The OG Reading Clinic · Trinidad

Your child is not
failing.
They are waiting
to be taught
the right way.

Think-Top Educational Institute operates one of the few dedicated Orton-Gillingham Reading Clinics in Trinidad. We do not teach children to try harder. We teach the brain to read differently, using the method that international research has proven works.

Does my child need this? Book a Diagnostic Assessment Learn about OG
A child working with OG phonogram tiles at Think-Top Educational Institute
99%
Examination pass rate
across 14 years
The method

Why Orton-Gillingham
is different from tutoring

Most children who struggle to read are not behind in intelligence. They process language differently. Tutoring more of the same material they have already failed to understand does not fix this. Orton-Gillingham does.

The Orton-Gillingham approach is the gold standard in structured literacy intervention, developed over decades of reading science and now recommended by leading education bodies internationally. It is the foundation of every evidence-based reading programme you have heard of.

At Think-Top Educational Institute, every Reading Clinic session is grounded in this methodology. We do not adapt a general tutoring approach. We use the specific, sequenced, multi-sensory techniques that OG demands, because that is what the research shows works.

The result is not just a child who reads better this term. It is a child who understands how reading works and carries that understanding for life.

Structured and sequential
Skills are taught in a deliberate order, from the simplest sound-symbol relationships to complex spelling patterns. Nothing is assumed. Nothing is skipped.
Multi-sensory by design
Reading, hearing, saying, and writing are engaged simultaneously. This multi-pathway approach builds neural connections that standard instruction does not reach.
Diagnostic and individualised
Every student begins with a thorough assessment. Instruction is built entirely around what that individual child needs, not a class plan, not a generic curriculum.
Evidence-based
OG is among the most researched literacy interventions in existence. Decades of peer-reviewed studies demonstrate its effectiveness for children with dyslexia, phonological difficulties, and decoding challenges.
A student working with OG phonogram tiles at Think-Top Educational Institute
A student building sound-symbol connections with phonogram tiles during an OG session.
A completed OG sound match board pairing pictures with their final sounds
Sound Match work: every picture paired with the letter or phonogram that ends it.
“
Structured literacy is not a method for struggling readers. It is the method by which all children learn to read most effectively, and the one most likely to reach those who have not responded to anything else.
International Dyslexia Association
Is this your child?

The signs that are
often missed

Reading difficulties rarely look like a child who cannot read a single word. More often, they look like a child who is almost keeping up but working twice as hard to do it. These are the patterns we are trained to identify.

What reading difficulties look like at Think-Top Educational Institute OG Reading Clinic

Not sure if your child has a reading difficulty? Take our free reading check

A real result

What the clinic
actually does

Students engaged in reading at Think-Top Educational Institute
Student story

A child who had been told
she simply needed to try harder

She arrived at the Think-Top Reading Clinic reading well below her grade level. She had been through additional lessons, words of encouragement, and repeated testing across different schools. She was working hard. The issue was not effort. Nobody had yet identified the specific phonological processing gap that was making decoding effortful for her brain.

Her diagnostic assessment revealed the precise breakdown in her sound-symbol understanding. From there, her OG programme was built around exactly what her brain needed. Session by session, the patterns were established in the structured, multi-sensory way that sticks.

The outcome
"She reads now. And more importantly, she believes she can."
The Reading App from Think-Top Educational Institute

Every clinic session continues
at home

Two hours a week in the clinic is where the teaching happens. The ten minutes a day at home is where it sets. Most reading programmes stop at the clinic door. The Reading App from Think-Top Educational Institute closes that gap: an Orton-Gillingham-aligned home practice tool built specifically for Think-Top families, not a generic phonics game.

A father and his daughter practising reading sounds together on a tablet, with colourful letters on the wall behind them
Home practice follows the clinic exactly: only the sounds already taught, in the order they were taught.

Every enrolled family receives access to a private parent portal that works on any phone or tablet. It shows your child's current place on the Orton-Gillingham journey map, the session notes and homework from each clinic visit, and the week's home practice laid out step by step, so you never have to guess what to do or worry that you are doing it wrong.

Sound and word recordings are in Ms. Dumas's own voice. Your child listens first, then repeats, exactly as they practised in the clinic. That consistency matters: children learn faster when home sounds match clinic sounds, and research in the Orton-Gillingham tradition is clear that daily short practice outperforms occasional long sessions.

  • Orton-Gillingham sequence preserved. Exercises are generated only from the sounds and patterns already introduced. Nothing appears before it has been taught.
  • Multi-sensory exercises. Blending, segmenting, sight-word recognition, and dictation, the same five strands the clinic uses, adapted for independent practice on a phone or tablet screen.
  • Clinician's voice throughout. Every audio prompt is recorded by Ms. Dumas, so the child hears the same pronunciation and pacing at home as in the session.
  • Automatic progress tracking. The app updates as each home session is logged. Progress is visible to the parent and feeds back into the clinic record at the next appointment.
  • Session notes and parent guidance. After every clinic visit, a parent-facing note explains what was covered, what to watch for at home, and what comes next, written in plain language, not educational jargon.
  • No subscriptions, no app store. Access is included in the clinic programme. The portal opens in any browser and requires no download.

