"Early intervention is highly desirable, but it is never too late to begin!"
Rachel Cheah – Language Therapist Rachel holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Communication Studies from Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand. While residing in Singapore, she learnt the Orton-Gillingham method under Ron Yashimoto. Rachel’s personal goal is not only for every child to be able to read and write but that they find pleasure in reading and writing.
Orton-Gillingham by Rachel Cheah
The Orton-Gillingham method that Rachel employs is language-based, multisensory, structured, sequential, cumulative, cognitive, and flexible. The basic purpose is for each student to become a competent reader & writer and an independent learner.
The approach is:
PERSONALIZED
Teaching begins with recognizing that every child is different and that they have different learning needs. Lessons are strictly on a one-to-one basis.
MULTISENSORY
It uses all the learning pathways: seeing, hearing, feeling, and awareness of motion, brought together by the thinking brain, in order to convey curricular content in the most understandable way to the student.
DIAGNOSTIC AND PRESCRIPTIVE
An Orton-Gillingham lesson is both diagnostic and prescriptive. It is diagnostic in the sense that the instructor continuously monitors the verbal, non-verbal, and written responses of the student in order to identify and analyze both the student’s problems and progress. This information is the basis of planning the next lesson. That lesson is prescriptive in the sense that will contain instructional elements that focus upon the resolution of the student’s difficulties.
SYSTEMATIC AND STRUCTURED
It uses systematic phonics, stressing the alphabetic principle in the initial stages of reading development. It takes advantage of the sound/symbol relationships inherent in the alphabetic system of writing. Spoken words are made up of individual speech sounds, and the letters of written words graphically represent those speech sounds. Curricular content unfolds in linguistically logical ways which facilitates student learning and progress.
SEQUENTIAL, INCREMENTAL, AND CUMULATIVE
Step by step learners move from the simple, well-learned material to that which is more and more complex. They move from one step to the next as they master each level of language skills.
POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT
The approach provides for a close teacher-student relationship that builds self-confidence based on success. Confidence is gained as they gain in their ability to apply newly gained knowledge on how to develop their skills with reading, spelling, and writing.