With over 57+ brick-and-mortar locations across the United States and Mexico and 200 inquiries to start new locations all over the world, GiGi’s Playhouse is the ONLY network of Down Syndrome Achievement Centers. Every day, we provide FREE, life-changing therapeutic, educational, and career training programs for 30,000+ individuals of all ages.
We at GiGi’s Playhouse Down Syndrome Achievement Centers have instructed thousands of individuals with Down syndrome in our 1:1 Literacy Program. We find the components of the Raising Robust ReadersTM phonics program, developed by the authors of Phonics the R-igh-t Way, to be absolutely invaluable.
Our free 1:1 Literacy Tutoring program was designed specifically to match the learning needs of individuals with Down syndrome. We first focused on teaching whole words—through rote memorization and sight words—but our students soon grew beyond this level and needed more to become functional readers.
In an effort to expand our program, our Educational Excellence Committee set out to find the very best phonics instruction for people with Down syndrome. After extensive vetting, we recognized right away that Raising Robust ReadersTM presents the same teaching principles we value such as focus on the individual, respect for the child, and high expectations, and could bring our students’ reading to the next level. It provides a code to phonics that is broken down into steps, is easy to understand, and uses a multi-sensory, fun, and engaging teaching approach.
We have incorporated the Raising Robust ReadersTM program into our 1:1 Literacy Program, and we have also added the jingles to our Language, Music, ‘N’ Our Peeps (LMNOP) program to introduce phonemic awareness at a very early stage.
We have seen it work at GiGi’s Playhouse locations across the US. Now you can see it work, too.
Shari Andress, M. Ed.
National Education Manager
GiGi’s Playhouse Down Syndrome Achievement Centers www.gigisplayhouse.org