Foundational Skills by Year

Educators always strive to empower their students with the skills necessary for a lifetime of learning and communication. The task becomes all the more challenging when faced with the diversity of each student’s needs in the classroom.

In the dynamic landscape of education, catering to the diverse needs of students is a challenge educators face daily. The quest for effective literacy instruction that reaches every student, regardless of their learning level, is a journey that demands continuous…

Robin Zikmund is making an impact on dyslexia legislation in Idaho and is now pushing for IMSE to be recognized at the state level.

National Read Across America Day occurs each year on the birthday of beloved children’s book author Dr. Seuss, so put on a Seussian hat and join students, parents, teachers, and communities around the nation today and share your love of…

Structured Literacy™ is a term created by the International Dyslexia Association in 2016 to help unify the names of the researched approaches to reading, including Orton-Gillingham, phonics-based reading instruction, systematic reading instruction and synthetic phonics.

April is National Poetry Month!

As students acclimate to virtual classrooms, parents’ partnerships with teachers are more important than ever.  Students benefit from structure and multi-sensory activities (visual, auditory, and kinesthetic) in the classroom, but parents and caregivers can implement their own similar strategies.

Emily Hanford is a senior education correspondent at APM Reports, the documentary and investigative journalism group at American Public Media. She has been working in public media for more than two decades as a reporter, producer, editor, news director, and…

Dr. Maria Murray is the founder and CEO of The Reading League, a not-for-profit association dedicated to advancing the awareness, acceptance, and use of evidence-based practices in schools and other education agencies.​ Murray is also an associate professor at the…

Even with increased attention from policymakers and the public, literacy trends are predicted to stay stagnant in middle and high-income countries over the next decade. In Francophone African countries, literacy rates are expected to drop by nearly a third by…

Florinda Monje knows what it feels like not to understand English. The Peru native studied English before immigrating to the U.S. in 2004, but had a hard time understanding accents once she arrived in the country. The speed with which…

Looking to avoid the summer slide? With students out of school, here are some ideas to get — and keep — your kids reading all season long.

For three days last summer, three Florida teachers sat down with sheets of butcher block paper to map out a fresh first-grade curriculum. Two of the women had just completed Orton-Gillingham training. “Going in, we didn’t really know how we…

Laurie Gibbons knew she wanted to be trained in IMSE’s Orton-Gillingham the second she heard a colleague using it. “Her room was next to mine and I could overhear her doing multi-sensory three-part drills,” Gibbons said. “So after doing a…

When Bridget Cassidy started working with a group of first graders last fall, they didn’t know their letter sounds. Now, a year later, the kids are itching to read chapter books. “They’ve shown so many gains, and I attribute it…

At the Institute of Multi-Sensory Education, we’ve worked with some of the largest school districts in the nation — and some of the smallest charter schools. The goal is always the same: to train teachers in fun, engaging and proven…

Bridgeton Public Schools, which has now trained over 200 K-3 educators in all six of its elementary schools in the Institute for Multi-Sensory Education’s Orton-Gillingham methodology, has seen significant gains for students who have been taught reading via the new…

For nearly 25 years, Jeanne Jeup has helped children across the U.S. learn to read by empowering educators with innovative teaching techniques. Jeup co-founded the Institute of Multi-Sensory Education, which uses an Orton-Gillingham approach to help educators master the art…

For the last five years, Gina Walker has been a special education teacher at Deerfield Elementary School in Ridgeville, Ind. When she first took on the role, she said she, “didn’t even know where to begin.” “Until then, I had…

Bergen Valley and Bergen Meadows Schools in Evergreen, Colo. are two of the state’s most top-rated schools. But, as Principal Peggy Miller has learned, even high-achieving districts can benefit from ongoing improvements. Miller’s schools partnered with the Institute for Multi-Sensory Education (IMSE)…

