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- Is there enough solid information in my articles?
- Are there any negative effects to parent communication on children's reading success?
- What happens when I have a parent I cant communicate with?

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By Peg Rosen

At a glance

Orton-Gillingham is a teaching approach designed to help struggling readers.

Orton-Gillingham teaches the connections between sounds and letters.

It pioneered the multisensory approach to teaching reading.

Orton-Gillingham is a teaching approach that was designed to help struggling readers. It explicitly teaches the connections between letters and sounds. Many reading programs include Orton-Gillingham ideas.

Orton-Gillingham is a structured literacy approach. It introduced the idea of breaking reading and spelling down into smaller skills involving letters and sounds, and then building on these skills over time.

It also pioneered the multisensory approach to teaching reading, which is a common part of effective literacy programs. This means that instructors use sight, hearing, touch, and movement to help students connect language with letters and words. Orton-Gillingham is widely used to teach students with dyslexia.

Dive deeper

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Orton-Gillingham is a teaching approach designed to help struggling readers. Orton-Gillingham teaches the connections between sounds and letters. It pioneered the multisensory approach to teaching reading. Orton-Gillingham is a teaching approach that was designed to help struggling readers. It explicitly teaches the connections between letters and sounds. Many reading programs include Orton-Gillingham ideas.

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The Wilson Reading System (WRS) is an instructional program used to help struggling readers. It's one of several programs that uses the highly structured Orton-Gillingham approach. WRS is designed for students from second grade up to adulthood. But it's most widely used with upper elementary students, middle-schoolers and high-schoolers.

What It Focuses On

Like other programs based on Orton-Gillingham, WRS is "multisensory." It uses visual, auditory, kinesthetic and tactile senses to help kids make connections between sounds and words. But the materials may be simpler and more direct than the ones used in other programs.

For instance, WRS uses far fewer pictures than other programs. This can help students focus on decoding words without the help of visual cues. The pictures it does use are very simple and are only included in certain activities.

WRS starts with very basic skills, like matching sounds with letters. Instructors then help students recognize different syllables and teach students how to use syllables to read and spell.

"Wilson uses a unique 'sound-tapping' system. Students are taught to break down and blend word sounds by tapping out each sound with their fingers and thumb."

WRS reading materials are age-appropriate. A ninth grader who reads at a fourth-grade level, for instance, doesn't have to use materials designed for younger students. The older students get, the more advanced the vocabulary becomes. Reading passages get longer. The subject matter is also in line with the interests of older kids.

Where to Find It

WRS is widely used in both public and private schools. It can be part of response to intervention or used in special education reading classrooms.

Many private reading tutors also use it with their students. Wilson offers a training and certification program. It's a good idea to ask any tutor who says she uses this method if she is certified through Wilson to teach it. You can also contact Wilson Language Training to confirm an individual's certification. A teacher or tutor who isn't WRS-certified can still use the program. But having certification gives some assurance that she's well prepared.

Who It's For

Wilson is used to help students second grade and up and adults with dyslexia and other reading issues. A large part of the program is geared toward middle-schoolers and high-schoolers.

How It Works

Before kids start the program, a Wilson-trained instructor evaluates their skill level, strengths and weaknesses using the company's assessment tool. (The specialist won't make a diagnosis, however.)

Students are taught in small groups with others at similar skill levels. Teachers write their own lesson plans, based on specific WRS guidelines.

As part of its multisensory approach, WRS uses a unique "sound-tapping" system. Students are taught to break down and blend word sounds by tapping out each sound with their fingers and thumb.

Sessions are usually longer than with other programs based on Orton-Gillingham. They typically last 60-90 minutes. WRS instructors need more time because they must cover 10 skill areas in each class. These include things like letter-sound recognition, reading comprehension and spelling. Other programs tend to focus on one skill area per session.

Like the other programs, WRS builds skills over time in a particular order. Its curriculum is broken into 12 steps or units, which can take between two and three years to complete.

If your child is a struggling reader, it's important to know why. Having him evaluated for learning and attention issues can help you understand. That's also the only way he may be entitled to special education services at school.

It's also good to learn about other reading programs that schools use and how different approaches work. You may not be able to choose a particular program for your child at school. What matters most is that the program the school uses is based on Orton-Gillingham.

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Wilson Reading System: What You Need to Know

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The Wilson Reading System (WRS) is an instructional program used to help struggling readers. It's one of several programs that uses the highly structured Orton-Gillingham approach. WRS is designed for students from second grade up to adulthood. But it's most widely used with upper elementary students, middle-schoolers and high-schoolers.

