Skills Review Sheet

¨        SkillSmith Overview

      SkillSmith teaches children, adolescents, and adults with specific language difficulties (SLD).  We design a program of remediation based on educational testing.  Core skills, including phonological (sound) awareness for reading and academic study skills (including organization and time management), are derived largely from Orton-Gillingham techniques.  A highly structured, process approach emphasizes multi-sensory teaching linked to phonetically appropriate readings and integration of skills.  Your student will use all of his or her senses in an intensive but stress-free environment.  The objective is development of strategies to enable students to work independently.

 ¨       Reading and Phonological Awareness

      Phonemic awareness (units of sound): Structure and blending of sounds and symbol-sound association.  Student learns what the letters mean. 

       Spelling: Application of phonological knowledge and mastery of fundamental spelling rules.

       Structure of language: Syllable division and advanced concepts.

       Handwriting:  Manuscript and cursive training that emphasizes movement and touch.

¨        Academic Study Skills

Emphasizes development of skills related to academic performance.  Process approach uses specifically structured, step-by-step procedures in which projects are broken into components or parts.  Skills are applied directly to school assignments and tests, and include, but are not limited to:

 ¨        Memory

      Skills to improve on-demand retrieval of information for students with variable memory. Includes use of mnemonic devices and visualization.  

 ¨        Oral Note Taking

      Strategies for focusing on important information and improving efficiency of       note taking processes.

 ¨        Organization and Time Management

      Remediation of underlying sequencing difficulties and a systematic approach to filing of documents, prioritizing, and creation and maintenance of calendars and schedules.

 ¨        Reading and Reading Comprehension

      Builds on phonological awareness and provides strategies for locating central ideas and supporting details.  Use and understanding of inferential language is covered.

 ¨        Word Study

      Structure of and meaning of roots and affixes for vocabulary building and spelling.  Students learn how words are built and what their parts mean.  This is an important component in reading comprehension, writing and test taking (especially the SAT).

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