What if Orton-Gillingham didn’t work?Did You Try Phonics (even an Orton-Gillingham based program) but Your Child Is Still Struggling with Reading?
Is your middle school aged child being taken out of class to work on reading but they are still working on phonics and the types of things 1st graders are working on year after year?
Or do you home school and you choose a phonics-based reading program for your child, probably an Orton-Gillingham-based program, because you wanted them to become a confident, fluent reader—but they are still struggling to read with confidence?
If so, you may be making a very understandable mistake: assuming that sounding out a word one individual sound at a time is the foundation for how all reading works.
And if your child has dyslexia, you may have been told again and again that they simply need more phonics practice.
You may have also been told that you have to have an orton-Gillingham approach with a trained teacher that has experience and will do the program exactly as it is supposed to be used (with fidelity).
Orton-Gillingham is the most well researched and prevalent way to teach children with dyslexia. It is explicit, systematic, cumulative and multi-sensory and it is based on phonics. Research shows it is much more effective than the whole language approach.
It is a huge blessing to people who are struggling to become good readers. A good Orton-Gillingham program will include all of the 5 essential components of reading that the national reading panel identified in 2002. These components are phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension. So you were right to be working on phonics with an Orton-Gillingham based program.
Ideally all of the 5 elements would be working simultaneously from the beginning. So that even at the beginning while working on phonemic awareness and phonics you are already working on vocabulary and comprehension.
But sometimes people get stuck at the phonics level.
That is why I ask - has your child has been working on phonics for years and is still struggling?
Can they sound out short words but get stuck on longer words?
Are they still reading one-syllable words in 7th grade?
Do they know their phonics rules but the words they encounter in middle school seem to ignore those rules?
Are they becoming so frustrated or bored that they no longer want to read?
There is another way to approach this problem.
Instead of looking at words one letter and one sound at a time, your child may need to learn to zoom out and see the whole word.
In this post, I'll show you what I mean, why this matters, and how looking at words as meaningful families and parts can help your child become a stronger, more fluent reader.
Ready? Let's jump in.
When Phonics - learning sounds, remembering sounds- saying the sounds fast enough - Becomes the Place Your Child Gets Stuck
For many children with dyslexia, phonemic awareness—the ability to hear and manipulate the individual sounds in words—is one of their biggest areas of weakness.
A second common weakness for children with dyslexia is rapid naming - which simply means that they need some time to process language and come up with the word - or the sound they need.
If your child has a weakness in one or both of these areas they will struggle with reading. Phonics and phonemic awareness are the areas they will struggle with the most.
If hearing and manipulating individual sounds is particularly difficult for your child, why would we make that skill the primary gateway to everything else?
Yes, your child needs to develop phonemic awareness and phonics knowledge. But it does not necessarily need to be the thing that has to be mastered completely before anything else can happen.
There are several reasons it is a problem to stay stuck on the phonics level.
One reason is that it is demeaning and embarrassing to a child to stay stuck while the rest of the class moves on.
Sometimes I have students come to me in 7th grade who are still working on phonics and reading one-syllable words.
Think about what that must feel like.
Their intellect is far beyond the material they are being asked to practice.
They may be sitting with worksheets designed for beginning readers, sounding out simple words over and over again.
Some students are trying so hard and reading is exhausting. Or they may have become so discouraged that they pretend they don't care.
If reading feels boring, frustrating, and embarrassing, it's pretty hard to develop a love of reading.
But I have seen students who were stuck reading simple words make surprisingly quick progress when we stopped insisting that every word had to be attacked by sounding out every individual sound.
When we started looking at longer words differently, some of these students discovered that they could read words they had assumed were far beyond their ability.
I've had students read three-, four-, and five-syllable words after being stuck on one-syllable words for years. And when they do, they are often amaze themselves!
Their confidence begins to grow.
Suddenly, the child who thought, I can't read is thinking, Wait... I can read that!
Another problem may be that your child needs more individualized attention.
Maybe your child is in a small reading group. There are only six or seven students, and the teacher is using a scientifically researched curriculum.
That sounds like it should be good. Small group instruction with a teacher that knows a good curriculum…
The thing is that if your child is one that needs more time to process language he or she might still be slower than this small group.
The teacher is using the program with fidelity but before your child has really grasped the concepts or practiced enough to make it automatic the group has moved on.
Also these programs are often heavy in things that must be memorized by rote memory. If your child struggles with rote memory that may be a problem.
This is one of the reasons I think 1:1 tutoring is the best for anyone with dyslexia.
With 1:1 tutoring your child can get individual attention and can move at a pace that is good for them.
