Your child may have difficulty decoding words; they may read slowly; or they may have trouble understanding what they read. Spelling can also become more difficult as words grow longer and more complex. You may even notice your child beginning to avoid reading altogether.

Although some adjustment challenges are normal at the start of the year, persistent or worsening reading difficulties may indicate a need for more targeted support. For students with dyslexia and other reading challenges, Orton Gillingham tutoring can help build the foundational reading and spelling skills they need to succeed.

If you’d like to learn more about this approach, read about Orton Gillingham tutoring for dyslexia and reading difficulties at Orton Gillingham Tutoring in Manhattan for Dyslexia & Reading Success.

What Is Orton Gillingham Tutoring?

Orton Gillingham is a structured, sequential, and multi-sensory approach to teaching reading and spelling. The approach explicitly teaches how sounds, letters, syllables, and word parts work together, with instruction progressing systematically from simpler concepts to more complex ones.

With Orton Gillingham instruction, students learn how sounds correspond to letters and letter combinations, how to break down longer words into syllables, and how to spell accurately. Instruction typically progresses from simpler concepts to more complex ones while continuously reviewing and integrating previously taught skills.

Orton Gillingham instruction is also multi-sensory, meaning it integrates visual, auditory, and kinesthetic/tactile modalities. Students might simultaneously see, hear, say, write, and manipulate letters or words as they learn new concepts. This multi-sensory approach helps students make connections between sounds, letters, and written words.

While Orton Gillingham tutoring is commonly associated with dyslexia, students do not necessarily need a dyslexia diagnosis to benefit from this type of explicit, systematic reading instruction. The approach can also help students who struggle with core reading and spelling skills.

Back-to-School Signs That Your Child May Need Additional Reading Support

Many children have occasional difficulties with a particular reading assignment. However, when struggles occur consistently and interfere with a child’s ability to read accurately, fluently, or independently, you may want to seek targeted intervention for them.

Below are some signs you may notice at the start of the school year:

1. Your Child Guesses at Unfamiliar Words

Rather than carefully sounding out words, your child may look at the first letter and “guess” at the word. For example, they might read “there” instead of “they,” or substitute a word that seems to make sense in the sentence.

Consistent guessing may indicate that your child has not developed effective decoding skills.

2. Reading Is Slow and Laborious

Some children can accurately read words, but their reading is slow and requires tremendous effort. They may read word by word, pause often, or need more time than expected to complete a reading passage.

When a child devotes substantial effort to decoding individual words, there may be fewer resources available for understanding and remembering what they read.

3. Your Child Has Trouble Sounding Out New Words

Skilled readers use decoding skills to figure out unfamiliar words they have never seen before. Struggling readers, however, may have difficulty identifying individual sounds, blending sounds together to form words, or recognizing common spelling patterns.

If your child repeatedly asks you to tell them what unfamiliar words are rather than attempting to decode them, it may be worth looking into why.

Learn about signs your child may need a tutor at 7 Signs Your Child Needs a Tutor: How to Know When to Get Help – EBL Coaching.

4. Spelling Is Particularly Difficult

Reading and spelling skills are closely related. A child who struggles with reading may also have trouble blending sounds together to spell words accurately.

You may notice that your child’s spelling is inconsistent, they omit sounds when writing, or they have difficulty applying spelling rules even after the rules have been taught.

5. Your Child Avoids Reading

Children who struggle with reading often try to avoid it as much as possible.

Your child may complain when it is time to read, select books that are well below their other academic abilities, ask you to read directions out loud to them, or speed through reading assignments.

Sometimes what may look like a lack of motivation is actually a response to a task that feels particularly difficult.

6. Reading Difficulties Are Affecting Other Subjects

As students progress through school, the reading demands increase rapidly.

Sometimes students can grasp science, history, or math concepts when they are explained aloud, but they struggle to read textbook chapters, written directions, or word problems.

In these situations, a reading weakness can start to affect performance in essentially all subjects.

Learn more about reading tutoring for struggling readers in NYC at Best Reading Tutors in NYC for Struggling Readers – EBL Coaching.

7. Your Child Has Difficulty Reading Longer, Multi-syllabic Words

Reading demands evolve as children move through school. A student who was able to read simple words effectively in earlier grades may struggle once texts contain longer, multi-syllabic words.

Systematic instruction can teach students how to break down longer words into syllables and individual word parts rather than approaching the entire word at once.

8. The Same Reading Problems Keep Appearing Year After Year

Some children show temporary reading struggles, while others have more persistent difficulties.

If teachers have brought up similar concerns to you in the past or your child has received general reading tutoring without making sufficient progress, you may want to consider a more individualized, systematic, multi-sensory approach.

Should You Wait to Get Reading Support?

Some families may feel their child just needs time to settle into the school year before considering additional support.

However, persistent difficulties with core reading skills such as decoding, spelling, reading fluency, and reading comprehension can negatively impact all aspects of school. If your child is showing early struggles, it’s better to take action sooner than later.

