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7 Tips For Helping Students Recognize Patterns In Words
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7 Tips For Helping Students Recognize Patterns In Words

There are several reasons why recognizing patterns in words is difficult for our students with dyslexia. Dyslexia often causes difficulty linking the phonemic analysis with the orthographic patterns. This means that a student not only has difficulty correctly hearing, analyzing, and identifying the separate sounds in a word, but in putting the sequence of letters…

How To Get the Most Out of Your Structured Literacy Professional Development

How To Get the Most Out of Your Structured Literacy Professional Development

If you are anything like me, you love going to conferences and workshops. Although I always wind up physically exhausted, I somehow also find myself energized and my batteries recharged. Professional development has so many wonderful benefits. You may discover a whole new vein of interest and develop a brand-new skill set. You can reignite…

Summer Tutoring Fun: 5 Tips for Orton-Gillingham Tutors
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Summer Tutoring Fun: 5 Tips for Orton-Gillingham Tutors

I am often asked whether I recommend students take the summer off from tutoring. In fact, I recommend quite the opposite. Increasing the amount of time spent on tutoring during a time of more flexible schedules is an excellent opportunity for students to make some real catch-up growth. Typical students without learning difficulties have some…

The Organized Orton-Gillingham Teacher: Part 2
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The Organized Orton-Gillingham Teacher: Part 2

In part 1 of this series, we discussed modeling organization, as an organized Orton-Gillingham teacher, for our students both through our own organized space and in more explicit ways such as how to set up a dictation paper. Organization and executive functioning skills are frequent areas of difficulty for students with dyslexia. By implementing some…

The Organized Orton-Gillingham Teacher: Part One
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The Organized Orton-Gillingham Teacher: Part One

Kids with dyslexia also often struggle with organization. Why? Well, it probably doesn’t come as a surprise to you that many of our students struggle with organizational skills. In addition to affecting reading and writing, dyslexia often impacts working memory and executive functioning skills. Check out this video for a preview of some helpful executive…

When Older Students Need Support with Alphabetic Knowledge
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When Older Students Need Support with Alphabetic Knowledge

When I used to work for public schools, I noticed that assessments like letter identification or letter/sound correspondences were frequently only assessed during Kindergarten and the first half of 1st grade, regardless of whether students ever reached mastery. In most cases, the alphabetical knowledge and sequence were never assessed. When I was completing my Orton-Gillingham…

5 Tips for Supporting Challenged Readers  at Home
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5 Tips for Supporting Challenged Readers at Home

Parenting is full of challenges. Some of these challenges, such as homework, or supporting challenged readers, frequently turn into battles. For kids with reading difficulties, battles over homework and reading logs can be a particular problem. Parents often seek out my tutoring services because of the very unpleasant dynamic that has emerged when they try…