Our program “Reading Innovations” uses “Pathways to the Mind” to teach each student.

We have been compared to the Wilson Reading Program which uses “Fundations” and Barton which uses “Horizons.”

Reading Innovations, Barton and Wilson all follow the Orton-Gillingham approach to teaching reading.

• Our eclectic approach to teaching reading includes the Wilson and Orton-Gillingham methods.
• As with Orton-Gillingham, the basics of language are taught through all three learning styles: visual, auditory and kinesthetic.
• As with the Wilson Reading Program, we teach students using the alphabetic principles (sound-symbol relationships) through these main elements 1. phonemic awareness 2. instruction of word analysis and comprehension 3. reading and spelling instruction.

All of my books address the fundamental skills needed to be a proficient reader.

Sets I, II, and III teach:

Orthographical Processing: Orthographic processing skills refers to the ability to hold and retain a visual-spatial image of the printed word form and compare the cognitive representation of the previously seen word.

Phonemic Awareness: While brain development normally progresses from the right to left hemisphere, a student with reading delays relies on the right hemisphere to learn. This “cross-talk” between hemispheres does not occur naturally when a student has RD and needs consistent instruction for PA skills to develop. Our program is developed to increase a student’s working memory and improve phonemic awareness skills.

Isolated Word Reading Fluency: This skill refers to the ability to use top-down and bottom-up approaches to identify words. Proficiency in this area depends on a good phonological assembly of familiar words and using the two processes needed to recognize words which is a top-down and bottom-up approach rather than relying on one process. We teach the student to use both processes when recognizing words to improve word recognition and fluency.

Visual Perception: VP is the ability of working memory to process demands necessary to hold letter representations in the mind’s eye.

Irregular Word Reading Fluency: IWRF is the ability to phonologically assemble familiar words.

Word Recall: WR refers to the ability to slot and self-organize verbal information at the text level.

Semantic Concepts: This refers to the awareness of rules to form new words including changes that affect word meanings.

Oral Reading Fluency: ORF is the ability to visually scan and track demands of reading text in a horizontal fashion and the use of working memory needed to read, hold, and store large amounts of verbal information.

Verbal Fluency: VF involves retrieval speed and the ability to retrieve information from long term memory.

Morphological Processing: MP is the knowledge of rules used to form new words including changes that affect word meanings.

Nonsense Word Decoding: NWD requires working memory circuits to be activated while the student’s brain stitches together each component of the word. We use an explicit phonics approach to improve nonsense word decoding.

Positioning Sounds: PS involves the temporal ordering and categorial representations of auditory stimulus patterns using a visual cue.

Rapid Automatic Naming: RAN involves attentional skills, retrieval skills, and speed of information processing.

Silent Reading Fluency Comprehension: SRF involves text attention and/or depth of processing and executive functioning skills.

We are constantly monitoring our students and have data to back up our success.

Our assessment is thorough and provides 25-30 pages of information to equip us with devising the most effective instructional plan for each student.