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https://www.state.nj.us/education/aps/cccs/lal/

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parental involvement in children's reading (routledge library editions: literacy) (volume 22)

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educational: english language: reading & writing skills

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educational: first/native language: reading & writing skills

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Parental Involvement in Children's Reading (Routledge Library Editions: Literacy) (Volume 22)

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Parental involvement in children's education is a subject of growing interest and recent legislation in both the UK and USA has given formal recognition of parents' rights. Learning to read is an obvious area where parents can do a great deal to help, and some schools have had programmes for pare...

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As we know, a child's first and most influential teacher is his/her parents. Parents are with the child during the most important formative years, and children learn from all of their family experiences socially, emotionally, and educationally. In fact, a child's ideas about education and its significance begins with the parents' ideals and modeling. Considering these points, it is so important that teachers and parents join forces with the child to help the child grow to his/her full potential.

Parents and Teachers Unite

Should Parents Teach Kids to Read?

According to literacy expert Timothy Shanahan, the answer is that it doesn't hurt. If you have young children at home, I would not advise a laborious daily reading lesson, but rather, make reading together a comfortable experience where you as a parent seize the teachable moments. This associates reading with the pleasure kids feel cuddling up with a parent. If a child is curious about words, modeling word meanings through conversations gives the child background for how a word is used, context, etc. If the child is curious what a word says, simply telling the word is okay, but even better is demonstrating how the sounds come together to form the word. Finally, as you read, pausing for discussion about the plot, ideas, pictures, or other text elements builds verbal skills as well as comprehension.

One of the best way to encourage reading during the holidays is to keep books in mind for gifts. My friend Emily at The Literacy Nest is doing 25 Books for Christmas. Now that may or may not work into your budget (but you can't go wrong with $1.00 books from Scholastic or my favorite store, Ollie's). Regardless of the number you choose, this is a great way to build a child's library.

How Can Parents Help When Time is Short?

Life is so busy for everyone, and when a choice has to be made on how time is spent, parents must choose meeting basic needs first. Where parents can work in educational activities, it is greatly appreciated and beneficial to the child. How do you get the time? Well, the best place to find the time is whenever you have to wait on something...at the doctor's office, at a restaurant, during car repairs, or even as you travel to and from places on errands. We call these times "reading emergencies" because kids are usually driving their parents crazy, and parents are on edge waiting too. If you are prepared for these "reading emergencies", then the time is used positively. If you stash things like letter or sightword cards and a few books in a bag to take with you, then you will always be prepared.

What Can Parents Do Other Than Read With Their Children?

One of the best things parents can do from birth is talk to them. Conversations about the environment, interesting observations of insects, community workers, procedures at restaurants, birds, or things like how mail is delivered builds the students' schema or memory for a topic which is important when new information is learned. Conversation also builds word knowledge and vocabulary. Never talk down to children. Instead, work into conversation words like sluggish or exhausted with context so that kids learn what the words mean and how they are used. Finally, conversations deepen understanding about material that is read. If you read a book to your child, talking about it during and after reading helps your child visualize the story and learn from the reading.

In addition to oral conversations, I highly recommend writing with your child in many forms. Keeping a dialogue journal where you can write notes back and forth to each other is lots of fun. For reading, journals can be very helpful for use after reading to record the big ideas from the text, and what would your family members say to a handwritten letter or card? Of course they'd love it, right? If you have a tech savvy kid, you might incorporate technology with MS Word or Google Docs to let your child type about their reading, a note to a friend, or maybe even birthday cards. If you are really techie, you might even consider a private blog about the books you read together.

What If I Show My Child the "Wrong" Way to Solve the Problem?

Chances are you have probably already heard the dreaded "But that's not the way my teacher does it!" We all hear that (even teachers). The thing to keep in mind any time these words are spoken is, "Learning to do things in new and different ways is a great things because it helps you check your work and gives you a back up plan if you get stuck!" Imagine what it would be like to have chicken cooked only in ONE way. That would be boring, right? So, if this comes up, carry on and send in a note to let your child's teacher know. The classroom teacher may have a handout that he/she could share with you on how the child is learning at school. (This is especially true for math where we WANT kids to learn to think of new problem solving methods.).

With reading and other content areas, you might visit during your school's parental involvement nights to see how teachers model skills for their students. I know from the workshops I've conducted for parents, that this is the most beneficial part of the workshops. Parent like to see our teaching methods in action.

Where Can I Find Resources to Help Me at Home?

I created the poster to the left a while back, and it's been very well received. In fact, someone picked up the original tweet of a post I'd included it in, and it just went crazy. In it, you'll see a variety of ways you can help at school and how teachers can involve you in their classroom routines. I'd recommend printing a copy for at home and posting it on the side of your refrigerator just as a reminder. Teachers might share it outside the classroom door or place it in a prominent place as a reminder of how each parent can be involved.