Try to avoid waiting until your child is struggling immensely before seeking support. If you have concerns about your child, you may want to reach out to your child’s teacher about what they are seeing in the classroom. Ask the teacher which specific reading skills appear to be difficult for your child and how your child’s performance compares with grade-level expectations.

A reading assessment can also provide helpful information about your child’s strengths and weaknesses.

How Can Orton Gillingham Tutoring Help?

A key element of Orton Gillingham instruction is that lessons are individualized to address each student’s specific needs and areas of difficulty in reading.

While it depends on the individual student, Orton Gillingham instruction may focus on skills such as:

• Phonemic awareness
• Sound-symbol relationships
• Decoding words
• Spelling words
• Syllable patterns
• Prefixes, suffixes, and roots
• Reading fluency
• Vocabulary and comprehension

With Orton Gillingham tutoring, skills are taught explicitly and systematically, and new concepts build upon skills the student has already learned.

Can Orton Gillingham Tutoring Help Older Students?

Orton Gillingham tutoring doesn’t only help beginning readers.

Middle school and high school students may continue to struggle with decoding, spelling, fluency, or reading comprehension. For some students, strong vocabulary, intelligence, or comprehension skills may have helped them compensate for reading challenges when passages were simpler.

As academic demands increase, however, those compensatory techniques may not work as well.

Orton Gillingham instruction for an older student should be age-appropriate and customized to the skills that are challenging for them. It’s important not to make an adolescent work through elementary-level material if they don’t need it; instead, the idea is to identify gaps and systematically target them.

Finding the Right Reading Support

If your child is struggling with reading, try to determine exactly where they are struggling.

Some students may have difficulty manipulating sounds within words. Another child may know phonics patterns but struggle to apply them automatically when reading. Other students may decode accurately but read so slowly that it impacts their comprehension.

The more precisely the areas of weakness can be identified, the more targeted the Orton Gillingham instruction can be.

Orton Gillingham Tutoring in NYC and NJ

EBL Coaching provides individualized, one-on-one Orton Gillingham tutoring in New York City, Northern New Jersey, and surrounding areas to students who struggle with reading, spelling, and other foundational literacy skills. We work with elementary, middle, and high school students, including students with dyslexia and those who have not received a formal diagnosis.

Our Orton Gillingham instruction is tailored to each student’s individual reading skills and areas of difficulty. Depending on the student’s needs, lessons may focus on phonemic awareness, sound-symbol relationships, decoding, syllable patterns, spelling, word structure, reading fluency, and comprehension.

In New York City, EBL Coaching works with students in Manhattan and nearby areas. In New Jersey, we work with students in Englewood, Bergen County, Northern New Jersey, and surrounding areas.

If your child is struggling with reading or spelling, individualized Orton Gillingham tutoring can provide explicit, systematic instruction designed to strengthen the specific skills they need to become more confident and capable readers.

Learn more about Orton Gillingham tutoring in NJ and what parents should know when considering this approach at Orton Gillingham Tutoring in NJ: What Parents Should Know – EBL Coaching.

Frequently Asked Questions About Orton Gillingham Tutoring

What is Orton Gillingham tutoring?
Orton Gillingham tutoring uses a structured, explicit, multi-sensory approach to teaching reading and spelling. The instruction breaks language into smaller components and teaches students how sounds, letters, syllables, and word parts work together.

Does my child need to have dyslexia to use Orton Gillingham?
No. While Orton Gillingham was originally designed for students with dyslexia, a formal dyslexia diagnosis is not required for a student to benefit from Orton Gillingham tutoring.

How do I know whether my child needs Orton Gillingham tutoring?
You may want to consider seeking Orton Gillingham instruction for your child if they consistently struggle to sound out unfamiliar words, guess at words, read slowly, struggle with spelling, or avoid reading.

At what age should a child start Orton Gillingham?
There is no exact age when Orton Gillingham instruction should begin. The appropriate time depends on your child’s reading skills and individual needs. Younger students may need support for foundational skills, while older students might need more targeted instruction to address gaps in decoding, spelling, or reading fluency.

Can middle school and high school students benefit from Orton Gillingham?
Yes, absolutely. Older students who continue to struggle with decoding, spelling, or reading fluency may benefit from Orton Gillingham instruction. Lessons should be individualized to their specific needs and use age-appropriate materials.

How often should a child receive Orton Gillingham tutoring?
The frequency at which a child should receive Orton Gillingham tutoring should depend on their skill level and overall needs. Consistency is key, since lessons are built upon previously taught concepts. A student’s instructional plan should be customized to their needs and shouldn’t follow a one-size-fits-all schedule.

How is Orton Gillingham different from regular reading tutoring?
General reading tutoring may focus on homework or grade-level assignments. Orton Gillingham instruction, however, is much more targeted and focuses on systematically teaching the structure of written language, including sound-symbol relationships, decoding, spelling, syllable patterns, and word structure.