Bob Cunningham is the advisor-in-residence on learning and attention issues for Understood.org — an organization and online resource for parents and educators — and serves as the head of the Robert Louis Stevenson School, is a member of Purnell School’s…

Just ten minutes from downtown Detroit is The James and Grace Lee Boggs School, a K-8 neighborhood charter school designed to engage the diverse population of students it serves. Along with the rest of Michigan schools, Boggs is preparing to…

As school districts across the country struggle with a nationwide literacy crisis, one Colorado school district has found that its investment in teacher training and reading intervention is paying off. For years, Colorado Springs School District 11 has offered to…

Reading aloud is an essential skill for beginner readers. Not only does it help put together letters and words with corresponding sounds, but it allows teaches students to listen for cues and hear others.  Whether reading aloud as a center…

For over three decades, Susan Evans has dedicated her life to children’s education. A Speech Language Pathologist, mentor, trainer and teacher in Orlando’s Orange County Public Schools system, Evans not only provides specialized instruction during the day, she also provides…

When Baltimore Ravens cornerback Brandon Carr isn’t intercepting passes and dominating plays, you might find him acting as “Principal for a Day” at one of his hometown elementary schools. That’s because in 2012 the NFL star founded the Carr Cares…

At the age of 92, former First Lady Barbara Bush has seen many things change throughout her life, but one thing has remained the same: her family’s commitment to literacy and education for all Americans. For nearly three decades, the Barbara…

Around the country, dedicated teaching professionals who are trained in Orton-Gillingham by the Institute for Multi-Sensory Education are helping their fellow educators become proficient in learning techniques that are unleashing the learning potential for thousands of students. IMSE’s trainers know…

The holidays are a time of reflection and gratitude, and we here at the Institute for Multi-Sensory Education sure have a lot to be thankful for. Each year we partner with schools to bring IMSE’s Orton-Gillingham training to thousands of…

The busy life of an educator seems to never stop. So why should a teacher carve out time to up their skills with the Institute for Multi-Sensory Education? Because IMSE’s Orton-Gillingham methodology works — and we care as much about your…

When educators in Virginia’s Loudoun County Public Schools system began realizing core instruction alone wasn’t meeting the reading needs of its dyslexic students, the district knew it needed a change, said Jennifer Sassano, the supervisor of instructional facilitators for specialized…

As a boy struggling with dyslexia, it was hard for Lawrence Schneider to imagine life past the third grade. Little did he know, by his twenties he would be thrust into the height of the space race as a research…

Without the proper support and education, dyslexia can often leave eager students feeling self-conscious and inadequate.  Despite difficulties in reading, there seems to be a theme that those with dyslexia are often destined for greatness. In fact, many of the…

Dr. John Gabrieli is a professor and expert neuroscientist in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Science at the Massachusetts Institute for Technology. For over 20 years, Gabrieli has dedicated his work to learning about the science behind “how the…

Garret Jackson has seen the power of the Institute for Multi-Sensory Education’s OG training work with her students in Texas. She’s excited to witness how it will translate in Jordan with thousands of Syrian refugees. “IMSE’s OG is a very…

IMSE’s Orton-Gillingham training is a really big deal at Arlington (Va.) Public Schools. More than 300 teachers in the K-12 school system have been trained in IMSE’s Orton-Gillingham approach, according to Dr. Kelly Krug, Supervisor of Arlington Tiered System of…

Dear Educators, At the start of each new school year, I am energized by the possibility it offers you.  At the same time, as a former teacher, I know the weight you may feel as you continue to prepare and…

Almost two decades later, the story of a boy and his dad still sticks in Janice Kohler’s mind. Kohler at the time was a special education teacher in Ohio and helped the sixth-grade boy student jump three reading grade levels…

Donna Cortright is currently Captain Candy. That’s how Cortright, a special education teacher for kindergartners through fifth-graders at Ossian (Indiana) Elementary, is teaching her students the letter C and how to sound it out after she received The Institute for Multi-Sensory…

The Journal asked Community Day School representatives to discuss how its teachers have benefited from Orton-Gillingham training.Their response was so inspiring, we decided to publish it exactly the way we received it.    

