Nice to meet you

I was initially introduced to the world of Structured Literacy and Orton Gillingham as a parent after two of my four sons were diagnosed with dyslexia.

Discovering the OG approach quite literally placed a system in my hands that I had struggled to articulate for years. As I watched both of my Dyslexic sons attempt to learn to read, I continually felt that they needed to learn sound by sound, incrementally and cumulatively.

My work is grounded in the Orton Gillingham approach and informed by current evidence based approaches and always within a strength based context. It is imperative that students feel confident in what they know which we reinforce at the beginning of each lesson. From this place of success they incrementally learn more literacy skills making gains in reading, spelling and morphological awareness.

I am acutely aware that literacy intervention is unlikely to be a student's bi-weekly highlight. I strive to create a light-hearted, accessible yet structured environment where students feel comfortable learning and taking academic risks. Mitigating fear of failure can be an ongoing struggle for learners with reading and spelling difficulties.

What is Structured Literacy?

Systematic & Cumulative

Systematic meaning material is organizsed following the logical order of language from the easiest, most basic concepts & elements, progressing methodically to the more difficult. In each domain a Scope and Sequence is followed and tied to multiple points within each lesson.

Diagnostic

Each student's lessons are individualized and tailored to that student's skill level in multiple domains. Initial diagnostic testing determines a baseline after which assessments are administered at regular intervals to ensure content is mastered to automaticity.

Explicit

No skill, letter-sound relationship or spelling convention is assumed. All material not know at the initial diagnostic letter is systematically and explicitly taught. Instruction is customised for each student and progress is monitored to ensure pacing and retention are appropriate.

Cumulative

New skills are layered upon known concepts and previous skills are continually revisited to ensure quick retrieval (automaticity) which helps to free up working memory for higher level tasks.

Have any questions?

If you have any questions about the literacy intervention, feel free to contact us.