Unlike learning to speak, reading is a learned skill. It begins with the ability to distinguish the sounds that make up spoken words, then later the brain must learn to associate the written letters with sounds.

According to cognitive scientist Stanislas Dehaene, author of Reading and the Brain, when a child learns to read, the brain essentially creates an “interface between your vision system in your brain and your spoken language system.”

Although some children make those connections without much help, most kids need explicit instruction in phonemic awareness and phonics as it relates to both reading and spelling to learn the relationship between spoken language sounds and written letters and words. Research shows that up to 60% of the population requires explicit, systematic, and sequential instruction that targets the key areas of reading development.

While some students come to us with a Specific Learning Difference in reading (also known as dyslexia), many other students simply need additional direct instruction not provided in school in order to become proficient readers.

When provided the "keys to the code," a reader's accuracy improves and comprehension expands. Providing a positive and direct approach to reading reduces the resistance to reading. When students do not feel successful in reading they frequently find reading “hard or boring.” Poor reading can also lead to weaker comprehension, vocabulary, and writing skills, as well as decreased self-esteem and confidence.

At Engage the Brain we use approaches such as Orton-Gillingham and Lindamood-Bell Learning Processes to provide personalized, explicit, emotionally-sound and multisensory instruction that meets them where they are and helps them move forward at their own pace. Students identified with dyslexia, a language-based learning disability in reading, are best serviced with these approaches.

Our reading support services help students build the following skills:

• Decoding
• Fluency
• Spelling (Encoding)
• Phonics
• Phonemic Awareness
• Accuracy
• Letter/Sound Associations
• Patterns