Our Services
Intake Evaluation
Our Diagnostic Intake Evaluation is designed to enable us to commence our first lesson immediately. It allows us to determine the student’s reading level, orthographic processing ability, knowledge of basic spelling patterns and rules, phonological awareness, alphabet knowledge, and penmanship.
Our Diagnostic Intake Evaluation is followed up with a verbal report.
Although we are trained to deliver these diagnostic probes by an Educational Psychologist, we are not qualified to make a diagnosis of a learning disability. However, we can assist you in the decision to pursue further testing by a qualified Educational Psychologist. Having an LD diagnosis by a psychologist allows for you to claim our fees on the medical portion of your income tax.
We charge $125 for our in-take intake evaluation and $90.00 for a written report if requested.
Orton-Gillingham Program
Our Orton-Gillingham program is:
- a specific methodology and approach to learning
- presented and taught using the four main learning pathways: visual (by seeing), auditory ( by hearing and speaking), tactile (by touching) and kinesthetic (movement).
- Direct teaching of phonics (sound/symbol relationships) and spelling rules & generalizations
- individualized and based on the unique needs and abilities of each individual student
- sequential, cumulative and phonetically controlled; concepts are taught in a specific order of presentation in order to build confidence and self-esteem
- a one-on-one tutoring session that introduces, teaches, reinforces and helps the student over-learn the sound-symbol relationships, spelling rules and syllabication strategies used to encode and decode English. The strategy is complex to implement, but simple for the student to understand and be led through by our Orton-Gillingham practitioners. It builds one block on top of the other to reinforce reading and writing skills, cementing lasting change.
- fosters confidence in our students. They experience success in both reading and writing from the very beginning, at their own pace, learning through the sensory pathways. Our step-by-step tutoring approach allows for an experience that is individualized to each student’s needs.
We recommend:
- Minimum twice weekly sessions for optimal results for children in the Orton-Gillingham program
Math
We offer individualized multi-sensory 1:1 math instruction. We can structure the lesson to best suit your child’s learning needs. Many students struggle with the language component of learning mathematics. Our intake evaluation can identify language based struggles students may have in math. Focus on math foundations or homework support can all be incorporated into each student’s plan.
We also offer specialized Orton-Gillingham math tutoring.
Assisted Technology & Keyboarding
Direct instruction is necessary to adequately master keyboarding skills. We use a multisensory approach to teach keyboarding that is fun and effective.
One on one individual keyboarding sessions can be incorporated into a student’s daily lesson if they are enrolled in one of our programs.
Huge changes in remediation of language based learning differences lie in Assistive Technology such as the use of word processors, iPads, software, and the new and innovative products emerging every day. Our stations are all equipped with iPads for tutor/student use.
Orton-Gillingham Practitioners at Stepping 4words Learning Center research and collaborate with businesses, educators, and work hands-on with their students, to stay apprised of this rapidly emerging and ever-changing technology.