"I was terrible at algebra," said Beerstecher, 39, the site manager and founder of NYU Jumpstart, an early literacy program that focuses on 3- to 5-year-olds. "I remember saying, 'I don't understand how X can be something different every time! Just tell me what X is so I can start memorizing Y!' "

 

Beerstecher said her inability to grasp what variables were in high school math puts her in the perfect position to understand how the preschool-aged children she works with feel when they're struggling with reading. Sitting in her warmly lit office on NYU's campus, its shelves lined with books, Beerstecher explains how older children who have trouble with reading will misbehave in class or repeatedly ask to go to the bathroom so teachers don't find out about their disability.

And her feelings about becoming an expert are pretty accurate: Born and raised in Galveston, Texas, Beerstecher has a bachelor's degree in communicative sciences and disorders and a dual master's in audiology and speech language pathology from the University of Texas at Austin, as well as two master's degrees from Columbia University's Teachers College in cognitive psychology and neuroscience education. Currently, she is working on her doctorate in cognitive psychology from Columbia's Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

This article appeared in the October 3, 3007 edition of the Washington Square News.