And a final problem that must be acknowledged is that even if your child knows all the phonics rules - longer words may not play by those rules.
This can be especially frustrating for parents of older students.
Your child may have learned phonics well in the early grades. They may know the rules.
They may dutifully try to apply alll the phonics rules but...
Then they encounter a word like excavate.
Or another long, unfamiliar word.
Suddenly, the strategy of going letter by letter doesn't seem to work very well.
What has happened to that first <a> in the word? Why does it sound like a short <u>?
And that's because words aren't simply collections of individual sounds. In English the way we accent different syllables affects the way we pronounce the sounds. The accent can change when we add more syllables.
The English language is written for English speakers. Sometimes there are multiple ways a word could be pronounced and if you do not already know the word you might not know which way to pronounce it.
But we need to teach children that-
Words carry meaning. Words have structure. Words have families.
When we teach children to notice those things, we give them another way to approach unfamiliar words.
And that's where I want to take you next.
Phonics is looking through a microscope at each individual letter or group of letters in the word. It also usually assumes a sound first approach to reading.
What if we zoomed out instead and looked at the word as a whole?
Sometimes students are focusing on one letter at a time. They believe that if they say each letter sound it will make a word. They believe this because it is what they have been taught. And this is usually true if the word is 5 letters or less.
But I think this is missing the forest for the trees.
Sometimes that's what happens when a child is taught to approach every word by focusing on one letter and one sound at a time.
We need to help them zoom out.
Instead of asking only, What sound does this letter make?, we can begin asking:
What is this word made of?
What parts do I recognize?
Are there prefixes and suffixes or is this a simple base word?
What happened to the spelling when suffixes were added?
Does this word belong to a family of words I already know?
This approach is called Structured Word Inquiry (SWI), and I have been increasingly incorporating these ideas into my teaching.
It doesn't replace phonics.
It builds on it.
Here are three ways we can begin to look at words differently.
1. Teach Children to See the Whole Word
Many struggling readers become intensely focused on individual letters.
They think:
"If I say each letter sound, eventually those sounds will make a word."
And that works most of the time with short words.
But what happens when words get longer?
Even if the word makes all the expected sounds the child can become overwhelmed by all those individual pieces and have a hard time blending them into words.
Instead, we can teach children that words are made up of meaningful parts.
Every word either is a base word or contains a base. We often add prefixes and suffixes to those bases.
For example:
act → acting → react → action
The base <act> stays the same in all of these words.
And something fascinating happens when we add <-ion>:
act + ion → action
The t in act is now pronounced differently. Instead of /t/, it sounds like /sh/.
Did you notice?
This isn't a random exception that children simply have to memorize.
It is something that happens consistently when a word ending in <t> takes the suffix <-ion>.
That's an important shift in thinking.
Instead of saying, "This word doesn't follow the rules!", we can investigate what is happening inside the word.
We can become word detectives.
We can learn that certain suffixes change the sounds of letters when they are added to a word and this is consistent and predictable.
And that makes reading much more interesting.
2. Teach the Three Suffixing Spelling Rules: Dropping, Doubling, and Changing
English spelling can seem incredibly complicated.
Some people have good visual memory for spelling and just judge whether they have spelled something right by looking at it and seeing if it looks right.
But many people that are not good at that will try to memorize each individual letter in every word on the spelling test. That is way too much overload for the memory. Even if they can remember it for the test you know they won’t remember it the next week!
But there are three important suffixing rules that give children a powerful way to understand many spelling changes: dropping, doubling, and changing.
The dropping rule tells us that when we add a suffix beginning with a vowel to a word ending in silent e, we generally drop the e.
The doubling rule tells us that when we add a suffix beginning with a vowel to a word ending in one vowel followed by one consonant, we double that consonant.
The changing rule tells us that when a word ends in y, the y often changes to i when a suffix is added—unless the y is part of a vowel team or the suffix begins with an i.
As the child learns these 3 rules with lots of examples and learn to make word sums they begin to notice that words like puppies are actually
pup(p)+y/i+es→ puppies.
They will be taught that the <i> in puppies was a <y> that was changed to an <i> because of the change rule and there are 2 <p>’s because of the doubling rule.
The ie in puppies is not a vowel team it is actually suffix <y> that has been changed to <i> with suffix <-es> added.
They will understand the structure of the word rather than just memorizing a string of letters. They will learn how words really work. They will become word noticers.
It isn’t random there are rules that actually are rules - that are consistent and don’t have exceptions. And those rules explain the spelling of many words.