Can Orton Gillingham help with spelling as well as reading?
Yes! Reading and spelling are related components of literacy. Effective Orton Gillingham instruction typically incorporates both decoding and spelling skills.

Should I wait until parent-teacher conferences to address reading concerns?
If your child is struggling, don’t wait until parent-teacher conferences to take action. If you’re noticing reading difficulties at the beginning of the school year, reach out to your child’s teacher and ask if they are noticing similar struggles. Early communication can help gauge whether your child is simply adjusting to the new school year or showing signs of a deeper reading issue.

Is Orton Gillingham only for elementary school students?
Absolutely not! Orton Gillingham tutoring can be used with students of different ages, including middle school and high school students. Older students may continue to have difficulty with decoding, spelling, reading fluency, or other foundational literacy skills even if they have developed strong vocabulary or comprehension skills. For older students, instruction should be age-appropriate and focus on the specific skills that need strengthening.

How long does Orton Gillingham tutoring take to work?
Progress from Orton Gillingham tutoring depends on various factors, such as the student’s current reading and spelling skills, areas of difficulty, frequency and consistency of instruction, and individual learning needs. Because Orton Gillingham instruction is systematic and cumulative, students generally need consistent instruction and practice over time.

Where can I find Orton Gillingham tutoring in NYC or New Jersey?
EBL Coaching provides one-on-one Orton Gillingham tutoring to students with reading and spelling difficulties in New York City and Northern New Jersey, including the Upper East Side, Manhattan, Englewood, Bergen County, and surrounding areas.

If your child is struggling with reading, direct, systematic instruction, such as Orton Gillingham tutoring, can help them develop their reading and spelling skills and improve their self-confidence.

About the Author

Dr. Emily Levy is the founder and director of EBL Coaching and has more than 20 years of experience helping students strengthen their reading, writing, math, study, and executive functioning skills. She has worked with thousands of students with dyslexia, ADHD, learning disabilities, and other academic challenges.

Dr. Levy is the author of the Strategies for Study Success student workbook series, the Flags and Stars Orton Gillingham student workbook program, and the Flags and Stars Multi-Sensory Math student workbook series. She speaks nationally at educational conferences and frequently appears on podcasts as an educational expert. Her expertise has also been featured in publications including Newsweek, Autism Parenting Magazine, The Epoch Times, and Macaroni KID. Read more about Dr. Levy at About Dr. Levy ADHD treatment New York City.

The post Back-to-School Reading Struggles: When Does Your Child Need Orton Gillingham Tutoring? appeared first on EBL Coaching.

How can Nessy Reading & Spelling help students with dyslexia?

Nessy Reading and Spelling

Nessy Reading & Spelling helps students with dyslexia improve reading and spelling skills using the Orton Gillingham methodology. The app utilizes an individualized, engaging approach, including games, videos, and interactive exercises to help students build their phonics and spelling skills. Students start with an initial assessment to gauge their reading and writing strengths and weaknesses, and the app then creates an individualized learning path. Each student is given lessons and activities specific to their levels and needs. Students love the fun, engaging lessons and integrated rewards called “Nessy nuggets” that they can earn along the way. Detailed progress reports are also included! This is a great app to use in conjunction with Orton Gillingham tutoring.

Why Is Phonics Hero helpful for early readers with dyslexia?

Phonics Hero – Growing Reading and Spelling Superheroes with Phonics!

Phonics Hero is a helpful tool for early readers with dyslexia. It is an evidence-based app that helps students ages 4-7 develop their reading and spelling skills. It uses a systematic, phonics-based approach for developing these key literacy skills. Students learn individual letters and their corresponding sounds, how to blend them to form words, and how to read and write sentences. They love playing the over 850 interactive games that are part of the app. Parents and teachers also enjoy reading their child’s progress reports, which show which skills the student has mastered and other skills they need to work on. This is a great app that can be used with reading remediation sessions.

How Does Montessori Words & Phonics Help with Phonemic Awareness?

Montessori Words & Phonics – Apps on Google Play

Montessori Words and Phonics helps students ages 3-8 build their foundational phonemic awareness and phonics skills – key components of reading. The app offers interactive activities, including moveable alphabet letters that students can manipulate to form words. There are also pictures and audio cues that students can use to create words, a sandbox for exploring letters, and visual rewards, including colorful animations when students successfully complete an activity – all great for students with dyslexia, including those who need reading remediation.

Is Epic helpful for students with dyslexia?

Epic 

Epic is a large library of digital books and audio books designed for students in grades prek-6. The app is particularly useful for students with dyslexia, as it helps with reading and processing information while listening. Users can choose a book, then read along while listening, helping to build decoding, fluency, and reading comprehension skills. Students love having access to such a wide array of books and being able to choose the ones that interest them. Each child is given their own profile that is customized to their age and reading level and is presented with book recommendations based on their profile. Students can also search in the app for specific topics of interest or types of books, and parents can monitor their reading activity. The more kids have a choice in their books and enjoy practicing their reading skills, the better!

