Simultaneous Multisensory Institute of Language Arts

The Blackbird Academy
2806 Azalea Place, Nashville

The multisensory method of language arts instruction allows for teaching to all of the learning styles – visual, auditory, and tactile/kinesthetic.

The Simultaneous Multisensory Institute of Language Arts (SMILA), located in Memphis, Tennessee, is a teacher training organization operated by the Binghampton Fellowship foundation. Derived from the Slingerland® Approach, the program trains teachers to incorporate the students’ auditory, visual, and tactile/kinesthetic senses into instruction for learning language skills. Links are consistently b

eing made between the visual (what we see), auditory (what we hear), and kinesthetic-tactile (what we feel) pathways in learning to read and write. This approach teaches children and adults to link sounds of the letters with the written symbol and to feel how the letter or letters are formed. For instance, as students learn a new letter, they carefully trace, copy, and write the letter while verbalizing the corresponding letter name. Students then read and spell words, phrases, and sentences using these patterns. Teachers and their students rely on all three pathways for learning rather than focusing on a single method. Students who do not display symptoms of learning disabilities as they go through school tend to learn by using all of their senses to take in information, or they may naturally learn best through the same style used by the teacher in the classroom. However, for many students, their strongest learning style has not been identified and is not the one being taught to in the classroom; so they are missing vital information needed to achieve. Since reading, writing, and listening are the forms in which most academic instruction are presented, students who fall behind in the early grades are likely not to catch up and perform well throughout the subsequent years of school unless they receive remediation at an appropriate time and with a specially trained tutor. SMILA provides teachers with the knowledge of language development and the skills needed to help all students make satisfactory progress in oral and written language, reading, decoding and comprehension. SMILA hopes to reach more students by training a larger number of teachers and program instructors each year. To learn more about how to become trained in the SMILA simultaneous, multisensory approach to language arts instruction, please go to our website.

SMILA 2023 Summer Reading Camp Scholarship Fund, organized by Cannon Allen

06/17/2023

Our little children are living in an educational disaster. Last spring, we learned that 76% of our public school third graders are reading below grade level. Fortunately, you can help Memphis kids!

The Binghampton Fellowship Foundation (doing business as the Simultaneous Institute for Language Arts ("SMILA") could use your help raising money to provide scholarships for elementary school teachers and students to attend the summer training. I thought you might be interested in supporting this GoFundMe, https://gofund.me/03e6ab3a.

Some children easily learn to read, but for many it's a struggle. Unfortunately, many, perhaps most, of our elementary school teachers do not learn during their academic training how to teach phonics and engage all of the students in the classroom and develop fluent readers with strong comprehension.

Reading is a complex process, and it takes students several years to master the task assuming the student has well trained teachers and parents to help them.

The SMILA trains teachers in a multi-sensory teaching technique that makes elementary teachers more effective in the classroom. This year is our 30th annual clinic. The clinic runs from June 5 through June 23.

The goal is to raise $5000 meet our budget and to encourage Memphians to get involved to stem the tide of illiteracy in Memphis. Please forward this post to those whom you think would be interested in participating.

You can help support literacy in Memphis by
1. Becoming a volunteer at a local public school,
2. Financial supporting programs that equip teachers,
3. Becoming an Arise2Read volunteer,
4. Support the Memphis Literacy Institute.
Find a program that you believe in and support it vigorously!
Thanks so much for taking a look and caring about our children!
Cannon

SMILA 2023 Summer Reading Camp Scholarship Fund, organized by Cannon Allen Illiteracy is one of our city's biggest, most persistent problems. Seven… Cannon Allen needs your support for SMILA 2023 Summer Reading Camp Scholarship Fund

08/17/2022

06/04/2022

We are having a fantastic training and are off to a wonderful start! We are thrilled to help teachers change lives!

05/19/2022

We are excited about this year’s training. We are still accepting teachers and students. Enroll today!

www.SMILAreading.com

Claim ownership or report listing

Want your school to be the top-listed School/college in Memphis?

Click here to claim your Sponsored Listing.

Location

Memphis

Website

http://www.smilareading.com/

Address

6075 Poplar Avenue, Suite 700
Memphis, TN
38119

Simultaneous Multisensory Institute of Language Arts

Share

Location

Category

Website

Address