Orton-Gillingham Training for Parents and Tutors

When parents seeking tutoring services are told their child should receive Orton-Gillingham instruction, they may wonder what that means. Parents should understand the difference between a program that is Orton-Gillingham based, with its own scope and sequence, areas which it gives increased emphasis or areas that it may not address and what is sometimes referred to as “straight OG”. Helping parents understand that – regardless of which program they use – is important to understand that certain characteristics should be in place: for starters, the way in which Orton-Gillingham instruction is individualized.

The Orton-Gillingham approach translates the spelling of sounds into phonemes. There is much order and logic behind these sounds, and we are just scratching the surface. Unlocking this order and logic for students systematically leads students to become extremely informed about the inner workings of language.

One of the most important things for parents to understand is what sort of training they should expect from a highly qualified Orton-Gillingham instructor. While students may be receiving an Orton-Gillingham based program at school, they may not be making the expected progress. Helping parents to see the ways in which Orton-Gillingham is taught can help parents bring what their students are learning in school home with them to better meet the needs of their child.