Our Approach

Orton-Gillingham

The Orton-Gillingham Approach to phonetic instruction is at the very heart of all we do at Horizon Academy. Research shows that the most successful intervention for dyslexia is intensive instruction in phonics and phonemic awareness, and our use of the Orton-Gillingham Approach provides this intervention daily. O-G is taught across all curriculum areas and supported in everything we do at Horizon Academy.

Janet George, M.S., M.ED, Academy of Orton-Gillingham Accredited Training Fellow

Janet George is the Academy of Orton-Gillingham Fellow working with Horizon Academy. Janet George is a board member of the Orton-Gillingham Academy, Founder, and Head of School at Fortune Academy 2002-2018, and co-author of “The Educational Interpreter Handbook.”

Multisensory Math

At Horizon Academy, our teachers use the Multisensory Math Approach. Our math curriculum is designed to teach students how to think. Traditional math, where facts and computations are memorized, does not harness the strengths of students with dyslexia. We take a different approach. The Multisensory Math Approach advocates a Concrete-Representational-Abstract Instructional Sequence and explicit language to make math concepts memorable.  

Learning Strategies 

Horizon Academy directly and explicitly teaches our students learning strategies. Learning Strategies are an individual’s approach to complete a learning task and allow a student to organize and use a particular set of skills in order to learn content and/or accomplish other academic tasks more effectively and efficiently in the school setting and beyond (Schumaker & Deshler, 1992). Therefore, our faculty teach learning strategies so that students know how to learn, rather than teaching them specific curriculum content or specific skills. Once generalized, students apply these strategies to curricular demands.

Executive Function

Horizon Academy has taken a whole school initiative to implement specific strategies on how students plan, execute and finish tasks. Our schoolwide Executive Function Curriculum helps students build processes in key areas such as goal setting, planning, prioritizing, and organizing.