What Is the Orton-Gillingham Language Approach?

On July 7th, Louise Freese, Director of the Garside Institute for Teacher Training (GIFTT), discussed the characteristics of the Orton-Gillingham approach which permeates the entire Carroll School curriculum. Louise presented this information to the parents of children who are attending the Summer@Carroll 5-week academic program.

Louise began her presentation with a fundamental discussion about phonemic awareness. “Phonemic awareness is the ability to notice, think about, and work with the individual sounds in spoken words. Before children learn to read print, they need to become aware of how sounds in words work. They must understand that words are made up of speech sounds, or phonemes.”                         Put Reading First, 2003

Louise continued by reviewing the principal components of Orton-Gillingham which include instruction in phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension of the English language.

To learn more, click here to read the full presentation.