Words will become more interesting to them as they realize that “crazy” means “having or with craze”- The <y> means “having or with” and the base word is “craze” - there is no <e> because of the dropping rule. Children love to increase their vocabulary with words like “craze”!
3. Teach Children That Words Come in Families
This may be one of the most exciting parts of learning about words.
Words have families.
Take the base pup.
Its family includes:
pup, pups, puppy, puppies, puppyish, puppyishness
Or take act:
act, acts, acted, acting, action, react, reaction, overreact
Or consider cave:
cave, caving, cavity, excavate...
Now we can look at a word like excavate in a completely different way.
Instead of seeing it as a long scary string of letters and trying to sound out every piece, we can analyze it:
ex + cave + ate → excavate
The word contains the base cave. We know why there isn't an <e> because we have learned the dropping rule.
The prefix <ex-> means "out of."
The base <cave> refers to a hollow place.
And suddenly excavate isn't just a giant word that your child has to somehow memorize.
It has meaning.
It has structure.
It has a story.
They will understand that the reason they do not see an <e> is because of the dropping rule.
We must also begin learning about accented and unaccented syllables.
In a multisyllable word, one syllable is usually more emphasized than the others. An unaccented syllable often contains a "lazy" vowel sound.
In “excavate”, the syllable containing the base is not accented like it is when <cave> stands alone. That explains why the <a> doesn't sound the way it sounded in the word “cave” where it was accented.
Now the child has another piece of information to help them make sense of the word.
And here's the really exciting part:
The more word families your child understands, the more vocabulary connections they can make.
I myself love this feature. Just the other day I was listening to a podcast and someone used a word that I had never heard before. But because I knew the base word and several other words in the family I was able to figure out what the word meant immediately.
Your child will begin seeing relationships within words that may have been invisible before.
Learning Word parts like Bases, Prefixes and Suffixes as units helps memory.
Here is what I mean:
Suppose you have a phone number you need to memorize.
If the last four digits are 1941, you probably wouldn't repeat:
"One, nine, four, one. One, nine, four, one." over and over again until it was memorized.
Instead you might group them:
19-41
Now there are two chunks instead of four individual numbers.
And if you know that 1941 is the year Pearl Harbor was bombed, you've created another memory hook. This would help you not only remember the phone # but also a historical date as well.
That same principle can help with words.
Instead of trying to remember every individual letter in a long word, we can remember its meaningful parts.
For example:
excavations → ex + cave + ate + ion + s
Once children become familiar with common prefixes and suffixes and learn the suffixing spelling rules, they have more information available to them than simply the sounds.
This is especially important because English spelling represents meaning as well as sounds. In fact meaning is the foundation of English spelling - not sounds.
Think about the word misspell.
You can't explain why there are two s's simply by listening to the sounds at all - you would just have to memorize it..
But if you understand the structure:
mis + spell
you can see that one s belongs to the prefix <mis-> and the other belongs to the beginning of the base <spell>. You also know what the word means because you have learned that <mis-> means wrong.
That's a completely different way to think about spelling. And everything that helps your spelling will also help you read better too.
This Is What We Do in My Zoom Room
This is one of the things I love about working with students at Defeating Dyslexia with Darci.
We start noticing words.
We become curious about them.
Sometimes, especially with younger students, I don't expect them to be able to read a word independently yet. I simply tell them what the word says.
Then we examine and analyze it together.
We figure out what the letters are doing.
We describe what the letters are doing rather than simply prescribing what the letters should do and telling the child to sound it out.
We learn that words come in families.
We learn what happens when prefixes and suffixes are added.
We learn the three suffixing spelling rules.
We become detectives looking for dropped e's, changed y's, doubled consonants, prefixes, suffixes, and meaningful bases.
And then we use those words.
We read sentences.
We read stories containing the same words.
We play games with them.
We practice our handwriting.
We don't necessarily do every part of this process in one session. But we usually try to end with a game that gives the student another chance to read the words we've been studying.
The goal isn't to make reading more complicated.
The goal is to give your child's brain more information to work with. More hooks for their memory to hang on to. More chances for success with longer words.
But Isn't This Too Hard for a Younger Child?
You might be wondering whether this approach is too advanced for a first grader who doesn't even remember all of their letter names and sounds.
No- It is not too hard. In fact it will make reading easier.
We choose words to analyze that the child knows and uses such as play.
I don't need to expect the child to already know how to read it.
I can tell them:
"This word says play."
Then we can investigate it together.
Which letters are making which sounds?
What other words belong to the play family?
play, playing, played, playground
We can talk about how the parts work together.
We can spell the word aloud in a way that shows that we understand <ay> is working together as a unit.
And we can practice writing it neatly.
