How One Teacher Helps Students With Dyslexia Find Their Voice

By Beth Hatlen, in collaboration with Kandace Garrigus

As educators, we live for the “lightbulb moments.” But the reality is that reaching that moment takes a lot of work for teachers and students alike. Teachers track data, map fluency, and, when we can, celebrate the win. But every so often, a shift happens that goes beyond a graph.

Meet our featured teacher for this week:

Kandace Garrigus, a veteran Special Education teacher with 20 years of experience in a public school setting across all grade levels. She is also one of our newest certified dyslexia specialists, having mastered the Orton-Gillingham method to provide the highest level of dyslexia reading instruction. Kandace is a private tutor, working with students in-person (with many homeschool students in Arizona) and virtually through her online company, Book Bloom.

As an avid reader herself, Kandace has always loved books. Her passion for literacy shines through in her dedication to helping children, young and old, on their personal literacy journeys. By implementing multimodal literacy instruction, she ensures that every student, regardless of their learning style, has the tools they need to succeed.

The Power of Evidence-Based Reading Programs

Using the Slant System™, a premier structured literacy instruction system, with her students for nearly an entire school year, Kandace has seen more than just improved scores. “I have seen my students’ fluency rates increase with each unit, and this is amazing to see. But what I enjoy even more is their confidence growing.” She notes that when a student’s confidence grows, so does their fluency and expression. This helps foster an innate desire in students to want to read for enjoyment and to start on the pathway to independent success through comprehensive literacy instruction programs. A recent memorable moment was when a reluctant reader turned to her, after just a few Slant System sessions and said, “This doesn’t feel so hard.” When educators teach to the needs of the student, as well as have explicit, systematic instruction, complete with regular reviews and ample practice time, success is the only pathway forward.

Understanding the Role of Phonemic Awareness

Through her structured literacy training, Kandace has been reminded of the importance of phonemic awareness, both for young, developing readers and older struggling learners. As a key component of effective reading instruction for dyslexia, phonemic awareness is the bedrock of decoding. Kandace states, “I had never done any verbal playing with phonemes until each [Slant System] session. This way really gets the students to think about sounds without the stress of reading the words.”  Kandace is able to reflect on the fact that including phonemic awareness, combined with explicit phonics instruction, was a game changer for her students on their literacy journey.

Advanced Literacy Courses and Teacher Support

Through using the Slant System assessments, Kandace can pinpoint exactly where a student is struggling and provide individualized reading strategies for dyslexic students. This level of precision is why literacy training for educators is so vital. By participating in advanced literacy courses and obtaining Orton-Gillingham certification, teachers like Kandace are transforming lives.

We are proud to facilitate a supportive community for literacy educators, providing the classroom materials for structured literacy and the literacy coaching for teachers necessary to turn every struggle into a story of strength.

Beyond the Words

Here at Slant System, hearing student celebrations is what makes us keep doing what we are doing. We are proud of our Slant System teachers that take great pride in helping students to achieve that “lightbulb” moment.  That moment when students aren’t just sounding out letters anymore; they are performing the text. They’ve moved past the struggle of decoding and into the beauty of expression.

When a student realizes that they are no longer a “struggling reader,” but simply a reader, everything changes. Their world gets a little bit bigger, and their smile gets a lot wider.  That is Kandace’s why.  That is the ultimate Slant System why. The children, the readers, it is always about the children and the life sustaining gift of literacy.