Meet your mediator
Mrs. Nereida Bucio Gómez
Certified Feuerstein mediator and educational consultant
“Everyone has a story to tell.”
With 29 years in education, from bilingual classroom teacher to assistant principal to literacy coach, I help learners of all ages find their voice and grow how they think through Feuerstein mediation.
- 29 years in education
- Bilingual instruction
- Writing specialist
Credentials
Trained, certified and recognized
Master of Education
University of St. Thomas, Houston · 2000
Certified Feuerstein mediator
Instrumental Enrichment, plus Texas certificates in Bilingual/ESL, Mathematics and school leadership
Statewide finalist, Bilingual Teacher of the Year
Texas Association for Bilingual Education · 2008
Seven Teacher of the Year recognitions, 1998–2009, from her own school to the whole state
See every degree, certification and honor
Education
- Master of Education in SupervisionUniversity of St. Thomas, Houston, TX · 2000
- Bachelor of Arts in Elementary EducationMathematics specialization · University of St. Thomas · 1994
Certifications & training
- Texas teaching certificatesMid-Management Administrator (PK–12), 2000 · Bilingual/ESL, grades 1–8, 1995 · Elementary Mathematics, grades 1–8, since 1995
- Methods and programsFeuerstein Instrumental Enrichment (FIE) · Thinking Maps Trainer · Leader in Me Certified · Whole Brain Teaching
- Writing instructionAbydos Writing Trained · Empowering Writers
- Professional learningProfessional Learning Communities · National Association for Bilingual Education (NABE) conferences, 1997, 2001, 2004
Honors
- Finalist, TABE Bilingual Teacher of the YearTexas Association for Bilingual Education · one of two finalists · 2008
- S.H.A.B.E. Bilingual Teacher of the Year2008
- Spring ISD Bilingual Teacher of the YearSpring Independent School District
- Northgate Bilingual Teacher of the YearSpring ISD · 2009
- Salyers Elementary Bilingual Teacher of the YearSpring ISD · 2008
- Macario García ESL Teacher of the YearHouston ISD · 1999–2000
- Macario García Bilingual Teacher of the YearHouston ISD · 1998–1999
Her journey
One question, asked from every side of the school
Why does a capable learner get stuck? She has asked it as a teacher, an assistant principal, a librarian and a coach. Each role showed her part of the answer. Mediation is where she puts them together, for one learner at a time.
Beginning of career
Bilingual classroom teacher
A child still learning English can already think in big ideas.
Spring ISD & Houston ISD
Assistant principal
A school is built for the average learner. Some need it built around them.
Spring ISD & Houston ISD
Media specialist / librarian
Every subject runs on reading.
10 years · Spring ISD & Houston ISD
Literacy coach
When a reader stalls, the cause is usually underneath the reading.
Present
Feuerstein mediator & educational consultant
Everything she learned in schools, brought to one learner at a time.
The Feuerstein philosophy
Intelligence is not fixed. It can be developed at any age through mediated learning.
That belief shapes everything we do. Rather than focusing only on what to learn, we help learners discover how to think.
“Chromosomes do not have the last word.”
Reuven Feuerstein, 1921–2014
The method
Who was Reuven Feuerstein?
Professor Reuven Feuerstein (1921–2014) was an Israeli clinical, developmental and cognitive psychologist known for his theory that intelligence is modifiable.
The Feuerstein story
Proven where it was hardest. Now in classrooms everywhere.
Feuerstein began with the learners the world had given up on. What worked for them now helps every kind of learner.
Where it began · One learner at a time
He worked first with the children others had written off: young survivors of war, and children labeled unteachable, including children with Down syndrome. Again and again, they learned to think in new ways.
1921
Born in Botoșani, Romania
One of nine children, he trains as a teacher in Bucharest until the war cuts his studies short.
1945
Teaching the children who survived
In what would become Israel, he teaches child survivors of the Holocaust, and sees how much the right attention can change a child’s path.
1950s
Doubting the tests
Trained in Geneva under Jean Piaget and André Rey, he finds that children written off by IQ tests improve whenever someone works with them.
1965
A research center in Jerusalem
He founds the research unit that grows into today’s Feuerstein Institute.
If it worked there,it could work anywhere.
- countries
- 80+
- research studies
- 2,000+
- ages taught
- 3 to 90+
Your child doesn’t need a diagnosis to benefit. These are the thinking skills every learner uses.
Into every classroom · Schools and workplaces worldwide
From that proof he built a program any trained teacher can use. Today it is taught in ordinary schools and workplaces, to preschoolers and professionals alike.
1980
Instrumental Enrichment
Published for classrooms: exercises that build the thinking every subject depends on. Nereida is certified in it.
1992
The Israel Prize
The country’s highest honor, for his work in the social sciences.
2000
Starting younger
FIE-Basic brings the method to children from 3 to 8.
Today
Around the world
Carried on by the Feuerstein Institute since his death in 2014, in more than 80 countries.
Tomorrow
Your learner’s story
Still to be written. It begins with a conversation about what you’ve noticed.
Start with a free consultation
Today it reaches classrooms around the world, from preschool to adult education.
The method at work
See the method explained
Higher, brighter minds
Let’s talk about your learner
A free 30-minute consultation: we talk about your learner and find a clear next step together.
One-on-one sessions: $95 in person, $80 on Zoom. Your first 30-minute consultation is free, with no commitment.
Sessions & ratesPrefer to write?
Tell us about your learner