Customized lessons to meet your child's needs and learning style
Proven results with a systematic, multisensory approach
Hands-on and exciting learning atmosphere
Ongoing assessment and progress monitoring
One-hour sessions
Cooperation and communication between home, school, and tutoring
Monica DiPilato, Orton-Gillingham Reading Specialist
I graduated with a BS in Elementary Education from Miami University in Ohio. After graduating, I taught first and second graders in a multi-age school in Greensboro, NC. During this time, I saw the need for better reading instruction and remediation. In 1999, I went to the Key Learning Center in Asheville, NC to complete the Orton-Gillingham Level I course. I spent the following year working with a master tutor, and I have been tutoring children with reading challenges and dyslexia ever since.
I moved to Raleigh in 2001, where I taught first grade in Raleigh and Durham. I had such a passion and empathy for children who were struggling with reading, that I became the reading specialist at Duke School in 2003. I also married my husband that year, and we now have a daughter and a son. We love to hike, bike, camp, travel, read, and spend time with our family and friends.
Throughout the years I have attended multiple workshops at the Key Learning Center, in Asheville, as well as the Hill Center Methodology and the Wilson Reading System Overview. In my tutoring practice, I use the Orton-Gillingham methodology as the basis of what I do. In addition, I utilize other techniques, materials, and methods to match the needs of each child.
In 2021 attended the Associate-level course again and took the Certified-level course through the Key Learning Center, in Asheville. I also completed the year-long practicum for the Associate level in order to get my certification from the Orton-Gillingham Academy (OGA). I am also a Certified Language Practitioner (CALP) through the Academic Language Therapy Association (ALTA). I regularly attend many workshops through ALTA, OGA, and the Key Learning Center to further my learning and training. I love working with the Orton-Gillingham fellows, and other practitioners around the country to further my education.
I love collaborating with parents as they work to figure out the best strategies and tools to help their child reach his/her potential. I can also relate first-hand to the challenges of raising children with learning disabilities. I look forward to supporting you and your child.
About Me
What is the Orton-Gillingham Approach?
INDIVIDUALIZED & PERSONAL
Meeting the needs of learners, no two of whom are alike.
Recognizing the different needs of each learner.
MULTISENSORY
Using all learning pathways ~ visual, auditory, and kinesthetic
DIAGNOSTIC & PRESCRIPTIVE
Monitoring students' responses in order to identify each students' needs.
Developing prescriptive lessons based on those needs.
DIRECT INSTRUCTION
Working to insure that students understand what, why, and how material is to be learned.
SYSTEMATIC PHONICS
Stressing the sound/symbol relationships inherent in the alphabetic system of reading development and writing.
SYSTEMATIC & STRUCTURED
Presenting information in an ordered way that indicates the relationship between the current material and past material taught.
SEQUENTIAL, INCREMENTAL, & CUMULATIVE
Moving from the simple, well-learned material to that which is more complex in a logical manner.
Adapted from: The Gillingham Manual, Gillingham, and Bessie W. Stillman, EPS, Inc. 1997 and The Key School website: carolinaday.org/academics/key-school/orton-gillingham
Services
Location
My home office:
I am located near the intersection of Creedmoor Road and Lynn Road.
In the student's home
Rates
My home office:
$95/hour (K-4th grade)
$115/ hour (5th-12th grade)
*Option for me to travel to you-call for rates
Initial assessment:
$350, one-time fee
This covers the assessment session, the time needed to analyze assessments and develop a tutoring plan, a written summary, and a parent meeting.
Cancellations
Advanced notice cancellations: Please let me know as far in advance as possible so we can reschedule.
Last-minute cancellations: Cancellations with less than 24-hours notice will be charged for the full session.
Life happens!
All students will have one "free" last-minute cancellation.
Getting Started
Please email or call/text so we can set up an initial meeting.
First, I will talk with parents to discuss your child's background, services received, assessments, or any other relevant information.
Next, I will assess your child over one or two sessions.
Then we will be ready to make a plan and begin tutoring.
Parent Comments
"Thank you for giving Abby the 'gift' of reading. You teach with such warmth and care, and you make every child feel successful."
~ Parent of a second grader