Information about Education Therapy
Our teaching methods are based on
- Diane McGuinness’ work, Why Our Children Can’t Read
- Jeanne Chall’s Learning to Read: the Great Debate
- and Marilyn Jager Adams’ Beginning to Read
From research in the classroom and the clinic, we have discovered that when the sequence of reading and spelling instruction is compatible with the logic of the alphabet code and with the child’s linguistic and logical development, learning to read and spell proceeds rapidly and smoothly for all children and is equally effective for poor readers of all ages. The scientific research (Adams, Lindamood, McGuinness C., Alexander, Fletcher, Juel, McGuinness, D., Williams, J.P.) is now showing that phoneme awareness must be taught first in the teaching of reading; the child needs to be trained to hear the order of sounds within syllables and words, then taught how to spell these sounds.
Marilyn Adams evaluated the research on phonics and reading as well as the phonics instructional programs of the 1990’s. “The developers of 'phonics curricula' have never analyzed the structure of the spelling code, so that phonics programs are not only seriously impoverished but chaotic...phonics logic is backwards and the code cannot be categorized with this logic....One traditional way to teach phonics is to teach 'sounds'. The other way, which doesn’t have a name, teaches the ‘sounds of language’ and how these sounds are mapped to the letters." This is the methodology of our clinic.
We have taken the approaches of Lindamood- Bell, Orton-Gillingham, F.A.S.T. (Steve Tattum of Denver Academy), Allographs, and developed our own highly effective program for low-performing students.
We have adopted Dianne McGuinness’ major components for a good beginning reading program:.
- phoneme awareness (training in awareness of phonemes in speech and the ability to segment and blend isolated phonemes in words)
- alphabet principle (teach the alphabet code the way it was written; from sound to print)
- sound to symbol association (teach how to connect phonemes in words to individual letters and letter combinations)
- logic ( instruction is sequenced in a logical order from simple to complex and conforms to the child’s developmental level. It includes the entire spelling code, not just a fraction of it)
- curriculum (materials cover all possible skill areas; phoneme analysis, segmenting, blending, reading, writing, spelling. Materials are related in content. Reading and spelling are reversible.
- pedogogic style (we teach by exposure and example, using brief, clear multisensory explanations and practice. Child is actively problem solving, not passive. Error correcting positive and immediate)
- fail-safe (we constantly monitor and document the child’s reading process and performance)
Evaluations include Pre and Post testing with Woodcock Johnson- Revised Standard and Supplementary Batteries (Reading, Word Attack, Comprehension). Math subtests are also included upon request. Wide Range Assessment of Memory and Learning and other more specific tests for learning strengths and weaknesses are offered.
Diane McGuinness evaluated the most popular and effective remedial reading programs, concluding that “children fail to learn to read in school because they aren’t being taught correctly. They fail to learn to read in remedial programs because they aren’t being taught correctly.
The documentation of our program shows that we teach "everyone" to read, including the 90 % of children who never escape special education classrooms, low achieving students with normal intelligence, and the large number of children that other remedial programs fail. Progress is determined by the quality and the consistency of the program and by the amount of one-on-one sessions that the students receive. Children learn faster one-on-one than in small groups. However, for financial reasons, we do serve some students in small groups.
Children without learning disabilities can be taught to read in approximately 30 hours one-on-one by a reading specialist at our clinic. The average gain in grade equivalency for 30 hours of tutoring is 1.5 years. With older students, the gains are bigger. Children with learning disabilities require longer, usually requiring additional specialized attention in auditory and/or visual processing strategies.
There is a system or hierarchy to remediate reading in low-achieving children. Our program is hyper-vigilant in this regard. First graders are taught the basic code. Reading, spelling, and writing are compatible (games, readers, workbooks) which makes the reading level increase more quickly. Traditional children’s literature that includes words with digraphs, consonant clusters, irregular spellings, and words not easily “broken” into syllables are excluded at this level.
From grades 2-4, the clinician introduces a systematic program of increasing level of difficulty and sight words. Use of manipulative letters enable the child to master phonemic spelling patterns up to two-syllable words (use of nonsense and real words). Sensory cognitive therapy is utilized to enable the child to successfully integrate non-phonetic words. Teaching a student how to visualize what he/she hears and reads remediates comprehension weaknesses.