We're still teaching letter names and sounds.
We're still building phonics knowledge.
But we're doing it inside meaningful words.
The child's knowledge grows through repeated experiences with real words rather than relying entirely on isolated drills and flashcards.
And as the child encounters more words, they become more and more of a word noticer.
We want our children to be “word noticers” and be able to predict accurately what words will do. We want them to be interested and to understand words- what they mean and why they are spelled the way they are.
A Personal Note: Why I Am So Excited About This Approach
I first heard about these ideas years ago at an International Dyslexia Association convention.
Pete Bowers was the speaker, and I remember being amazed by so many of the things he said.
That's unusual.
Many times, you don't remember what a speaker said two hours later.
But I remembered these ideas for about 15 years.
This year, I finally took classes from Pete Bowers and from other people who also teach Structured Word Inquiry (SWI). I've been immersing myself in this approach and enjoying bringing it into my teaching.
As a Certified Academic Language Therapist, I know how important systematic, explicit, multisensory phonics instruction is.
I am not abandoning that.
Instead, I'm adding another way to understand words.
I've seen students who are bored by traditional instruction and therefore have difficulty remembering what they've been taught.
I've seen students who struggle with longer words.
I've seen students who try to spell long words by sounding them out, only to discover that the sounds don't give them enough information to figure out the spelling.
The more I learn about Structured Word Inquiry, the more I see how valuable it can be for these students.
And one of the things I love most is that words become interesting.
When something is interesting, it is easier to remember.
When a child understands that excavate contains cave, that connection can make the word—with its meaning and spelling—stick.
What Could Change for Your Child?
Imagine your child becoming less dependent on guessing when they encounter a long, unfamiliar word.
Imagine them looking at a word and thinking:
"I recognize that base."
"I know that suffix."
"I know what happened when that suffix was added."
"I know why that spelling looks like that."
That's a very different experience from:
"I have no idea. I can't read this. I am afraid of long words.”
As your child develops this knowledge, you may see improvements in several areas:
Spelling will improve because words begin to make more sense structurally.
Comprehension will improve because children begin to understand relationships among words and their meanings and the meanings of the word parts.
Reading longer words will become easier because children aren't relying only on individual sounds.
Fluency can improve over time as recognizing and understanding word structures becomes more automatic.
Guessing will decrease as children develop better ways to analyze unfamiliar words.
Reading enjoyment can increase as reading becomes less frustrating and more interesting.
Confidence will grow as children experience success with words they once thought were impossible.
And that last one matters so much.
Because when a child starts believing, "Maybe I can do this," everything about their approach to reading can begin to change.
So, Should You Stop Teaching Phonics?
No.
If you've invested time in phonics or an Orton-Gillingham-based program, I don't want you to walk away thinking you've made a mistake.
You haven't.
Phonics is essential.
The mistake is thinking that reading has to begin and stay at the level of individual sounds forever—or that a child has to completely master one narrow set of skills before we can help them understand words in richer and more meaningful ways.
Your child may need phonics and more.
They may need to understand how sounds work within words while also learning about meaningful word parts, word families, prefixes, suffixes, spelling changes, syllables, accents, and the relationships among words.
Sometimes the answer isn't to keep pushing harder on the same strategy.
Sometimes the answer is to zoom out and look at the word differently.
Your Child Is More Than a Struggling Reader
If your child has been struggling with reading for years, it can be easy for them to start seeing themselves as "the kid who can't read."
Maybe they've been given worksheet after worksheet.
Maybe they've been placed in reading groups year after year.
Maybe they know phonics rules but still freeze when they see a long word.
Maybe they've stopped caring because caring hurts too much.
But your child's reading difficulty does not tell you the limits of their intelligence.
They may simply need a different way to understand what they're seeing on the page.
When we stop treating words as random strings of letters and begin noticing their structure and meaning, reading can become more interesting.
It can become more logical.
And, over time, it can become more fluent.
That's what we want—not simply a child who can struggle through a list of words, but a child who can approach reading with greater confidence and, eventually, enjoyment.
Ready to Help Your Child Look at Words Differently?
If your child has been working on phonics or even an Orton-Gillingham-based program but still isn't reading well, I'd love to help you.
My 1:1 online reading tutoring offers help for children like yours. Whether you are just starting out on your reading journey or you have been struggling for many years you can find success in my zoom room.
We'll meet online and talk about your child's reading, where they are struggling, and whether online tutoring with me at Defeating Dyslexia with Darci could be the right choice for your family.
Your child may not need to work harder at the same thing.
They may need someone to help them see the words differently.
Let's talk about what that could look like for your child.
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