Whole language is a philosophy of reading and a discredited educational method originally developed for teaching literacy in English to young children. The method became a major model for education in the United States, Canada, New Zealand, and the UK in the 1980s and 1990s, despite there being no scientific support for the method's effectiveness. It is based on the premise that learning to read English comes naturally to humans, especially young children, in the same way that learning to speak develops naturally.
Phonics is a method for teaching reading and writing to beginners. To use phonics is to teach the relationship between the sounds of the spoken language (phonemes), and the letters (graphemes) or groups of letters or syllables of the written language. Phonics is also known as the alphabetic principle or the alphabetic code. It can be used with any writing system that is alphabetic, such as that of English, Russian, and most other languages. Phonics is also sometimes used as part of the process of teaching Chinese people to read and write Chinese characters, which are not alphabetic, using pinyin, which is alphabetic.
Bank Street College of Education is a private school and graduate school in New York City. It consists of a graduate-only teacher training college and an independent nursery-through-8th-grade school. In 2020 the graduate school had about 65 full-time teaching staff and approximately 850 students, of which 87% were female.
The New York State Association of Independent Schools (NYSAIS) is an association of 204 independent schools and organizations, ranging from nurseries to high schools, in New York State. Founded in 1947, NYSAIS is the second largest state association of independent schools in the United States. As of July 1, 2024 its member schools enrolled approximately 83,000 students. It was established "to protect independent schools from obstructive legislation and regulation". NYSAIS accredits member schools, provides professional development, and works with community leaders to support the needs and interests of independent schools throughout the state. NYSAIS is a member of the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) as well the International Council Advancing Independent School Accreditation (ICAISA).
Inventive spelling is the use of unconventional spellings of words.
The Gow School is a college-prep boarding and day school located in South Wales, New York, United States, a hamlet close to Buffalo. It is for students, grades 6–12, with dyslexia and similar language-based learning disabilities, such as include developmental coordination disorder, auditory processing disorder, dyscalculia, dysgraphia, and disorder of written expression. Students may also have attention or executive function difficulties. The school was founded in 1926 by educator Peter Gow, along with insight from his colleague, neurologist Dr. Samuel T. Orton.
The Orton-Gillingham approach is a multisensory phonics technique for remedial reading instruction developed in the early-20th century. It is practiced as a direct, explicit, cognitive, cumulative, and multi-sensory approach. While it is most commonly associated with teaching individuals with dyslexia, it has been used for non-dyslexic individuals learning to read, spell, and write. In the US, it is promoted by more than 15 commercial programs as well as several private schools for students with dyslexia and related learning disabilities.
Saint Francis School is a Private, Independent, not for profit, college preparatory school with no religious affiliation that has been serving students of the Metro Atlanta area since 1976. Saint Francis School is accredited by the Georgia Accrediting Commission (GAC), the Southern Association of Independent Schools (SAIS), and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). It is a member of Georgia Independent School Association (GISA) and the Atlanta Area Association of Independent Schools (AAAIS).
Fraser Academy, located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, is a private, non-profit, co-educational, non-faith, non-residential school that serves children from grades 1 to 12 with language-based learning disabilities such as dyslexia. Its teaching methods are based on those found at the Kildonan School in New York, using the Orton-Gillingham approach. Besides daily individual tutoring for language, students take the same courses as other students in the province, in which courses a multisensory approach is also used.
Greengate School for Dyslexia is a private, non-profit school located in Huntsville, Madison County, Alabama. Established in 2002, Greengate School provides a full-time elementary program for children with dyslexia in Huntsville. Starting with three students in a church, Greengate had 32 students in 2006 and 19 teachers. The school has a 4:1 student teacher ratio and is a member of the International Dyslexia Association.
Grace Maxwell Fernald was an educational psychologist and influential figure in early twentieth century literacy education. Fernald established "the first clinic for remedial instruction in 1921 at the University of California, Los Angeles". Tracing tactile learning tendencies back to Quintilian, Séguin, and Montessori, Fernald's kinesthetic spelling and reading method prompted struggling students to trace words. Years of research culminated in 1943 with her classic work, Remedial Techniques in Basic School Subjects. The popular kinesthetic method anchors modern instruction in the areas of special education and remedial reading. Kinesthetic learning is also included as one of Howard Gardner's multiple intelligences. Fernald's notion of incorporating the physical with the auditory, verbal, and visual elements of reading instruction, now known as "VAKT", multimodal learning, or multisensory imagery, continues to guide educators today.
Anna Gillingham (1878–1963) was an educator and psychologist, known for her contributions to the Orton-Gillingham method for teaching children with dyslexia how to read.
Eagle Hill School is an independently operated, private boarding school serving students in grades 8-12 with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, dyslexia, and other learning disabilities in Hardwick, Massachusetts, which was founded in 1967. Two other schools with the same name are located in Greenwich and Southport, Connecticut.
Trident Academy is a school for children with diagnosed learning differences in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina.
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of sight or touch.
Sally Burwell Childs was a language training specialist, with an emphasis on furthering the research on dyslexia and educating dyslexic students. Childs, along with several colleagues, opened an organization to help create dyslexia awareness called The Orton Society, in 1949, and she held the position as vice-president from 1959 to 1965. She published several educational books for dyslexia and was recognized for her accomplishments in 1973 with the Samuel T. Orton Award.
The Kildonan School was a private coeducational boarding and day school in Amenia, New York for students with dyslexia and language-based learning disabilities. It offered daily one-to-one Orton-Gillingham language remediation and a college preparatory curriculum for students in grades 2-12 and PG (post-graduate).
Marburn Academy is a non-profit independent day school for students in grades 1–12 school in New Albany, Ohio. The school was created in 1981 as an alternative for gifted students who have ADHD or dyslexia. The school is one of 18 accredited Orton-Gillingham schools in the United States.
Multisensory learning is the assumption that individuals learn better if they are taught using more than one sense (modality). The senses usually employed in multisensory learning are visual, auditory, kinesthetic, and tactile – VAKT. Other senses might include smell, taste and balance.
Bessie Whitmore Stillman (1871-1947) was an educator and contributor to the Orton-Gillingham teaching method for students with disabilities in reading.
