How to Review Old Orton-Gillingham Lessons

If your child can read a skill during one lesson but seems to lose it a few days later, you are not imagining it. That back-and-forth is common, especially for children with dyslexia.

The hard part is knowing what to do next. Should you go back? Keep moving? Review everything again?

If you are trying to review old Orton-Gillingham lessons at home, the goal is not to start over every time your child hesitates. The goal is to bring back older skills in small, clear ways so they become more automatic over time.

Why old skills seem to disappear

A child may look like they learned a pattern, then suddenly miss it in a word list or passage. That does not always mean the lesson failed.

Often, it means the skill is still fragile. Your child may be able to use it with support, but not yet with speed or confidence. That is why review matters in an Orton-Gillingham approach. New learning usually needs repetition before it sticks.

A few things can make old skills fall apart:

• too much time between practice sessions
• moving on before the pattern feels stable
• practicing the skill only in isolation, not in words and reading
• cognitive overload from trying to hold too many patterns at once

This is why short review is often more helpful than reteaching the whole lesson.

How do you know what to review?

You do not need to review every old concept every day. That usually leads to long, tiring lessons.

Instead, look for the skills your child is actually slipping on right now.

Start by noticing patterns like:

• confusing short vowels in closed syllable words
• forgetting a vowel team that was accurate last week
• missing the silent e pattern in CVCe words
• guessing at a longer word instead of decoding it
• spelling a pattern incorrectly during dictation

Pick one or two old skills that are showing up as weak. That is usually enough for one review session.

A good rule is this: review what is affecting today’s reading, not everything your child has ever learned.

What should review look like?

Review should be brief, active, and tied to reading.

A simple review routine might look like this:

1. Quick sound or pattern practice
   Review 3 to 5 cards, sounds, or patterns your child has learned before.
2. Word reading
   Read 5 to 10 words that include the older pattern.
3. Mix old with new
   Add a few words from the current lesson so your child practices switching between skills.
4. Sentence or passage reading
   Let your child read a short decodable sentence or passage that includes the review pattern.
5. Optional spelling check
   Dictate 2 or 3 words to see whether the pattern is showing up in writing too.

This kind of review can take just 5 to 10 minutes. It gives your child another chance to retrieve the skill without making the whole lesson feel like a reset.

Should you review before every new lesson?

Usually, yes, but keep it small.

Many parents think review means pausing new instruction for a long stretch. It does not have to. In most cases, a short review at the start of practice works well.

You might review:

• yesterday’s new pattern n- one older skill your child is mixing up
• one previously learned word type in a short word list

If your child is missing a skill over and over, that is when you may need a longer return to it. But if they just need a quick reminder, a few minutes is enough.

The key is not perfect performance. The key is whether the review helps your child read with a little more accuracy and less guessing.

A real example of review that works

Let’s say your child learned magic e two weeks ago. During the lesson, they read words like cake, bike, and hope correctly. Now, during passage reading, they keep reading hope as hop and cube as cub.

Instead of reteaching the full magic e lesson, you could do a short review like this:

• read 5 magic e words
• compare one pair like cap/cape or kit/kite
• read 2 mixed words with short vowels and magic e
• read one short sentence with magic e words
• spell 2 magic e words aloud or on paper

That gives your child focused practice exactly where the breakdown is happening.

Over a few sessions, the skill usually becomes easier to access. Not because your child heard the rule again, but because they got repeated chances to use it.

Practical tips for reviewing old Orton-Gillingham lessons at home

Here are a few ways to make review more useful and less stressful:

Keep a short review list

Write down 3 to 5 patterns your child has learned recently. Circle the ones that still feel shaky. Use that list to choose review targets instead of guessing each day.

Do less, more often

A 5-minute review four times a week is usually better than one long catch-up session.

Mix in success

Include at least a few words your child can read confidently. Review should stretch them, but it should not feel like constant failure.

Watch for guessing

If your child starts rushing and guessing, the review may be too long or too hard. Shorten it and return to clearer word patterns.

One helpful next step

You might also find this helpful: When to Move to the Next Orton-Gillingham Lesson

If review is going better but you still are not sure whether to keep practicing or move on, that guide can help you make the call.

Conclusion

When you review old Orton-Gillingham lessons, you do not need to reteach everything from the beginning. Most children do better with short, targeted review that brings back older skills while keeping practice manageable.

If your child forgets a pattern, it does not mean they are failing. It often means they need more chances to use the skill until it becomes solid.

If you want extra support at home, ReadGenie gives kids structured phonics practice with decodable reading, repetition, and a step-by-step approach designed for struggling readers. You can explore it here: APPSTOREURL or GOOGLEPLAYURL.