What’s the Orton-Gillingham Approach…and should my student use it?

It can be challenging as a parent or caregiver to know exactly what support your child needs. When it comes to reading, we understand the difficulties families face - especially if a student has reading challenges. This month, we are featuring the Orton-Gillingham approach as an effective solution to help those struggling with reading. 

The Orton-Gillingham approach is a direct, explicit, multisensory, structured, sequential, diagnostic, and prescriptive way to teach literacy when reading, writing, and spelling..What does all this mean?   It’s particularly effective when teaching these skills to individuals with learning differences, like dyslexia. Always focused on the needs of the individual student, Orton-Gillingham (OG) practitioners design lessons and materials to work with students at their level. Instructors pace the instruction and introduction of new materials based on the student’s individual strengths and weaknesses. When taught correctly, this method can be a powerful tool of great breadth, depth, and flexibility. 

TVT tutor Eileen Norton has this to say about the Orton-Gillingham approach, “As a learning tool, reading programs and strategies based on Orton-Gillingham methodology are known to be effective with struggling readers, especially those students with dyslexia. What’s perhaps not as well-known is that there is much evidence that the Orton-Gillingham methodology is effective for teaching many groups of students to read, not just those who struggle. As a result, students in regular classrooms, those who need extra support, as well as those in tutoring situations would benefit from the use of Orton-Gillingham-based reading programs.” ​

In order to maintain the high standards of the Orton-Gillingham approach, educators and tutors can earn certifications and trainings in order to properly serve students. At TVT, we are proud to have several tutors certified to teach the approach. If you have a student who is dyslexic and struggling with reading, or you want your child to have supplemental reading support within their current curriculum, contact us today. We are ready and excited to support your student on their academic journey!