2 Talented Teachers

Our work becomes increasingly busy each term as we receive new inquiries from parents seeking assistance for their children with literacy and numeracy. A lot of our time during the middle of the day is spent on preparation for the following days’s students. I find my floor covered with folders and materials as l put together each bundle of resources for individual students.

Today we have spent the day in our offices getting ready to welcome back all of our current students and some that we will meet for the first time. It will be good to get underway on Tuesday and commence assisting students on their educational journey. I’m sure 2026 is going to be a great year of learning.

After a long summer break, it’s great to be back in the classroom connecting with kids and assisting them to get back on track. It’s amazing how much of the work that we do in sessions that they recall in their first lesson.

It was a big effort by Hannah over the weekend to get our door decorated for Halloween. We don’t usually do anything here at 2 Talented Teachers; however, Halloween continues to grow in popularity each year in our area.

This term has been such a busy time. I have not posted anything since our trip to the States in the June-July holidays, and we have only just completed the videos and exam for the course we undertook. Whilst doing the numeracy course, Marilyn Zecher talked a lot about using a Point of Reference with students to allow them access to information they need to complete certain tasks. As her initial training was in Orton-Gillingham, there is such a noticeable overlap with techniques used in both numeracy and literacy. The photo l have included is the Point of Referece for students completing a review sheet after having learnt the rule for k/ck and ch/tch spelling. It takes times to develop automaticity with this rule; therefore, allowing a student to access the rule until they are confident with its use makes perfect sense.

Some of the inspirational artwork around the corridors of the Laurel School.

Today we commenced the first of 5 days instruction in multisensory maths. There are approximately 26 teachers in attendance all of whom are teachers in the States. Some work in the Laurel School where the course is being held and which is a small independent school for dyslexic students. Marilyn Zecher is an amazing presenter who is passionate about maths and ensuring that students are presented with information in a way that they can comprehend it. We will certainly come away from this training with a wealth of information.

Last week l met up with Laurie Cousseau, my Orton-Gillingham Fellow in Massachusetts. It was great to catch up and hear about all the work she is doing in school districts training teachers in the OG approach. She has recently published three phonics textbooks, The Ultimate Book of Phonics Word Lists for Grades K-5. Each book contains a comprehensive list of words, phrases and sentences that follows a structured approach to literacy instruction. I feel very fortunate to have had Laurie as my trainer.

Today we had an opportunity to meet with Margaret Deister, the office manager at the Orton-Gillingham Academy in Amenia, NY. The Academy currently has approximately 3,700 members in various countries around the world. Margaret and her co-worker are kept busy with around 900 emails and at least 325 calls a month. They are both very passionate about assisting families to find a member that can help their dyslexic child. It was wonderful to meet both these women and thank them for all the work they do for the Academy.

Yesterday we met with the Senior Director, Karl Oppenheimer, at Camp Dunnabeck in Connecticut. He took us on a tour of the campus, talked about the summer program and introduced us to teachers who will work there during the summer. The camp runs for 6 weeks with a weekend break where families can visit and take their children out for a couple of days at the end of 3 weeks. The program is designed for 8-16 year olds with a maximum of 60 participants. The camp uses the facilities of Marvelwood, a school that caters for neurotypical and dyslexic students. The summer camp has a full program each day with students selecting what they would like to participate in prior to attending. They can choose art, music, Lego and robotics as well as a variety of outdoor activities including archery, swimming and horse riding. Each day the students must attend a 1 hour tutoring session, one-on-one with an Orton- Gillingham trained instructor. Instructors teach 4-5 sessions a day with time allocated for daily preparation and staff meetings. The summer program costs US$15,300.