Classroom Educator level is meant for people working in schools as classroom teachers, reading specialists, resource teachers, special Education teachers and others who work in group settings. This level of certification requires at least 30 hours of training and 50 hours of practicum experience over an 8 month period or longer. A minimum of five video observations of your teaching OG lessons will be conducted. There is a required reading component to this level of certification. Associates level is meant for either those in classrooms or educational therapists and tutors who do one-to-one tutoring. This level requires at least 60 hours of training and 100 hours of practicum experience. The practicum can be completed with all 1:1 lessons, or 50 hours of group lessons and 50 hours of 1:1 lessons, all using OG lesson plans. A minimum of 10 videoed observations will be completed during that time. There is a required reading component to this level of certification. More information on each of these levels of certification is on the Orton-Gillingham Academy website (https://www.ortonacademy.org/) under certification.

The Orton-Gillingham approach to teaching literacy skills is the grandfather of all programs and approaches currently known as structured literacy. It was developed around the middle of the 20th century by a neurologist and a psychologist, working with several educators. The principles of OG, including that it is structured, sequential, multisensory and diagnostic/prescriptive are still relevant today. Current studies support this approach as it teaches to the way the brain learns to read. The Orton-Gillingham approach to teaching literacy skills is appropriate for all students, but is critical for students struggling with decoding and encoding skills, including students with dyslexia. It has been shown to be very effective also with English Language Learners, as the approach helps them understand the structure of the English language in an organized and sequential manner.

Look at the fact sheets available from International Dyslexia Association. These are 2 – 4 page informational sheets, covering a wide range of subjects. You can access them by going to this website: https://dyslexiaida.org/fact-sheets/. Additionally, a good website for parents and teachers of students with learning disabilities is https://www.understood.org/

Submit your name via the contact page (javascript:void(0))and Nancy will email you as training is scheduled.

A practicum is required for certification by Orton-Gillingham Academy, and is also the best way to incorporate Orton-Gillingham lessons into your unique situation. The requirements are two-fold: one involves a certain number of hours of teaching OG lessons in your own educational setting with a set number of videoed observations done by Nancy and the other involves a reading requirement. Since observations are done via video, there is no need to live in California. During a practicum, you commit to teaching OG lessons to your class, group, or individual. Once you have completed 5 lessons or so, you may start sending observation lessons. Each observation consists of your sending Nancy a videoed lesson, the completed Lesson Plan, and the student work. Feedback is both written and through a live Zoom session. Nancy charges $150 per observation, for a total of $750 for Classroom Educator and $1,500 for Associates level. Once completed, you can apply to OG Academy for certification.

has over 125 Orton-Gillingahm lessons, beginning with teaching short vowels and ending with lessons on Greek Combining forms. For each lesson, there are accompanying word lists and sentences for reading and spelling, along with 2 pages of activities. Patterns for Success also has card decks for phonograms, suffixes, prefixes, Latin roots and Greek combining forms. The lessons are not as detailed as those expected by Orton Gillingham Academy, but are a good accompaniment for teachers trained in correct Orton-Gillingham procedures.