As Orton-Gillingham tutors, we use an individualized approach that helps students catch up to their peers and build confidence with reading and writing.
Instead of a one-size-fits-all approach, our tutors carefully tailor each session to fit each student’s needs, current skills, personality and interests, and we don’t move on until skills are mastered.
What is Orton-Gillingham?
Orton-Gillingham is the gold standard for teaching phonics and spelling to struggling readers and those with dyslexia. Orton-Gillingham is rooted in the Science of Reading.
Multisensory
Multisensory teaching links the visual (seeing), auditory (hearing) and kinesthetic (feeling) pathways in the brain thus solidifying new knowledge.
Direct and Explicit
Students are taught sounds and skills explicitly instead of forced to figure concepts out on their own or guess.
Language Based
The English language is complicated. Orton-Gillingham teaching helps students learn the rules of the language so decoding and spelling becomes more predictable – thus improving their confidence.
Structured, Sequential, and Cumulative
Skills and concepts are taught in an order that makes sense to the student. We do not require students to read texts that include concepts they have not yet learned. With younger students, we use decodable texts which include only sounds students have been taught explicitly. We move at the student’s pace. Each session is also cumulative and includes a review of sounds and concepts previously taught. Each session builds on the last.
Cognitive
Our tutors give students activities that require them to be word detectives. Students learn to pull apart words into meaningful pieces of information. Students develop the ability to help themselves instead of always relying on a teacher or other adult for assistance. They become independent readers.
Flexible and Emotionally Sound
Each learner has individual needs. We work at the student’s pace with their interests and emotional state in mind. Some students have severe reading anxiety or motivation issues. It’s important to consider that motivation and emotional states play a large part in learning how to read. For students who are already behind, reading can be extremely stressful. Our tutors break down reading into small parts that are easily manageable so that students are set up for success.
Beyond using an Orton-Gillingham approach, our tutors use a combination of leveled reading practice, word activities, spelling drills, writing exercises, vocabulary work, and games to target each student’s needs and interests.
In addition to spelling and decoding activities, students will also work on various combinations of the following skills, based on their specific needs:
Comprehension
Handwriting
Writing
Fluency
Phonemic awareness
Vocabulary