Our Philosophy of Reading Remediation
The 3-D School's reading program is designed to remediate the specific disability of dyslexia using a comprehensive, structured literacy approach, which is an Orton-Gillingham based methodology that provides multi-sensory, explicit, direct instruction of English phonology. The principles of instruction and content in Orton-Gillingham based therapy are essential for effective reading remediation for the dyslexic student. The organization of instructional material follows the logical order of the English language sequencing from the easiest, most basic elements and progressing methodically to more difficult material. It is a cognitive approach, teaching students to think through language problems when reading, writing, and spelling.
The English Language is 85% predictable when one knows the rules.
The critical components of reading instruction include:
Phonology and Phonological Awareness: Phonology is the study of sounds and how they work within their environment. A phoneme is the smallest unit of sound in a given language that can be recognized as being distinct from other sounds in the language. An important aspect of phonological awareness is phonemic awareness or the ability to segment words into their components.
Sound-Symbol Association: This is the knowledge of the various sounds in the English language and their correspondence to the letters and combinations of letters which represent those sounds. Sound/symbol association is taught and mastered in two directions: visual to auditory and auditory to visual. Students learn to master the blending of sounds and letters into words as well as the segmenting of whole words into individual sounds.
Syllable Instruction: A syllable is a unit of oral and written language with one vowel sound. Instruction includes the teaching of the six syllable types in the English language: closed, vowel-consonant-e, open, consonant -le, r-controlled, and vowel digraph/diphthong. Syllable division rules are directly taught in relation to word structure.
Morphology: Morphology is the study of how morphemes are combined to form words. A morpheme is the smallest unit of meaning in language. The curriculum includes instruction in the comprehension of written language. The curriculum includes the study of base words, roots, prefixes and suffixes.
Syntax: Syntax is the set of principles that dictate the sequence and function of words in a sentence in order to convey meaning. This includes grammar, sentence variation and the mechanics of language.
Semantics: Semantics is the aspect of language concerned with meaning. The curriculum includes instruction in the comprehension of written language.
Handwriting: Students are specifically taught letter formation and letter connections with emphasis placed on the automaticity of cursive letter formation. Cursive handwriting is emphasized because of its continuous, fluid motion.