Another resource I designed is this brochure. I created it for use with a parental involvement workshop I presented. It includes the reading stages of development, a list of what to expect at each stage and ideas of how parents can work on grade level skills. It includes stages from emergent to instructional, so parents can use it for children of all ages. It is free for the next week, and I hope you can use it.

Finally, [these handouts] by Primary Punch are just fantastic. There is a handout for every teaching point in literacy. I just love them. Included in the list are fluency strategies, choosing just right books, ten ways to build vocabulary, educational apps, decoding strategies, and more.

Final Thoughts

These five parental involvement tips are more than that, but they are only the beginning. There are so many ways parents can help their kids at home. These tips are aimed at academic needs, but we know that without meeting a child's emotional needs or physical needs, the child can't be as receptive to the academics. We need the total package, and we teachers can not do our jobs to the extent needed alone. We have to work as a team, and if we do, we can promote long-term school success.

Parental Involvement Apps to Keep You Connected

This Thursday, over on the Classtag Blog, I am contributing to a post on parental involvement, but before writing up my piece, I took time to look over this exciting app option that many schools are using. It is intended to help connect with and communicate with parents. It is free, secure, and user friendly. I am very excited about trying it out, and the feedback I read was very positive. To learn more, [CLICK HERE].

Other Parental Involvement Posts You Might Like:

Pin for Later:

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Five Things Parents Can Do to Support Literacy Learning at Home

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As we know, a child's first and most influential teacher is his/her parents. Parents are with the child during the most important formative years, and children learn from all of their family experiences socially, emotionally, and educationally. In fact, a child's ideas about education and its significance begins with the parents' ideals and modeling.

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Many research studies support what teachers instinctively know: Students do better academically and socially when schools build positive relationships with their families.

Here are several studies that explore the critical school-home connection:

Parent involvement in education is crucial. No matter their income or background, students with involved parents are more likely to have higher grades and test scores, attend school regularly, have better social skills, show improved behavior, and adapt well to school.
National Coalition for Parent Involvement in education. 2006. Research Review and Resources. Retrieved September 16, 2011, from www.ncpie.org/WhatsHappening/researchJanuary2006.cfm.

Regardless of family income or background, students whose parents are involved in their schooling are more likely to have higher grades and test scores, attend school regularly, have better social skills, show improved behavior, and adapt well to school.
Henderson, A.T., and K.L. Mapp. 2002. A New Wave of Evidence: The Impact of School, Family, and Community Connections on Student Achievement. National Center for Family and Community Connections with Schools, Southwest Educational Development Laboratory.

The most accurate predictors of student achievement in school are not family income or social status, but the extent to which the family creates a home environment that encourages learning, communicates high yet reasonable expectations for the child's achievement, and becomes involved in the child's education at school.
National PTA. 2000. Building Successful Partnerships: A Guide for Developing Parent and Family Involvement Programs. Bloomington, Indiana: National Education Service, 11-12.

When parents are involved at school, the performance of all the children at school, not just their own, tends to improve. The more comprehensive and well planned the partnership between school and home, the higher the student achievement.
Henderson, A.T., and Nancy Berla. 1995. A New Generation of Evidence: The Family Is Critical to Student Achievement. Washington, DC: Center for Law and Education, 14-16.

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What Research Says About Parent Involvement | Responsive Classroom

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Many research studies support what teachers instinctively know: Students do better academically and socially when schools build positive relationships with their families. Here are several studies that explore the critical school-home connection: Parent involvement in education is crucial.

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- Newsletters
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http://www.teachhub.com/parent-teacher-communication-tips

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The Foundations of Teaching for Learning programme is designed for teachers and educators of all abilities and backgrounds; from those who are new to the classroom and looking for development, to experienced teachers ready to reboot their skills for modern education. With dynamic lessons taught by established and respected professionals from across the Commonwealth, this eight course programme will see you develop and strengthen your skills in teaching, professionalism, assessment, and more. As you carry on through the programme, you will find yourself strengthening not only your professional skills, but your connection with colleagues across the globe. A professional development opportunity not to be missed. Positive relationships with students supports children's learning. Positive relationships with colleagues and school leaders helps school improvement. This course helps teachers develop strong relationships with families and colleagues. Enhance your course by joining the Commonwealth teaching community on our website, Facebook and Twitter.

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The connection between parent involvement and student success - The importance of parent involvement for student success | Coursera

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The Foundations of Teaching for Learning programme is designed for teachers and educators of all abilities and backgrounds; from those who are new to the classroom and looking for development, to experienced teachers ready to reboot their skills for modern education.