Biography
My name is Cheryl Diane (Canty) Neal. I am the mother of three adult children; I became a widow after being married for thirty-two years. I retired in 2002, after teaching elementary school for twenty-seven-years.
During my years as an elementary teacher, I was successful at teaching students to read who were considered as non-readers. I started Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic Christian Academy because I wanted to give students a Christian foundation; teach students at their own pace, and I believed all students who could talk, hear, and use kinetics could also learn how to read.
When I opened the academy in 2002, I started with no students. I went to work daily as if I had students. Then I got one student, then two, then three. At this time I have nine students. I have one aide and a foster grandparent who assist me.
One of my goals is to teach the children to be a success at my school and at whatever school they might attend after leaving the academy. That goal was met with one of my student who came to me in the middle of the first grade. This student was a non-reader and very limited with math. After a year and a half with me, I told his mom it was time for him to go. His academic needs had been met. He is now a very successful student in a public school.
My basis for teaching reading is about phonics and whole language with more emphasis on the phonetic approach. I believe that the teacher, the parent, and the students should work as a team for the student to be successful.