The Reading App from Think-Top Educational Institute is available exclusively to families enrolled in the Think-Top Orton-Gillingham Reading Clinic. Access details are provided at enrolment.

The specialist

You are not handing your child
to a graduate student

Krys-Darcelle Dumas, Director of Think-Top Educational Institute
Ms. Dumas leading a small-group CVC reading session at Think-Top Educational Institute
Ms. Dumas in session: long vowel work on the board, small group at the table.
Krys-Darcelle Dumas
Director & Lead Clinician, OG Reading Clinic

Think-Top Educational Institute was founded on a belief that every child in Trinidad deserves the kind of specialist instruction that changes outcomes, not just grades. For 14 years, that belief has produced a 99% examination pass rate and a reading clinic that parents travel across Trinidad to reach.

The Reading Clinic is not a side offering. It is the work this institute was built around.

BA English Literature with Linguistics, UWI The academic foundation for every assessment and intervention this clinic delivers.
Secondary school English teacher, Ministry of Education (since 2015) Active classroom experience informing every diagnostic decision.
Academic writing lecturer, UWI (7 years) Taught academic and scientific writing to undergraduate students at the University of the West Indies.
Published writer and literacy advocate A practitioner who understands language from the inside, as a writer, a teacher, and a researcher.
Students working independently at Think-Top Educational Institute
How it works

From first contact
to real results

1
Diagnostic Assessment
Every student begins here. A structured assessment identifies the precise gap, not an estimate, not a guess. This assessment becomes the instruction plan.
2
Individual Programme Design
Based on assessment findings, a personalised OG sequence is built. No two programmes are the same because no two students are the same.
3
Structured Clinic Sessions
Sessions follow the OG framework: structured, cumulative, multi-sensory. Progress is tracked against the skill sequence at every session.
4
Progress Review
Parents receive clear progress updates. The programme adjusts as skills consolidate. The goal is always independence, not permanent attendance.
The core programme

The OG Reading Clinic.
Available all year, wherever your child is.

This is not a seasonal programme. It is the standing, year-round offering at Think-Top Educational Institute, individual, diagnostic-led OG intervention, delivered in person at 50 Dookiesingh Street, St. Augustine, and online to students across Trinidad, the region, and internationally. If your child is struggling to read, you do not have to wait for a term or a school holiday. Sessions begin as soon as the diagnostic is complete.

How it works
Every student begins with a diagnostic assessment, then works through an individual OG programme built around what that assessment finds. Sessions are two hours, one-on-one, paid in blocks of eight. After every eight sessions, you receive a written progress report and we decide together whether to continue.
In person or online, the method does not change. The same structured, multi-sensory OG instruction, the same individual attention, the same reporting.
Book a Diagnostic Assessment
An online OG session in progress, delivered live and one-on-one
A one-on-one OG session delivered online, the same structured method as in person.
Not ready to book a diagnostic yet?

Leave your details and I will follow up personally. No obligation.

Prefer to talk now? WhatsApp Ms. Dumas directly.

What parents say

Real families.
Real results.

These are the parents who found Think-Top Educational Institute and made the decision. Their words are unedited.

L
Ladonna Thomas-Noreiga
★★★★★
Google Business Profile  •  Local Guide

"My son is currently in Standard 3 and was struggling with his blends, word recognition which affected his reading fluency. I made connection with Think-Top Educational Institute in December 2025 which assessed him and today March 2026 his ability to combine his blends, word recognition with effect sounding techniques and his reading has increased well. I truly recommend their service -- it genuinely works and builds your child confidence."

K
Kareema Villaroel
★★★★★
Google Business Profile

"I engaged Ms Dumas in the future of my daughter's reading capabilities. My experience thus far has truly shed a brighter light over the issues. I am grateful for the intense report and a charted way forward for the upliftment of my daughter's future. I recommend making the right decision for your child today."

A
Aaliyah Dharson
★★★★☆
Easter Reading Intensive

"My son attended their intensive reading program over the Easter holidays and I must say it was worth it. Seeing and receiving feedback from his teacher was my greatest pleasure and I do look forward to seeing better results as he would be continuing with Think-Top."

For school leaders

Bringing the OG Reading Clinic
into your school

A structured, measured partnership model, built and piloted with real cohorts, for schools who want more than informal tutoring for their struggling readers.

See how a partnership works
Begin here

Every student starts
with a diagnostic.

The diagnostic assessment is not a formality. It is the foundation of everything that follows. In one session, we identify exactly what is and is not working in your child's reading and build the programme from there.

Assessment fee: TTD $500  •  Duration: 45 to 90 minutes  •  St. Augustine, Trinidad

Book a Diagnostic Assessment

Prefer to speak first? WhatsApp Ms. Dumas directly