Can Read & Write help students with dyslexia improve their writing skills?

Read&Write For Education – Reading, Literacy & Assistive Software

Read & Write is a great speech-to-text app for students with dyslexia that can help them improve their writing skills. Many students with dyslexia struggle to express their thoughts on paper when writing, and this app helps alleviate that challenge. In addition to speech-to-text, where students can dictate their ideas and the app transcribes them, it also offers text-to-speech and word prediction features. Additionally, it includes grammar check, picture dictionaries, and fonts that are optimal for those with dyslexia. This app can help students improve their overall literacy skills and encourage them to enjoy reading and writing, and is great to use in conjunction with dyslexia tutoring.

The International Dyslexia Association indicates that multi-sensory approaches like the Orton Gillingham method are highly effective for students with dyslexia. Students with dyslexia often struggle academically as they progress through school. In addition to Orton Gillingham tutoring, these apps scan help them build their core reading, spelling, and writing skills, and ultimately thrive in school. Learn about our Orton Gillingham tutoring program and how we can help your dyslexic child at www.eblcoaching.com.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the best apps for students with dyslexia?
There are many apps that can help students with dyslexia improve their reading and spelling skills. Some of the best apps that build these skills include Nessy Reading & Spelling, Phonics Hero, Montessori Words & Phonics, Epic!, and Read&Write for Education.

Can apps replace Orton Gillingham tutoring?
Apps are great tools to use for extra Orton Gillingham practice and as a supplement to Orton Gillingham tutoring lessons, but they should not replace Orton Gillingham tutoring. Orton Gillingham tutoring lessons should be tailored to your child’s specific needs and levels, and these individualized tutoring sessions are much more effective at building their skills than using apps alone.

Can apps help students with dyslexia improve spelling?
Yes! There are many apps that can help students with dyslexia improve their spelling skills. Some great apps for spelling include Starfall, Reading Eggs, and Word Wizard.

Dr. Emily Levy, the director of EBL Coaching, has been helping students with dyslexia build their reading and writing skills for over 20 years.

The post 5 Best Apps for Students with Dyslexia appeared first on EBL Coaching.

The post What is Orton Gillingham Tutoring? appeared first on EBL Coaching.

ADHD tutors can teach your child strategies to develop these executive functioning skills and show them how to apply the strategies to their relevant schoolwork. Let’s look at some of these strategies:

How Do ADHD Tutors Teach Time Management Skills?

Students with ADHD tend to struggle with time management. They are often late, wait until the last minute to complete tasks, or have an unrealistic sense of how long an assignment will take to complete. To help develop this skill, an ADHD tutor can teach students to differentiate between the ET, or estimated time (how long they think it will take to complete a task) and compare it to the AT, or actual time it takes to complete the task. When students with ADHD first use this strategy, there is often a big gap between the ET and AT since they often over or underestimate how long they think it will take to complete the task. However, the more they practice this strategy, the more realistic they will become with timing and the more the ET and AT times will start to merge. At our NYC and NJ tutoring centers, students can learn concrete strategies to help them build stronger time management skills.

You can read more time management strategies at Time Management Tips For Kids With ADHD – EBL Coaching.

How Can ADHD Tutoring Improve Organization?

Students with ADHD can be very disorganized. Papers are often spread out on their desk, their backpack is a mess, and their notebooks and binders are often stuffed with papers they don’t need to be carrying with them. Their digital files may be completely disorganized as well. To help with these challenges, ADHD tutors can teach students a 3-tier organization system, as follows:

• Tier 1 is a working notebook, or the binder or notebook they carry to school with them on a regular basis. It should only contain materials they absolutely need to be carrying with them, and they should designate one day per week as their “clean out my working notebook day”. On this day, the student should remove papers and materials they don’t absolutely need to be carrying with them and file them into the appropriate section of their accordion file, or tier 2.
• Tier 2 is an accordion file that should be divided into three sections for every class: homework, notes, and tests/quizzes.
• Finally, if the student completed a project or wrote a paper they want to save for the long run, they should put it in a filing drawer, which is tier 3.

Since many students now use computers in lieu of papers, ADHD tutors can also help students organize their online assignments into appropriate digital files and teach them to use calendars and set reminders for upcoming due dates. At our NJ and NYC tutoring centers, students receive individualized organizational skills support tailored to their individual needs.

Learn more about these types of strategies at How to Build Executive Functioning Skills With Homework – EBL Coaching.

How Does ADHD Tutoring Help with Writing?

