficient learning. In most cases, our therapies are always supervised by clinicians and are usually done through one-on-one sessions in our individual therapy rooms or our “fun room” as we deal with motor development and attention challenges. Some of our methods may use specialized equipment and materials and some programs may utilize the use of computers.

Furthermore, training the students on a daily basis is a critical factor in the process. As we partner with parents, we can provide frequent therapy which may also help reduce the cost to the family. We assist the parents in providing instructions and materials as they become our teaching partners.

Learning difficulties and struggles in school and/or social situations are most often the result of weak or inconsistent learning skills. These underlying skills may be causing interference in learning and achievement.

When this happens, students become more frustrated and anxious about their learning and their abilities or challenges. Some kids become angry or withdrawn. Others appear unmotivated or disinterested. They may make poor decisions, feel like a failure, and quit believing in themselves.

At first, it may be difficult to fit in homework, activities, and sessions at the learning therapy. We advocate for a “homework pass” for a few weeks during adjustment to the therapy and demands of classroom learning. Yet homework gradually becomes easier and homework time becomes shorter as the student progresses with their therapies. Students become less anxious and more confident and willing. For most, attention, both in school and at home, increases. As their skills increase, so does their confidence and self esteem.

We have heard many parents and teachers state things such as: “This is the best time spent investing as I can see the obvious difference in their approach to learning!”

• Greater confidence
• Higher self-esteem
• Higher level of autonomy in their school work
• Greater sense of control over learning

Here’s what one parent shared with me: She said, “Our daughter came to you when she was 12. It was a really big commitment for our family and we had to use her college fund to do it. But she wouldn’t have gone to college without taking this time and investment and now she has a social network of friends in high school and is applying to colleges along with her peers!”

This IS a big commitment. It is also a life-changing one.

Grades are subjective by teacher. Truly. Yet their performance on assignments and assessments should show improvement within a few weeks. How long it takes for grades to improve truly varies with the number, type, and severity of issues that the student is dealing with.

We value ongoing communication, both with parents/families and with teachers/educators.

If we are working together tightly, we should see improvement within the first 4-8 weeks. So let’s work together because it can happen that quickly!