Tammy Buckley is a middle and high school math teacher and mom of twins. As she watched her twins progress through kindergarten, she realized that her daughter was learning to read while her son was not. At first, she thought that her son was simply a “late bloomer” and he would catch up. However, Tammy discovered that research shows readers who are behind in first grade rarely catch up to their peers without intervention. After a year of watching her son continue to struggle to learn to read during remote school, she decided to take matters into her own hands. Tammy came across the Orton-Gillingham method for teaching reading, a research-based explicit method for teaching phonics. After four months of phonics instruction, her son was reading on grade level. Now, as a fourth grader, he is above grade level in reading, and more importantly, is a voracious reader who loves curling up with a good book.

Since 2020, Tammy has been refining her reading boost model and successfully changed the reading trajectory of many children.

The Orton-Gillingham approach is a structured, sequential, and multisensory method of teaching reading. This approach was developed by Samuel Orton and Anna Gillingham in the 1920s to help children with dyslexia, but it has since become widely used to teach all children to read and write. This approach uses a combination of visual, auditory, and kinesthetic techniques to help students learn and remember the sound and letter patterns of the English language. For example, students use flashcards to practice letter-sound associations or clap out syllables to develop phonemic awareness. The approach also emphasizes mastery of skills, with plenty of opportunities for review and reinforcement. By breaking down the complex English language into its component parts and teaching these parts systematically and explicitly, students can develop a strong foundation in reading that will serve them well throughout their academic careers and beyond.