The programs and resources used by Land of Enchantment Learning:
Sounds in syllables Multisensory Structured Language Therapy (s.i.s.)
Sounds In Syllables Multisensory Structured Language Therapy (S.I.S) provides the foundation for successful reading, writing, and spelling remediation for persons with dyslexia and related disorders.
It is a multi-sensory, systematic, diagnostic, structured approach, where the teaching plan is based on continuous assessment of the student's needs.
The S.I.S. principles and procedures as an intensive remedial therapy for students of any age who need more than the usual amount of structure and practice with basic sounds and symbols while learning to apply concepts, procedures, and rules which govern the written language.
As described by the program's author, Sandra Dillon:
With Sounds In Syllables, the student develops understanding of the orthographic and phonologic structure of words, taking comfort in the realization that there truly is order to the English language. "It's not just a jumbled mass of letters out to trick them."
Sounds In Syllables language re-training therapy helps the student develop an efficient schema for reading and spelling, thus giving him a sense of power over words, not vice versa.
Sounds In Syllables adheres to the elements and principles of instruction outlined by the International Multisensory Structured Language Education Council, (IMSLEC).
The Elements of Instruction:
Phonology and Phonological Awareness - Phonology is the study of speech sounds (phonemes) and how they work within their environment. Phonological awareness is the understanding of the internal linguistic structure of words.
Sound-symbol Association - This is knowledge of the various sounds in the English language and the corresponding letters and combination of letters which represent those sounds. Sound-symbol association must be taught in two directions: visual to auditory (reading) and auditory to visual (spelling.) Students master the blending of sounds into words as well as the segmenting of whole words into individual sounds.
Syllable Instruction - A syllable is a unit of oral language with one vowel sound. It is the group of sounds said with one push of the breath. Instruction includes the six basic types of syllables in the English language; closed, vowel-consonant-e, open, consonant-le, r-controlled, and vowel teams. Syllable division rules are directly taught in relation to word structure.
Morphology - A morpheme is the smallest unit of meaning in the language. Morphology is the study of how morphemes are combined to form words. The curriculum includes the study of basewords, roots, and affixes.
Syntax - Syntax is the set of principles that dictate the sequence and function of words in a sentence in order to convey meaning. This includes grammar, sentence variation and mechanics of language.
Semantics - Semantics is the aspect of language concerned with meaning. The curriculum, from the beginning includes instruction in the comprehension of written language.
Principles of Instruction:
Simultaneous Multisensory - Teaching is done using all learning pathways in the brain (visual, auditory, kinesthetic-motor) simultaneously, in order to enhance learning and memory.
Systematic and Cumulative - The organization of material follows the logical order of the language. The sequence begins with the easiest and most basic elements and progresses methodically to more difficult material. Each step is based on those already learned. Concepts taught are systematically reviewed to strengthen memory.
Direct Instruction - The inferential learning of any concept cannot be taken for granted. Direct teaching of all concepts is required, with continuous student-teacher interaction.
Diagnostic Teaching - The teacher must be adept at prescriptive or individualized teaching. The teaching plan is based on careful and continuous assessment of the student's needs. The content must be mastered to the degree of automaticity.
Synthetic and Analytic Instruction - Synthetic instruction presents the parts of the language and then teaches how the parts work together to form a whole. Analytic instruction presents the whole and teaches how this can be broken down into its component parts.
Additionally, Sounds In Syllables breaks the content down into the smallest of steps, sequences them, and provides abundant practice and opportunity to fold the new learning into that which has already been mastered. It is based on a therapeutic model.
--The Multisensory Langauge Institute website
Seeing My Time
A program written by marydee Sklar "to help brains with no sense of time learn about the brain and how to use time more effectively" using visual tools.
The program develops metacognition (thinking about how one thinks); offers external strategies to support the brain, provides student/client knowledge about the brain and uses a visual hands-on method of instruction. This is one program of many resources from which I draw to support executive function. Students learn more about how their brain processes language and math in an inefficient way that may interrupt the function of the brain's pre-frontal cortex thereby weakening the brain's executive coordination (skills like organizing, planning, task initiation, metacognition, self-control, and more). Then I give them visual tools to better coordinate their lives from this perspective.
UCLA’s Mindfulness Awareness Research Center’s training in mindfulness facilitation (TMF), Trauma Resilience Model (TRM) Training Levels I and II from the Trauma Resource Institute
TMF is a one year program in the facilitation of mindfulness for a variety of settings. I have tailored the program to the needs of dyslexia therapy, educational settings, parents, and youth who have experienced trauma, as well as their caregivers.
TRM is a set of trainings that allow one to help other individuals be with and transform, over time, traumatic experiences. All people experience trauma, and having a learning difference can elicit many situations that have traumatic effects.
Photograph at top of page: Marc Romanelli