Students with ADHD often struggle to organize their ideas and express them effectively when writing. They might have interesting, creative ideas, but need help with the writing process. ADHD tutors can help students start the writing process by teaching them to brainstorm their ideas. This might look like a web diagram with the topic in the middle and the details and supporting details ideas branching out of it. It could also be in list form or could be an outline. The key is learning to brainstorm before writing. Then an ADHD tutor can teach the student to translate their brainstorm diagram into an organized, structured writing piece. Finally, an ADHD tutor should teach the student to self-check their writing before completing it as a last step. One checklist they may use is CTOPS, which stands for:

• Capitalization
• Tense
• Organization
• Punctuation
• Spelling.

At our NJ and NYC tutoring locations, students can receive specialized writing tutoring to learn tools for expressing their thoughts effectively when writing.
Students with ADHD are often very bright and have many strengths. However, they can struggle in school due to weak organization and executive functioning skills. An effective ADHD tutoring program can teach students concrete strategies for developing these skills and can help students achieve confidence and success in school. If your child is struggling with their executive functioning skills, contact us at www.eblcoaching.com to see how we can help your child with one-on-one in person or virtual ADHD tutoring.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I know if my child needs ADHD tutoring?
If your child is struggling with their executive functioning skills, including task initiation, organization, planning, note taking, or organizational skills, they will likely benefit from ADHD tutoring. Regardless of whether they have an ADHD diagnosis, they can still benefit tremendously from learning executive functioning strategies through ADHD coaching at our NJ or NYC tutoring locations.

Can ADHD tutoring help even if my child is already on medication?
Yes, absolutely. Many students who receive ADHD coaching are on medication. Medication can be helpful for some students, but most still need to learn strategies to improve their executive functioning skills, including organization, planning, time management, and other related skills.

Does ADHD tutoring improve grades?
Yes, we find that many students with ADHD are bright and capable of excelling academically. However, weak executive functioning skills can negatively affect their ability to obtain strong grades. With ADHD tutoring, however, they can learn concrete executive functioning strategies and how to apply them to their relevant schoolwork, which can ultimately help them improve their grades.

Other Related Blogs:
Wondering if Your Child Has ADHD? – EBL Coaching
Expert Tips on Managing Remote School for Your Child with ADHD – EBL Coaching

Additional Resources:
ADHD: Building Academic Success | LD OnLineskillsplanningspellingtime
Parenting a Child with ADHD | CHADD.org

The post Does Your Child Need ADHD Tutoring? appeared first on EBL Coaching.

Date published: 4/27/23

Listen to the full podcast here

In this podcast, Dr. Levy discusses ways parents can help their child with autism develop stronger academic skills.

Students with autism may have academic strengths, including accurately decoding and spelling words. However, they tend to struggle with other academic skill areas such as “seeing the big picture” when reading and making inferences from information that they read. They may have trouble expressing their thoughts on paper when writing and often have weak organization and executive functioning skills. By teaching your child strategies for developing their areas of weakness, you can help them thrive in school.

Students with autism typically do well with structure and routine. When we provide special education tutoring to students with autism, we usually let the student know at the start of the session what we plan to cover that day, broken down by skill and time increments. For instance, we may create a visual schedule that says we will spend 25 minutes on reading, 25 minutes on writing, and 10 minutes playing a learning game. We typically show the student the visual schedule before the session begins so that they know what to expect. If there will be any changes, including skills we plan to focus on or how much time we will spend on a given lesson, we give them ample notice about these changes rather than immediately switching gears without notice.

To help them manage their school work, we often help students with autism create a structured plan for the order in which they will complete their assignments, including which one they will do first, second, third, etc., and go over that plan with them. We may even discuss how much time they think each assignment will take and write down the ET, or estimated time, next to each assignment, then later compare it to the AT, or actual time it took, to build stronger time management skills. Read more about helping your child with autism build stronger executive functioning skills at Helping Autistic Students Build Stronger Executive Functioning Skills – EBL Coaching.

Students will autism have unique strengths and weaknesses. By continuing to emphasize their strengths while teaching them strategies for building their areas of weaknesses, you will help set your child up for academic success.

Read more at Helping Your Child with Autism Thrive – HelpGuide.org.

The post Dr. Emily Levy on the Autism Wine Hour Podcast: Autism Tutoring Techniques appeared first on EBL Coaching.

Date published: 1/26/23

Listen to the full podcast here

In this podcast, Dr. Levy discusses dyslexia with Darius Namdaram and strategies that can help students with dyslexia build stronger reading comprehension skills.

Students with dyslexia typically struggle with reading and writing. They have trouble accurately sounding out words and often look at the beginning sound and “guess” at the rest of the word when reading. They also tend to struggle with spelling and expressing their thoughts on paper effectively when writing (despite having wonderful ideas!). Furthermore, while students with dyslexia often have strong auditory comprehension skills, because they exert so much energy trying to decode words, they may miss out on the “big picture” of what they are reading, negatively affecting their reading comprehension.

Learning to visualize information that they read and form web diagrams can help students with dyslexia develop stronger reading comprehension skills. When reading a passage about a rainstorm, for example, they may try to visualize the events happening in the story and benefit from prompting questions, like “What time of day was it?“, Who was in the story and how were they feeling?” or “What season was it?”. Once they have formed a visual image of the information they read, they can create a web diagram.

