The Swift School curriculum is specifically designed for children with dyslexia and other language-based learning differences.  The Orton-Gillingham approach is the foundation of our program, which emphasizes teaching all subjects through multi-sensory techniques that involve the auditory, visual, tactile and kinesthetic pathways to the brain.

In addition to intensive reading instruction, core subject areas - math, social studies, and science - are also part of The Swift School curriculum.  The curriculum at The Swift School is designed to expose our students to areas of instruction similar to the curriculum of public schools in order to ensure that our students have achieved similar learning objectives and are prepared, when appropriate, to return to a mainstream classroom.   While our social studies and science curriculum do not depend upon textbooks and workbooks, students are exposed to and learn about many of the same concepts as the public schools.

The Swift School program is further enhanced by a Curriculum Enrichment Program, which incorporates the arts as an extension of the classroom curriculum, and by an innovative Physical Education Program.  We also place a strong emphasis on organization and study skills, time management, goal setting and perseverance.  Teachers also discuss current events and health topics. 

Reading

The Swift School reading program is an intensive intervention and remediation program, focusing on phonemic awareness, systematic phonics instruction, decoding, fluency, oral and written language development, and reading comprehension.

• Instruction is sequential and cumulative so that the building blocks of reading are established and built upon over time.
• Practice in word identification and decodable reading activities provide constant reinforcement of letter/sound relationships and spelling.
• Teachers explain and demonstrate all skills and concepts to students with continuous student-teacher interaction.
• Teachers develop individualized teaching plans for students based upon careful and continuous assessment of the student’s needs. 

Teachers are flexible to each student’s needs and, when appropriate, incorporate different reading programs that follow the Orton-Gillingham methodology, such as Phonics First, Recipe for Reading, Open Court, Wilson, and Language!, into their academic plan for each student.

Math

In our view, math is a language.  Students must learn to interpret the written word into mathematical equations and vice versa.  Therefore, our instruction is sensitive to individual learning styles and differences using a combination of programs and incorporating the multi-sensory approach.  Our sequential program includes conceptual skills as well as the practical application of math in everyday life.

Social Studies and Science

The Social Studies Program focuses on both History and Geography while the Science curriculum includes Physical, Life, Earth and Space Sciences.  Many times the units are covered in conjunction with literature lessons, emphasizing reading, writing, critical thinking and study skills.  Often, the Social Studies and Science units are extended to the Curriculum Enrichment Program.