I work with students of all ages in a 1-on-1 setting on foundational reading skills like phonological awareness, decoding, vocabulary development, basic comprehension, spelling, and letter formation using the principles of Orton-Gillingham—an explicit, systematic, and multi-sensory approach to literacy development. Orton-Gillingham was originally developed to help students with dyslexia but has proven to be an effective intervention for all students.
So, what exactly does this mean?
- Your child gets my full attention in a 1-on-1 setting, which allows for greater growth through instruction tailored to their specific strengths and needs.
- I address gaps in the building blocks of literacy:
- Phonological awareness – the ability to recognize and manipulate parts of spoken language. This is important because it sets the stage or lays the foundation for spelling, decoding, blending, and word reading.
- Decoding – the use of one’s knowledge of sound-symbol (letter) correspondence to read words in print.
- Vocabulary development – understanding the meaning of words that occur in texts and spoken language.
- Basic comprehension – understanding and application of text through skills like compare/contrast, cause/effect, recall, inference, and development of background knowledge.
- Spelling – using application of sound-symbol (letter) correspondence to write words and sentences.
- Letter formation – the ability to write letters accurately with proper handwriting.
- I do this using an explicit, systematic, research-based, multi-sensory approach to literacy development. There are predictable routines that follow a prescribed, well-researched sequence in a way that is engaging to the student and uses all their senses. This forms brain pathways that make reading accessible to all learners.
What you should expect:
- We start with an initial setup period where I get to know your child through assessments and a fun interview! At the end of this period, I will generate a report outlining the results and my recommendations, including how many times per week we would meet and where we would start in the sequence.
- Then, we will set up a conference to go through the report and decide together how to move forward.
- After the initial period is complete, we will begin lessons at a set schedule and given monthly rate.
If you have any meetings with teachers or IEP teams, I will make it a point to be at the meetings, upon your request and depending on my availability.