Marjorie Guldan describes herself as “a dedicated mom who believes that with the right program her child can reach her reading potential.” Guldan’s 13-year-old daughter, Rebecca, has Down syndrome, and Guldan recently completed a one-week Institute for Multi-Sensory Education Orton-Gillingham…

The Institute for Multi-Sensory Education in late June was approved as an official vendor by the Oregon Department of Education, opening up the potential for larger partnerships between IMSE and districts in Oregon. “Not only has IMSE been approved as…

A K-12 Orton-Gillingham school for 275 students with dyslexia and other language-based LDs in Atlanta is seeing big results using the latest technology to support their O-G instruction. The school believes in the introduction of assistive technology support like text…

Kathryn Nieves never tires of seeing her students smile in the classroom. Nieves, a special education teacher at Sparta Middle School in Sparta Township, N.J., said her students were beaming throughout this past school year, in great part due to…

At the start of the school year, most of Alyssa Bergman’s students didn’t think they’d be able to read words like “peanut,” “leaflet,” “toffee” and “rainbow.” But as the year wound down, the students celebrated by reading the words and…

Melissa Raguet-Schofield describes being a mother of a dyslexic child as “like running through the wilderness all by yourself.” Raguet-Schofield, an adjunct professor of anthropology at Colorado State University, will literally run through the wilderness in June to raise funds…

For the fourth straight year, the 200-plus students at Slackwood Elementary School, a pre-K-3 school in Lawrenceville, N.J., will send their students home with their choice of 12 books. As part of the school’s “Summer Reading Initiative,” students not only…

Victoria Jones, an instructor for the Institute for Multi-Sensory Education, knows first hand the power the Orton-Gillingham teaching method can have on children, at all reading levels, even those that aren’t technically struggling. But, when she started working with her niece,…

Wide receiver Malcolm Mitchell this year won a Super Bowl with the New England Patriots, but his biggest accomplishment has been leading the nonprofit Share the Magic Foundation, which transforms the lives of young students through literacy. Mitchell in 2016…

Dan Spencer said it took most of his educational life to realize he wasn’t “stupid.” Spencer, the Information & Education Specialist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services branch in Puget Sound/Olympia Peninsula (Wash.), for more than a decade struggled…

Pola Millard believes she’s found her true calling teaching the students at New Hope Christian Academy — and her daughter — the Orton-Gillingham methodology.  

Monday is National School Principals’ Day, and what better way to honor them than by featuring William Colon, the principal at Greenwood Elementary School. Colon, 42, who has been principal at the Toledo, Ohio school since 2007, has organized school-wide…

It’s World Penguin Day, which coincides with the annual march to the sea by the penguins in Antarctica. Check out this cool collection of children’s books — both fiction and nonfiction — that focus on the 17 species of penguins,…

Learning Latin has become a breeze for some of the inmates in the Wyoming Department of Corrections, thanks to the Orton-Gillingham methodology the educational staff has implemented into the curriculum. Orton-Gillingham is a structured, phonics-based multi-sensory approach to teaching students to…

It’s National Drop Everything and Read (D.E.A.R.) Day, which is celebrated on legendary children’s book author Beverly Cleary’s birthday. Cleary, who turns 102 this year, has sold more than 90 million copies of her dozens of published books. In honor…

At the Journal, we love getting feedback from our thousands of Twitter followers. Check out some of the great photography and videography our community shared with us through Twitter. And please continue to send photos and videos our way to…

Social bookmarking is a great way to collaborate with other readers and students online!

Hop on these handy web sites to trade in your old books for some new titles for your summer reading list!

As a special offer to conference attendees, IMSE is giving away a first prize of one free training program course (valued at $1500) and a second prize of one of five sets of our new customizable slide bundles for K,…