The student’s web diagram should have the topic written inside a bubble in the center of the page, like “the big rainstorm” and branching out of the middle web, they should add bubbles with supporting details written in them, like “when it occurred,” “who was affected”, and “how long it lasted.” Students can then add additional branches to the supporting details bubbles with more information describing each supporting detail. They can also add pictures, symbols, and colors to add creativity. The more colorful and creative, the better! Read more about strategies for developing your child’s reading skills at How to Improve Your Dyslexic Child’s Reading Skills – EBL Coaching.

Students with dyslexia are often very bright and have great imaginations. Learning this visualization strategy can help them develop stronger reading comprehension skills. 

Learn more at Reading & Dyslexia | LD OnLine.

The post Dr. Emily Levy on the Dyslexia Explored with Darius Namdaran Podcast: Effective Dyslexia Tutoring Strategies for Students appeared first on EBL Coaching.

What are Orton Gillingham workbooks?

Orton Gillingham workbooks use the Orton Gillingham approach to give students extra practice with phonemic awareness, phonics, and word pattern skills. They typically follow a structured, multi-sensory approach, while engaging the student and giving them ample practice and repetition with concepts taught.

What is an example of Orton Gillingham workbooks?

The Flags and Stars Orton Gillingham workbooks follow the Orton Gillingham technique for helping students develop stronger decoding and spelling skills. The workbook program starts with phonemic awareness, a key skill area for reading success. Phonemic awareness skills include rhyming, manipulating sounds, and identifying syllables. Using these Orton Gillingham workbooks, students later learn consonant and short vowel letters and their corresponding sounds with the Flags and Stars Consonants and Short Vowels Orton Gillingham workbook. In this workbook, students learn how to properly form each letter when writing, as well as how to blend sounds together to form basic consonant-vowel-consonant words. This Orton Gillingham workbook works in groups of five letters at a time: four consonants and one short vowel.

Higher level Orton Gillingham concepts

Once students have mastered reading and spelling words with consonants and short vowels, they can move onto words with blends using the Flags and Stars Blends Orton Gillingham workbook. With this workbook, students learn to read and spell these types of words using a multi-sensory approach.

With the Flags and Stars Orton Gillingham workbooks, students then move on to learning how to read and spell words containing consonant digraphs, vowel digraphs, silent e patterns, multi-syllabic word patterns, prefixes, and roots. Words with consonant digraphs include:

• black
• song
• ship
• patch

Words with vowel digraphs include:

•  boat
• teeth
• peach
• pail

Words with silent e patterns include:

• make
• bike
• time
• phone

Words with multi-syllabic word patterns include:

• cupcake
• rainbow
• rabbit
• triplet

Words with prefixes include:

•  unable
• impossible
• overcook
• underneath

Words with roots include:

• geography
• aquarium
• automatic
• reject

The Flags and Stars Orton Gillingham workbooks cover these concepts and follow a multi-sensory approach, which integrates the visual, auditory, and tactile/kinesthetic modalities. With Orton Gillingham workbooks, students use tools such as colored sand, magnetic tiles, shaving cream, and whiteboards. They love this engaging, effective technique. A sample lesson from an Orton Gillingham workbook that focuses on consonants and short vowels might be as follows:

Sample Orton Gillingham Lesson

When teaching sound/letter relationships using an Orton Gillingham workbook, the Orton Gillingham tutor might hold up a flashcard with the letter “a” written on the front of it and a picture of an apple on the back. The tutor would say to the student, “This is the letter a, like apple, it makes the sound /a/.” The student would then say that language together with the tutor and then repeat it back independently. Then the Orton Gillingham tutor might take out a tray of sand and explain to the student that when we write the lower case letter a, we say aloud, “around, up, and down.” The tutor writes the letter first in the sand while saying this language aloud. Then the student writes the letter in the sand with the tutor and subsequently writes the letter independently in the sand. Next, the tutor might move onto sky writing and trace the letter in the sky, saying aloud “around, up, and down” while using gross motor muscles to write the letter a in the sky. Then the student writes the letter in the sky with the tutor, and finally independently in the sky.

Read more about the Orton Gillingham approach at The Orton Gillingham Approach – EBL Coaching

Additional Practice with Orton Gillingham Workbooks

Using Orton Gillingham workbooks, the tutor might work on blending exercises with the student, where the student blends sounds together to form words. For example, the tutor might use flash cards or magnetic tiles to show the letters “c”, “a”, and “t”, as long as the tutor has already taught those sound/symbol relationships using Orton
Gillingham workbooks and asks the student to blend those sounds together to form the word “cat.” They might do the same exercise for the letters “b”, “i”, “g” to form big, or “m”, “u”, “g” to form mug. These multi-sensory activities using Orton Gillingham workbooks can help students develop strong foundational reading skills.

