Do you have a child who is struggling with reading comprehension, decoding or fluency? Or perhaps your child is ready to accelerate reading or writing instruction? If so, you may be seeking a Reading Specialist, Learning Specialist, or skillful educator.
Remediation or Acceleration
At My Learning Springboard, we value the science of reading and an approach that considers the 5 pillars of a strong reading program to support your child’s reading and writing development. We especially believe that building strong foundational skills in preschool and the primary grades is a strategic investment that bolsters a child’s success as a lifelong learner. Because each student’s needs are different, our reading specialists and learning specialists are well versed in a variety of approaches, interventions, and programs so that we can tailor instruction to each student’s needs using evidence-based practice that maximizes engagement.
Our reading specialists and learning specialists include both elementary and secondary educators, special educators, and dyslexia interventionists with expertise in Orton-Gillingham based programs, including PAF (developed at Windward School), Wilson, and Boost. Other programs we regularly use include Judith Hochman’s Writing Revolution and Sounds in Motion.
Our reading specialists and faculty also provide enrichment teaching and accelerated instruction for students ready to take on more difficult reading and writing tasks. We begin instructional planning by gathering as much information as possible, which often includes conducting individualized assessments in order to determine a student’s decoding needs, developmental spelling stage, independent and instructional reading levels, and writing needs at the sentence and paragraph (or multi-paragraph) levels. This benchmarking helps our reading specialists or learning specialists to more effectively customize targeted reading and writing instruction in any or all of the following areas:
- Decoding
- Comprehension
- Fluency
- Grammar and Syntax
- Handwriting
- Phonemic awareness
- Word Study
- Phonics
- Spelling
- Vocabulary Development
In our work to help students become confident readers and writers, our reading specialists, leadership team, and faculty also help parents to support their children’s reading and writing development at home.
Popular Programs and Approaches
A variety of reading and writing programs are used depending on the needs of a particular student. Similarly, students are matched to specific Reading Specialists based on the student’s needs and the Reading Specialist’s professional expertise. We value customizing the approach for each learner, thus our practices are informed by research, programs, materials and diagnostic tools that include but are not limited to:
- Orton-Gillingham
- The Science of Reading
- Phyllis Bertin and Eileen Perlman, Preventing Academic Failure (PAF)
- Dr. Judith C. Hochman, Teaching Basic Writing Skills
- Frances Santore, Sounds in Motion
- Patricia Cunningham, Making Words
- Dr. Donald Bear, Literacy Development and Words Their Way
- Dr. Jan Richardson, Guided Reading
- Stephanie Harvey, Strategies That Work
- Fountas & Pinnell, Guided Reading and Writing
- Advancing Literacy, Teachers College, Columbia University
Writing Instruction Framework
Our writing instruction is also informed by the 6+1 Trait ® Writing Framework developed by Education Northwest.
These writing traits include:
- Ideas
- Organization
- Voice
- Word Choice
- Sentence Fluency
- Conventions
- Presentation (+1)
Please contact our office to discuss your family’s specific needs.
Leave a Reply