This workshop explores a unified classical approach to reading that forms both the mind and the soul. First, we examine how Spell to Write and Read builds confident, accurate decoders by grounding literacy in phonograms, spelling rules, and multisensory instruction — ensuring students read by understanding language rather than guessing at it. Then we look beyond decoding to the cultivation of deep comprehension through classical pedagogy: practices such as reading aloud, narration, recitation, and Socratic questioning that progressively move students from attention and recall to interpretation, moral reasoning, and articulate expression. Participants will see how decoding and discussion belong together in a seamless, Trivium-aligned progression that leads students toward wisdom, virtue, and joyful engagement with truth.

Aimee McDorman serves as a teacher and instructional mentor at Bradford Academy in Mebane, North Carolina, where she supports teacher development across the lower and upper schools (K-12). She specializes in integrating classical pedagogy across the trivium to equip teachers for success in the classical world. Aimee is passionate about restoring attentiveness, moral imagination, and joy in reading so students learn not only how to read—but why.