Do you feel your child would benefit from Orton Gillingham tutoring? We can help them! Contact us at www.eblcoaching.com to learn more about our one-on-one tutoring programs.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are Orton Gillingham workbooks?
Orton Gillingham materials area workbooks that offer reinforcement of Orton Gillingham concepts often covered during Orton Gillingham tutoring lessons. They use a multi-sensory approach to help students develop their phonemic awareness, decoding, spelling, and reading fluency skills.

Are Orton Gillingham workbooks effective for students with dyslexia?
Yes! The Orton Gillingham approach was originally created to help students with dyslexia develop their core reading and spelling skills. However, all students who struggle with reading can benefit from Orton Gillingham workbooks and Orton Gillingham tutoring,

What skills do students learn in Flags and Stars Orton Gillingham workbooks?
With the Flags and Stars Orton Gillingham workbooks, students learn the following Orton Gillingham concepts:

• Phonemic awareness
• Consonant and short vowel letter names and sounds
• Blends
• Consonant and vowel digraphs
• Silent e patterns
• Multi-syllabic word patterns
• Prefixes
• Roots

The structured, sequential, multi-sensory approach used in Orton Gillingham tutoring sessions can help students drastically improve their reading and spelling skills.

Learn more about the Flags and Stars Orton Gillingham workbooks at Workbook series designed to build independent study skills (eblcoaching.com)

Read more about helping students with learning disabilities at www.ldonline.org.

The post Can Orton Gillingham Workbooks Help Struggling Readers? appeared first on EBL Coaching.

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What is special education tutoring?

Special ed tutoring uses a specialized approach to teaching that is individualized to your child’s needs. Your child will likely be evaluated first to assess their academic levels and areas of difficulty. Some children need help with reading, while others need assistance with writing, math, or study skills, and some need help with a combination of these skills. It is important that special education tutoring is always customized to your child’s specific and unique needs. Dyslexia tutoring, dysgraphia tutoring, dyscalculia tutoring, and executive functioning coaching can all be helpful, based on your child’s needs.

Reading Tutoring Using the Orton Gillingham Approach

Orton Gillingham tutoring can help your child develop stronger decoding, reading fluency, spelling, and phonological awareness skills. The Orton Gillingham technique is research-based and multi-sensory and is customized to your child’s individual reading and writing levels. Your child may begin at the foundational level, learning individual letters and their corresponding sounds, and will then learn how to blend those sounds together to form words through these Orton Gillingham lessons. From there, they may move onto more complex word patterns, learning to decode and spell words with:

• blends
• consonant digraphs
• vowel digraphs
• silent e patterns
• r-controlled words
• multi-syllabic word patterns
• prefixes
• roots

With Orton Gillingham tutoring, your child will likely also be taught specific Orton Gillingham spelling rules. These may include spelling rules such as:

• the ck/k rule, which indicates that if a word ends with the sound /k/, the student should use ck if the sound comes right after a short vowel. Otherwise, they should use use k.
• the tch/ch rule, which tells us that if a word ends with the sound /ch/, the student should use tch if the sound comes right after a short vowel. Otherwise, they should use ch.
• the dge/ge rule, which teaches a student that if a word ends with the sound /j/, the student should use dge if the sound comes right after a short vowel. Otherwise, they should use ge.

Specialized Orton Gillinhgam tutoring can teach your child other similar rules to help develop their spelling skills.

Specialized Reading Comprehension Tutoring

To develop your child’s reading comprehension skills, specialized tutoring might involve teaching your child active reading strategies. For example, they might learn to identify the topic, main idea, and important details when reading and learn to highlight them using three different colors. The topic is typically one, two, or three words describing the passage, and it should be highlighted in blue. The main idea is what the author is saying about the topic, and it should be highlighted in green. The important details are salient facts or pieces of information from the passage that should be highlighted in yellow. This type of strategy used in special education tutoring can help your child become an active, rather than a passive reader, and develop stronger reading comprehension skills.

Writing Support for Students with Learning Disabilities

With specialized writing tutoring, your child can develop stronger written language skills. They should learn to brainstorm, write, and self-check their thoughts on paper in an organized fashion. With specialized writing tutoring, your child might start by learning how to write a well-structured sentence and then move on to writing simple paragraphs, extended paragraphs, and five paragraph essays. They might learn to self-check their work using a checklist like COPS, which stands for capitalization, organization, punctuation, spelling.

Math Tutoring for Students with Learning Challenges

Specialized math tutoring can help your child build stronger math computation and word problem solving skills. They may learn to break down word problems during these math tutoring lessons, moving from language to arithmetic and back to language. For example, they might learn to read a word problem, circle the key words, then then break the problem into four steps: thought, or which operation is being used; relevant information; number sentence, and solution sentence. This type of specialized tutoring is particularly helpful for students who have dyscalculia.

