Reading must be learned. Easier for some, much harder for others.

 

When Holly finished her doctoral studies at Northwestern University, she knew she wanted to help children who were not learning this critical life skill in school. She set up a private practice, worked hard with students, and some would have called her practice a success. But her students’ gains weren’t dependable – she did not have a roadmap for improvement nor enough experience to tailor her work to each student’s struggles.

 

Eager to find better results, she took a series of workshops where she learned about a phonics-based approach to reading instruction called Orton-Gillingham. She was fortunate to have the opportunity to study under the direction of some of the pioneers, notably Jean Osman and Paula Dozier Rome, who had known and worked with Samuel Orton himself. The Orton approach served as a valuable foundation from which to build upon and also sparked what would become a lifelong interest in the origins of words.

 

As Holly modified her teaching with greater emphasis on practices associated with the Orton approach, she found that while some children learned quickly with any instruction, many of my students were only able to learn using phonics.

 

Specialists in any field must keep current in their research, but specific research findings tend to work their way more slowly toward general education teachers. Teachers, after all, have to know something about everything.

 

In 1997 Congress created the National Reading Panel to promote successful reading instruction. The panel evaluated more than 10,000 studies on reading to see what worked. They published their findings two years later. Holly found that their research was very consistent with what she had learned and confirmed in her practice—that systematic phonics instruction was better reading help than a literature-based approach for children struggling to read.

 

It’s been over 15 years since the National Reading Panel released its findings. There is now a growing body of evidence that even better outcomes can be realized if we make children aware of morphology, etymology, and phonology along with rules, patterns, and conventions. In short, from the very beginning, we need to teach our students the way the English writing system really works. With these more current models, Holly found more than ever that she keep drawing upon her training as a speech-language pathologist.

 

Due to this, Ravinia Reading Center is staffed by speech-language pathologists (SLPs). The clinical focus of our training has equipped us to expertly tailor instruction to each student. SLPs are further trained in both phonetics and phonology. We understand, for example, that a ‘b’ is often substituted for a ‘p’ because of how similarly the phonemes they represent are produced. Or when a student spells the adjective “separate” as “seprit,” we are not going to say, “Sound it out!” Why? Because the word “separate” really does have two (phonetic) syllables. The ray of light for this student comes from an understanding of meaningful word parts, morphology, and how English words are built.

 

Speech pathologists are particularly well prepared to teach your child the true cohesive and logical nature of the written language system because we understand it ourselves. Phonetics, phonology, morphology, and etymology really do play together nicely. We’ll make sure your child understands that too.

 

We've found that our outcomes with students are better when we start with the premise that all words can be understood. With this principle as our cornerstone, our students achieve measurable levels of reading fluency that allow them to handle the volume and complexity that always occur as they move forward in school and in life. And while we love that your child’s achievement can be measured while they’re here, it’s our greatest goal that they effortlessly read in their lives outside of Ravinia Reading Center.

 

Reading is a skill and it can be taught.