About Our Program
The McGrath Reading Program is built to do three things:
- Bring the student’s reading to grade level as quickly as possible.
- Change reading from an effortful chore to an enjoyable activity.
- Provide students with the skills and strategies they need to continue to grow and make progress as readers over the years without outside instruction, the way typical readers do.
Background
The McGrath reading program is the result of 16 years of taking research from the fields of neurology, educational psychology, reading and cognition, and using these findings to build a program that is highly effective at bringing reading skills to grade level quickly. We provide students with the fastest possible path to reading success for each student based on their individual needs. Research and insights on motivation and mindset have been integrated into the program to make the sessions engaging and fun for students.
McGrath Reading was developed by Constance McGrath to be used with students who did not respond to traditional dyslexia interventions and continue to struggle with reading in second grade and above, for those who have been diagnosed with dyslexia and those who continue to read below grade level for any reason.
Our intervention is comprehensive, effective, and fun.
The program is different in several significant ways:
First, it provides meaningful progress for those who have been struggling with reading for years.
Most of our students reach grade level in 8 - 12 months with one online session per week.
This includes students who have struggled with reading and have had intervention for years without closing the gap, those who were diagnosed too late for early intervention, those who have struggled with reading for years and have not made adequate progress, those with co-existing learning disabilities, and those who are English language learners.
As our students gain reading skills, their progress is visible in the classroom, and to parents. And over the course of instruction, hopelessness turns into hope and hope turns into confidence.
Second, it is not more of the same.
Traditional interventions fall into two types.
One type. structured sequential phonics, focuses primarily on filling gaps in phonics skills. Orton-Gillingham based interventions and programs based on this system such as The Wilson Language Program, The Susan Barton approach, and others are in this category. This approach works for some students, especially those in early elementary grade. If your child has had intervention with this approach and continues to read below grade level, we can help.
The other type uses the Structured Literacy approach, which involves some phonics but focuses more on re-reading, using visual and meaning clues to read words, and on comprehension strategies. If your child has not responded to this type of intervention, again, we can help.
The McGrath Reading program not a 'double dose' of what has not worked before, or a close iteration of other programs, it is a different approach grounded in research and designed specifically to help students reach grade level as quickly as possible.
With McGrath Reading, students develop a strong phonics foundation, build automaticity, and gain reading fluency.
It is a dynamic, individualized program that is geared to moving your child’s reading progress forward as quickly as possible for them. Each session incorporates phonics, automaticity and reading interesting books (not 'decodable texts'). At the beginning of the program, our major focus is phonics and phonics strategies. Over time the focus turns to automaticity and developing the stamina to read longer texts. Throughout, the program is continuously adapted to delivering the best next steps for your child.
Third, it is motivating and fun.
We believe success is highly motivating. The lessons are designed to be a ‘reach’ for students – difficult, but doable. Our lessons incorporate research on how people learn, mindset and motivation, which makes the sessions engaging and fun.
Our students read interesting, well written stories. Our students read texts that open the door to the pleasure of reading and develops a love of reading in our students. As our students begin to realize that they can be good readers, and that learning is fun this knowledge carries over to the classroom. They develop the confidence to participate in the classroom and their experience of school and learning becomes positive and enjoyable.