Over 3 Grade Levels Gained in 8 Months Time

That is no exaggeration - I have a student who has made awesome reading growth this school year because she has finally received the right type of reading instruction!

Here's the story - I'm working with a 5th grade student who was new to my resource classroom this past year. I assessed her reading level at the beginning of the year, and she was reading at a kindergarten level - but she was a 5th grade student! It was easy to recognize that she was a bright girl, could comprehend grade level material, and that for some reason had made it to the 5th grade without being able to read or spell. I started using an Orton Gillingham based reading and spelling program with her. Her willingness to work with me combined with consistent research based instruction has brought this 5th grade student's reading level up to an instructional 4th grade level in 8 months time. Amazing!! I ask myself, what would have happened to her had she not been in my class? I don't want to think of this scenario because many teachers aren't knowledgeable about dyslexia or how to work with students who have dyslexia.

My 5th grade student still has a way to go, but her whole world has been affected by this growth. She has gone from a non-reader and non-writer to reading for enjoyment at home and free writing in her own personal journals. Her mother told me that she used to avoid reading like the plague and now her bed overflows with books and the family can hear her read to herself in her room. How exciting!

Closing the Gap in Reading

Closing the gap between your child’s reading level and grade level expectations

Time is of the essence – especially when it comes to reading ability. Typically students make reading gains that are year for year. Every year a child is in school, they will make one year’s gain in instructional reading level. That’s great if the student is already reading at grade level. What happens when a student is reading 1-3 years - or more, below grade level? How do these students ever catch up?

Reading research reveals that students with dyslexia need research-based, multisensory instruction in phonemic awareness and reading skills. Research also shows that 95% of reading failure is preventable when students are given the right type of instruction. The International Dyslexia Association supports the Orton-Gillingham sequence and methodology as best practice when working with students who have dyslexia. This type of instruction is explicit, systematic, intense (one-on-one is best), and delivered by a trained individual with consistency (minimum of two 50 minute sessions per week).

This excerpt is taken from an article I had published in the Camas/Washougal Post Record. You can find the rest of the article using this link: http://www.readlearnservices.com/Testimony---Specialist-Profile.html

When is enough, enough?

Should you find a private teacher/tutor to work with your child in reading?

I recently had a friend and parent of a struggling 3rd grade reader ask me if I felt her daughter would benefit from additional reading instruction in addition to what she receives at school. This little girl is in special education for reading and has gone from a kindergarten reading level to a 3rd grade reading level in the past 5 months of school. Wow, what amazing growth! She is not formally diagnosed with dyslexia, but displays many of the signs and symptoms and has vision difficulties. She is very task oriented and diligent about completing school work to the best of her ability. That being said, it was suggested to my friend, by other educators, to not seek out additional reading instruction for her daughter because she is working so much harder already than the other students. So, what do you do? When do you know when enough is enough? Being a parent of two elementary aged children myself, I'm familiar with this dilemma. I think in this situation, the answer is going to be different depending the child. Here are some questions I suggest thinking about when you are trying to decide whether or not to add more instruction to your child's plate.

1. Is the student coming home exhausted, grumpy, or agitated because of the amount of focus they are putting into their work at school?

2. How much gain in reading have they made this school year?

3. Is fluency the only problem, or is comprehension also an issue?

4. How big of a gap is there to close before they reach grade level?

5. Are they receiving quality scientifically based reading instruction at school? Orton Gillingham based instruction?

6. Is the student coming home exhausted, grumpy, or agitated not because of feeling overworked, but because they feel unsuccessful at the work they are being given?

These are the questions I would ask myself if I were considering whether or not my child needed more reading support in the form of private instruction. It's wise to carefully weigh the advice of educators you are working with AND outside advice. Then, make an educated decision. One that will be best for your child in the long run.

Thank you!

"Unscrambling Dyslexia"

I recently earned a grant to purchase a specialized reading, writing and spelling program for students in my classroom that have dyslexia. The program is the Barton Reading and Spelling System.

This story is featured in the article, "Unscrambling Dyslexia" and can be found in the April 19th edition of The Columbian Newspaper. I was delighted to see it was the front page story. "Research supports that the more methods used when learning, the better chances the brain will retain the information." This is a quote from the article, and is referring to multi-sensory teaching. It is important that students with dyslexia are given research based programs to help them succeed in reading. This program is simultaneously using auditory, tactile/kinesthetic, and visual learning to train their brains to decode new and multi-syllabic words.

Being able to offer an Orton-Gillingham based program is like a breath of fresh air for the students I am working with. It gives them a chance to succeed and offers hope for their academic future. My student Andrew, who has used the system with a private teacher for 3 years stated, "It's changed my life..."