Teachers, Reading Specialists, Tutors & SLPs

Structured Literacy Training for Teachers, Tutors, Reading Specialists & SLPs

Self-paced structured literacy training for classroom teachers, reading specialists, tutors, and SLPs. Learn to diagnose reading gaps. CEU documentation available.

You Already Know Who Needs Help. Here’s Where to Start. The Basic Language Course gives you the diagnostic and instructional foundation to teach your struggling readers differently, starting now. Self-paced, built for classroom teachers, reading specialists, tutors, and SLPs.

See the Orton Gillingham Basic Language Course

The Problem

You Already Know Who Needs Help

You know this student. When it’s their turn to read aloud, they cover their face, ask to use the bathroom, or suddenly can’t find their page. It isn’t defiance. It’s protection. They have already learned that reading out loud goes badly, and they have built a whole set of behaviors around avoiding that moment.

Two weeks into the school year, or two weeks into a new caseload, you probably already know who is going to need support. Before an official screener even runs, you already have real data from what you’ve observed directly:

• Who hesitates on simple, familiar words instead of reading them automatically.
• Who guesses based on the picture or the first letter, instead of decoding the whole word.
• Who has memorized a set of sight words but stalls on anything unfamiliar.
• Who avoids reading aloud altogether, or finds a reason to be somewhere else.

What you may not have yet is a clear framework for what to actually do about it, beyond more practice and more patience. “Sound it out” is not a strategy for a student who has not been taught the code. The difference between a struggling reader and a reader who has not been taught yet is a diagnostic distinction, and once you can name it, you know exactly what to teach next.

What You Get

A Diagnostic Framework, Not Just More Content

The Basic Language Course gives you the structured, sequenced framework to diagnose exactly where a student’s gaps are and what to teach next, not just another set of phonics activities. It runs through our self-paced online learning platform, so you work through it on your own schedule with unlimited access after purchase.

How It Works

Built to Fit Around Lesson Planning, Grading, and Caseloads

• Self-paced, with no live class times to attend. Move through it in short sessions around your schedule.
• Unlimited access after purchase, so you can revisit any section as new students and new gaps come up.
• No admin approval required to start. This is training you choose for yourself, on your own timeline.
• CEU and PD-hour documentation available on request, to support your district’s requirements.

See the Basic Language Course  →  [BASIC_LINK]

Proof

A second-grade teacher we worked with had exactly this student two Septembers ago, the one who covers his face when it’s his turn to read. By October, after starting the Basic Language Course, she had a name for what she was seeing: he hadn’t automatized basic phoneme-grapheme correspondence, so every word was a fresh decoding task, exhausting and public. Once she knew that, she knew what to actually teach him, not just how to make him more comfortable avoiding it.

A reading specialist we worked with started the course in September with a full caseload and a familiar problem: every check-in sounded like “still struggling.” By week six, that had changed. She could name exactly where each student’s gap sat, phonological awareness, phoneme-grapheme correspondence, syllable structure, or morphology, and her intervention notes went from vague to specific.

Neither started with a formal referral or a diagnosis. They started with a framework, and the gap turned out to be more specific, and more fixable, than it felt at first.

Questions Educators Ask Before They Enroll

I already know phonics. How is this different?

Knowing phonics rules and knowing how to diagnose exactly where a specific student’s gap sits are two different skills. “Sound it out” is not a strategy for a student who has not been taught the code. The Basic Language Course gives you a diagnostic framework, not just more phonics content, so you know precisely what to teach next for the student in front of you.

Does this count toward CEU or PD hours?

In many cases, yes. Requirements vary by state and district, so we recommend confirming with your district’s PD coordinator. We are glad to provide documentation of course completion to support a CEU or PD-hour request.

I’m not a reading specialist. Is this course only for specialists?

No. The Basic Language Course is built as the foundational course for any classroom teacher, whatever your experience level. Reading specialists, tutors, and SLPs use it too, often as the entry point before the Comprehensive Structured Literacy Course.

I’m an SLP. Is this really relevant to my work?

Yes. The course covers the same phonological and morphological content that intersects directly with speech-language work. Many SLPs use it to strengthen the literacy side of their caseload, alongside their clinical training, not in place of it.

How much time will this take during the school year?

The course is self-paced, with no live class times to attend. Most educators move through it in short sessions around lesson planning and grading, on their own schedule, with unlimited access after purchase.

My district doesn’t cover this. Can I get reimbursed?

Many teachers pay individually and request reimbursement afterward through their district’s PD budget. We are glad to provide a receipt or completion documentation to support that request.

What does this cost?

The Basic Language Course is roughly $595, self-paced, with unlimited access after purchase.

See the Difference in Your Classroom Within Weeks.

You already know who needs help. The Basic Language Course gives you a clear framework for what to actually do about it, on your own schedule, starting today.

See the Orton Gillingham Basic Language Course

Self-paced, with unlimited access after purchase. Built for classroom teachers, reading specialists, tutors, and SLPs.