Spot On Tutoring - Tutoring, Reading and Dyslexia Tutor

Why Orton-Gillingham

The Orton-Gillingham approach is used to assist children and adults with language-based learning difficulties in the areas of reading, writing, spelling, and comprehension. These language-based learning difficulties are typically associated with dyslexia, but can apply to dysgraphia, ADD/ADHD, auditory processing disorder, and autism spectrum disorder. In addition, using a multi-sensory system based upon the Orton-Gillingham approach has been used successfully to assist with math difficulties such as dyscalculia.

The Orton-Gillingham approach has been used since the 1930s with great success because it utilizes a multi-sensory approach that requires each lesson to be diagnostic and prescriptive. Specifically, all five of the essential components of reading instruction are addressed in each lesson – phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary development, reading fluency and reading comprehension strategies.

For further information on the Orton-Gillingham approach, please refer to the following link - The International Dyslexia Association.

How is Nicole Foodman different from other tutors in South Florida:

According to Dr. Reid Lyon of the National Institutes of Health, only 10% of teachers in the U.S. receive appropriate training to teach reading to students at risk for reading failure. Students who are struggling to read can’t afford to be provided with inadequate reading instruction. Struggling readers need reading intervention that works, and an instructor that has been appropriately trained and understands how to properly implement reading instruction for each individual student’s needs.

Unlike “tutors” who use prepackaged reading programs that have students memorize whole words, the Orton-Gillingham approach provides synthetic and analytic language instruction. During synthetic instruction, students are initially taught small parts of language and are then taught how these parts create whole words. During analytic instruction, students are presented with whole words and are taught how to break the words down into their component parts. Essentially, students are taught how to code and dissect words versus just memorizing.

This approach to teaching reading is flexible yet structured. Nicole, not a workbook, determines what material the student needs to continue to review and what new material should be taught. The lesson is tailor-made to the student’s strengths and areas needing remediation. Students are assessed in order to determine their areas of strength and weakness.

Every component of a lesson is carefully chosen and constructed by Nicole, with each individual student in mind. Each lesson is multi-sensory and incorporates visual, auditory and kinesthetic-tactile (VAK) components. This is done in order to activate the brain's different learning pathways. As a result of multi-sensory instruction, the learning of language skills is enhanced.

Thus, preparing a lesson to be taught takes on average forty-five minutes to one hour to construct. Each lesson presents information to the student in an ordered way. Each lesson presents new information sequentially, and reviews and reinforces information previously taught. Diagnostic notes made in previous lessons are taken into consideration, along with the new information that must be taught.

The goal is for each lesson to be as effective as possible. This is achieved by making sure that each piece of information is specific to the student’s needs, and for each student to complete each lesson feeling successful. Students feelings of success will build self-confidence. This self-confidence will motivate them to continue to learn.