If you’ve found yourself here, you have probably already asked yourself, “What strategies can I use at home to help a person with dyslexia symptoms?” One in every five students in the US has a language-based learning disability, of which dyslexia is the most common. This means that approximately 20% of the total student population in the US thinks the way a person with dyslexia does. The brain of a person with dyslexia is stimulated differently than the brain of a person that is not dyslexic. These processing differences can make teaching students with dyslexic characteristics seem like an incredibly difficult task, especially for those who have chosen to teach their kids at home. Even teachers with years of education and classroom experience can struggle to adapt lessons for these students. To further complicate matters, not all students have the needed resources to receive an official diagnosis. If you know someone who has signs of dyslexia, you can start your research by having them take an online dyslexia screening test like this one here.
Reading Horizons programs have been the solution for many parents and educators across the nation when it comes to reading instruction tailored to the unique needs of a student with dyslexia. The teacher-led and online reading instruction is modeled after the Orton-Gillingham approach, and is presented in an engaging and interesting way. Patricia Laakso has been using the Reading Horizons Elevate® program for a while now to help her grandson improve his reading. She described the program as easy-to-use, with great customer service and interesting material. This is her story:
“I have a 14-year-old grandson who is severely dyslexic and has struggled to read all his life. I found out about Reading Horizons Elevate® (RH Elevate) at the beginning of this school year and I thought it might be a good program for him to do independently on a daily basis. He is home-schooled and needs to be motivated and have success in reading and language arts. I am pleased with RH Elevate for several reasons.
One, I can get my grandson to do his lessons without him balking and complaining. He finds the program ‘good’ in his words, which is great for a boy who knows that he has dyslexia and has always struggled to just read the simplest things.
Two, my grandson is highly intelligent and is a great auditory learner who remembers and knows more about science and history than many adults. RH Elevate is interesting enough to keep his attention and keep him moving ahead in his pursuit to function in a world that requires him to read well. I look forward to his continued success with this program. Thank you for making RH Elevate available to help those of us in need. We have protected my grandson's self-esteem up to this point and we want him have all the advantages he can to be successful in life.”
-Patricia Laakso, Florida
The Reading Horizons method and instructional software focuses on the essentials of dyslexia intervention. This method incorporates the Orton-Gillingham approach, and includes five major factors:
- Personalized instruction allows students to move at their own pace. Because dyslexia can occur with varying degrees of severity and each student is different, each student will receive individualized instruction that will give them the best chance to master the necessary skills.
- Multisensory programs are designed to engage multiple parts of the brain, and include various styles of learning.
- Explicit direct instruction of phonics emphasizes the connections between letters and sounds. Since dyslexia affects the phonologic module of the brain, these letter/sound connections are particularly important.
- Sequential and structured lessons start with the most simple concepts and build to the most complex.
- Continuous feedback and positive reinforcement encourages growth, fosters motivation, and keeps things interesting for the students.
Reading Horizons programs also receive recognition from people specifically trained to help students with dyslexia. Anette Taylor is an Elementary Educator & Certified Dyslexia Practitioner from Utah. Students that need special attention have come to her for dyslexia tutoring for years and have positive things to say about the programs:
“For the last decade, I have had the opportunity to tutor students struggling with reading skills. During that time, I have used several language programs based on Orton-Gillingham principles of instruction. With most students, I chose to implement the Reading Horizons programs (Elevate & Discovery). Reading Horizons has well organized lessons that use a multi-sensory approach to reinforce the explicit sequential instruction. I believe that it implements a first-class marking system, more proficient than any other reading program I have experienced. I have found that many of my students are disheartened by what they have been told in the past will help them read better, and it has failed. They do not trust that what I have to teach them will be any different. However, after just a few months of lessons, they recognize and are excited to see a difference with the skills they are learning from Reading Horizons. The students can grasp the skills quickly, they notice how it is helping them learn to actually read, and I observe them exhibit new hope and confidence. As the students build skills to approach words for decoding and encoding, their frustration and incompetence transforms to empowerment and increased confidence. They begin to see and believe that they can become successful readers. With this renewed hope, parents often tell me about their improved behaviors at home and at school. Through gaining the skills to read, a child’s entire future changes for the better. Through the Reading Horizons program, I have seen extraordinary results in the way students progress intellectually, emotionally, and behaviorally.”
-Annette Taylor, Utah
A student need not have a dyslexia diagnosis to benefit from the Reading Horizons approach to reading instruction. Reading Horizons is positioned to help anyone who is struggling with reading, regardless of their age, life experiences, or learning abilities—even students overcoming dyslexia.
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