Literacy, From the Beginning

Here's what your student will learn the first semester.

  • Using multi-sensory teaching methods, students are taught new concepts including letter sounds, red words (sight words) and more.

  • Classes are held via Zoom. Students will use sand, different colors of crayons, tiles or pom poms, tapping and other multi-sensory methods to learn new concepts.

  • For a full description of the class, read below.

What We're Learning:

In this class, language is explicitly taught through multisensory techniques, which involve the use of visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learning styles. This class, designed for early readers, will focus on phonics, phonological awareness, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension skills. The Orton-Gillingham method will be implemented in a structured, sequential, and cumulative way to help students develop strong reading and writing skills. 

Each week we will work on a new letter sound, phonemic awareness, sight words, and more using a multi-sensory approach. Students will be read a book that matches that week's letter, students will practice letter sounds so they learn to decode (reading) and eventually encode (spelling). 

Teaching New Concepts:

1. Multisensory teaching of new letter sounds and names. 

2. We will brainstorm a list of objects that start with that sound. I will show objects. 

3. We will practice letter formation. 

4. We will connect the concept with literature by reading a book that features that week's letter. 

5. We will read a decodable reader together. 


As students progress through the class we will add:

1. Three-part drill of visual, auditory and blending. 

2. Vowel intensive. 

3. Sentence writing. 

Students that enroll in this class do not need to know any letter sounds or be able to read independently. 

We will take the week of Thanksgiving and Christmas / New Year off.