At EBL Coaching, for our special education tutoring, we use research-based, multi-sensory techniques, including the Orton Gillingham method, to help your child develop and strengthen their academic skills. Our specialized tutoring is highly effective in helping students feel more confident and successful in school. In our extensive experience tutoring students in NYC and NJ with learning disabilities, individualized one-on-one instruction often leads to both academic improvement and increased self-confidence.

If you are a parent looking for special education tutoring in New York City or New Jersey, contact us today at www.eblcoaching.com. We use individualized, research-based instruction that is designed for students with dyslexia, ADHD, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, executive functioning challenges, and other learning disabilities.

Learn more about special ed tutoring programs at ADHD Tutoring Programs – EBL Coaching and Orton Gillingham Tutors NYC and NJ – EBL Coaching

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between one-on-one special education tutoring and homework help?
Special education tutoring typically involves an individualized tutoring plan that uses research-based, multi-sensory techniques tailored to your child’s individual needs. This type of specialized tutoring can focus on one skill, like reading, or a combination of skills if your child struggles with more than one skill. Homework help typically focuses just on completing homework assignments, not on academic remediation.

Is Orton Gillingham tutoring effective for dyslexia?
Yes, absolutely. The Orton Gillingham method is a highly effective approach for helping students with dyslexia develop their reading and spelling skills. At EBL Coaching, we have done extensive Orton Gillingham tutoring and have seen students make dramatic improvements using this technique.

How do I know if my child needs specialized one-on-one tutoring?
If your child continues to struggle academically despite in school-support and is showing signs of frustration and low self-esteem, you may want to consider specialized one-on-one tutoring for them.

The post What Is Special Education Tutoring and How Can It Help Your Child? appeared first on EBL Coaching.

Challenges

Reading & Spelling with Accuracy

Individuals with dyslexia tend to struggle with the mechanics of reading and writing, including accurately sounding out and spelling words. They might look at the initial letter in a word and “guess” at the rest of it, or may simply make up words as they go. They might also replace certain words with others that “make sense” within that spot in the sentence. For example, they might read “Leo efficiently completed his work” as “Leo effortlessly completed his work.” Furthermore, those with dyslexia often have wonderful, creative ideas but struggle to express those ideas on paper when writing. Read more about this at How to Improve Your Dyslexic Child’s Reading Skills – EBL Coaching.

Trouble Articulating

Some individuals with dyslexia have trouble with word retrieval, or finding the right word to use when speaking. This might affect their relationships with peers, since it can be challenging for them to keep up a conversation and have a back and forth dialogue. They also might forget specific words or details within a conversation they had with a friend, leading to miscommunication and misunderstanding, and ultimately negatively affecting friendships.

Low Self-esteem

Many people with dyslexia are exceptionally bright and gifted in a multitude of skills. However, they often find themselves struggling with reading and writing and see themselves as “stupid” or not as smart as their peers. This can lead to low self-esteem and overall negative feelings about themselves, which can sometimes lead to mental health challenges, like anxiety and depression.

Strengths

While dyslexia comes with many academic challenges, those with dyslexia also have numerous gifts. Let’s take a look at some of these strengths:

Great Creativity & Spatial Skills

Individuals with dyslexia are often very creative and have strong spatial skills. They tend to be fantastic artists, painters, and sculptors. They can also visit a place and have an exceptionally strong visual memory of what they saw as compared to their peers. This skill can help them excel in many careers, including architecture, graphic design, engineering, and even surgery.

Strong People Skills

Those with dyslexia often have great people skills. Since they face constant challenges academically, then tend to empathize with their peers in a way that far surpasses those without dyslexia. They know what it is like to struggle and can thus relate to others going through different types of struggles and form a strong bond with them accordingly.

Outside of the Box Thinkers

Many people with dyslexia are forced to think out of the box on a regular basis as they face daily challenges. Since they struggle with reading and writing and may have trouble with daily tasks like writing an email or reading the newspaper, they typically need to find innovative ways to help them overcome these challenges and excel. Their ideas are often unique, creative, and far more advanced than solutions their peers might come up with. These qualities can help them become excellent business leaders and entrepreneurs in life.

Excellent Reasoning Skills

Those with dyslexia tend to have strong reasoning skills. They are often able to understand concepts from different perspectives, analyze and see patterns, and process complex concepts in ways their non-dyslexic peers can’t. While the mechanics of reading and writing are a struggle for them, comprehending the “big picture,” making inferences, and synthesizing the main idea are often strengths for individuals with dyslexia. Many are great problem solvers.

While dyslexia certainly comes with many academic and emotional challenges, it also bears numerous strengths. Those with dyslexia are often creative, bright, have strong critical thinking skills, and show empathy towards others. They hold many gifts that can help them excel in relationships and in life. Learn more about dyslexia at Could My Child Have Dyslexia? – EBL Coaching.

Other Blogs about Dyslexia:

Dyslexia Tutoring NJ

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