Mr. Brian Vieira is a graduate of NYC's prestigious Stuyvesant H.S. and an alumnus of Emory University and Brooklyn College's Graduate Division, where he earned his master's degree in American History.
An award-winning state-certified Master Teacher with over 30 years of academic experience, Mr. Vieira taught American History in high school for 14 years. He was awarded "Students' Choice Teacher of the Year" at Wingate H.S. in Brooklyn, N.Y for his passionate commitment to helping underprivileged, inner-city youth to excel. His students consistently scored far above city and state norms on the NYS American History Regents Exams.
In 2001, Mr. Vieira established his state-certified school to assist students at smaller teacher-student ratios. He also established ScholarSkills Learning Center as an after-school program to help students master the foundations for excellence in reading, writing, and arithmetic.
He is currently the President of ScholarSkills Learning Center, which assists students, parents, and teachers in their quest for excellence. ScholarSkills offers direct tutoring to students, guidance counseling to parents, developmental curriculum to schools, and professional development workshops for teachers in English Language Arts, American History, and the implementation of civics education.
An award-winning state-certified Master Teacher with over 30 years of academic experience, Mr. Vieira taught American History in high school for 14 years. He was awarded "Students' Choice Teacher of the Year" at Wingate H.S. in Brooklyn, N.Y for his passionate commitment to helping underprivileged, inner-city youth to excel. His students consistently scored far above city and state norms on the NYS American History Regents Exams.
In 2001, Mr. Vieira established his state-certified school to assist students at smaller teacher-student ratios. He also established ScholarSkills Learning Center as an after-school program to help students master the foundations for excellence in reading, writing, and arithmetic.
He is currently the President of ScholarSkills Learning Center, which assists students, parents, and teachers in their quest for excellence. ScholarSkills offers direct tutoring to students, guidance counseling to parents, developmental curriculum to schools, and professional development workshops for teachers in English Language Arts, American History, and the implementation of civics education.
Frequently asked questions
Mr. Vieira, you are the President and founder of ScholarSkills Learning Center and the author of the Sentence-Smart System for Reading Comprehension and Writing Skills. What's the relationship between Sentence-Smart and ScholarSkills?
ScholarSkills is an educational services provider that offers resources to schools and online tutoring and test preparation to families. Sentence-Smart is ScholarSkills' premier reading comprehension and writing skills program.
Why did you create Sentence-Smart?
I created Sentence-Smart to make English language arts easier to teach and more exciting to learn. I was (and still am) deeply troubled by our nation's reading crisis. When only 60% of fourth-graders can read at grade level, it's time to take action! This is why I created this multisensory program, which uses visual, interactive, tactile, auditory learning strategies to teach children how to read with understanding. Our program uses many elements characteristic of the Orton-Gillingham approach, which is especially effective for teaching students to overcome reading difficulties and specific learning disorders such as dyslexia.
Did you always have a passion for teaching language arts?
No. I was not too fond of grammar, but I have always had a passion for educating children to the highest literacy levels. I recognized that grammar was essential for comprehension and writing, but it seemed arcane and arbitrary. I could never understand why it was challenging to figure out predicates, predicate adjectives, or being verbs. I read several textbooks, and they all left me in the same place--bored and feeling even more helpless than before. I kept asking: "Why is grammar so difficult to learn?" "Why doesn't someone make this easy for kids and teachers?"
So I decided to create a book that would make grammar easy to teach and exciting to learn. The result was "Sentence-Smart."
But is "Sentence-Smart" more than a book? Is it a multisensory learning system?
"Yes, as I began teaching it to my tutoring students at ScholarSkills Learning Center, I realized that they needed much more than a book: they needed to touch sentences and move their parts around. They needed to see that sentences were just parts of speech that writers organize to create complete thoughts. So I created a color-coded card system to help students analyze sentences by physically taking them apart and constructing sentences by putting them back together. Then I added songs and instructional videos to use Visual, Interactive, Tactile, Auditory Learning (or VITAL) multisensory strategies.
Is Sentence-Smart simply a grammar system?
No. It's much more: it became a complete reading comprehension and writing skills program. As my team and I taught more students, we realized that students needed much more than grammar if they were going to read and write with excellence. We recognized that there were four foundations for excellence in reading and writing:
It's also important for us to show other educators and parents how to use these effective strategies. Therefore, we have begun offering professional development courses that equip teachers to understand and apply the science of reading through multi-sensory strategies.
"I created Sentence-Smart so that kids could start enjoying learning--again. I must say that I am deeply pleased with the results so far. Nothing makes me happier than watching the joy and excitement on children's faces as they spin the wheel, sing the songs, and learn to read and write with confidence."
ScholarSkills is an educational services provider that offers resources to schools and online tutoring and test preparation to families. Sentence-Smart is ScholarSkills' premier reading comprehension and writing skills program.
Why did you create Sentence-Smart?
I created Sentence-Smart to make English language arts easier to teach and more exciting to learn. I was (and still am) deeply troubled by our nation's reading crisis. When only 60% of fourth-graders can read at grade level, it's time to take action! This is why I created this multisensory program, which uses visual, interactive, tactile, auditory learning strategies to teach children how to read with understanding. Our program uses many elements characteristic of the Orton-Gillingham approach, which is especially effective for teaching students to overcome reading difficulties and specific learning disorders such as dyslexia.
Did you always have a passion for teaching language arts?
No. I was not too fond of grammar, but I have always had a passion for educating children to the highest literacy levels. I recognized that grammar was essential for comprehension and writing, but it seemed arcane and arbitrary. I could never understand why it was challenging to figure out predicates, predicate adjectives, or being verbs. I read several textbooks, and they all left me in the same place--bored and feeling even more helpless than before. I kept asking: "Why is grammar so difficult to learn?" "Why doesn't someone make this easy for kids and teachers?"
So I decided to create a book that would make grammar easy to teach and exciting to learn. The result was "Sentence-Smart."
But is "Sentence-Smart" more than a book? Is it a multisensory learning system?
"Yes, as I began teaching it to my tutoring students at ScholarSkills Learning Center, I realized that they needed much more than a book: they needed to touch sentences and move their parts around. They needed to see that sentences were just parts of speech that writers organize to create complete thoughts. So I created a color-coded card system to help students analyze sentences by physically taking them apart and constructing sentences by putting them back together. Then I added songs and instructional videos to use Visual, Interactive, Tactile, Auditory Learning (or VITAL) multisensory strategies.
Is Sentence-Smart simply a grammar system?
No. It's much more: it became a complete reading comprehension and writing skills program. As my team and I taught more students, we realized that students needed much more than grammar if they were going to read and write with excellence. We recognized that there were four foundations for excellence in reading and writing:
- Phonics (fluency)
- Vocabulary (meanings of words)
- Grammar (sentence structure)
- Knowledge (context for reading)
It's also important for us to show other educators and parents how to use these effective strategies. Therefore, we have begun offering professional development courses that equip teachers to understand and apply the science of reading through multi-sensory strategies.
"I created Sentence-Smart so that kids could start enjoying learning--again. I must say that I am deeply pleased with the results so far. Nothing makes me happier than watching the joy and excitement on children's faces as they spin the wheel, sing the songs, and learn to read and write with confidence."
