Who the Heck Am I?

In case you're wondering who I am or what this blog is about, here's a picture of me....complete with falling-down-glasses, tiny nose ring, long earrings and braided hair. This is how I look 99% of the time, especially if you see me heading off to tutoring sessions. 

I'm a mom of 5 kids. One of whom is adopted. I'll let you guess who from the pictures! One of my children has diagnosed dyslexia (or: specific disability in reading) as well as several other minor special needs. I'm pretty sure my 5 year old also is dyslexic but it's too soon to tell for sure. 

Before having all these kids I was a teacher and that was okay but honestly I preferred teaching one-on-one. When I had my first kid I decided to stay home for a bit and now I'm still mostly a stay-at-home mom (and a homeschooling mom) but I also tutor 10+ hours a week. Which means I spend approximately 20 hours researching reading, prepping materials, keeping track of paperwork, and driving to my students and 10 hours actually sitting with them and teaching them. 

I take tutoring seriously because I've been there as a mom. When our adopted daughter came to us at 11 we were not told that she was completely illiterate. As in, she stumbled to try and read a basic baby board book and didn't realize road signs actually said something meaningful. I remember the day I realized she couldn't read and crying in my bedroom so she wouldn't see how upset I was. I remember the days knowing she needed help but not knowing what kind of help or who could give it to her. 

With few other options in our rural area I was blessed with the opportunity to get trained myself in Orton-Gillingham, the one research-based method for remediating dyslexia and other reading struggles. I learned a ton in my training! And I'm still learning every day through experience and talking to other moms and teachers and tutors. 

I'm not an expert. Not in the slightest. 

If you're looking for that then you should check out these guys or maybe this woman. 

All I'm here for is to share my experience. 

What's working, 

What's not working, 

What little tricks and tips I've found.

And *hopefully* lots of pictures and just regular old links and resources for you. 

And Who Are You? 

Well, I'm assuming you're a parent or educator or both and that your child or student or both is struggling to read. Or maybe you're just into researching reading methods for kicks? But my guess is the former ;) 

So if you find something here that helps please comment and let me know. If I say something totally wrong then please feel free to correct me. And if you have other ideas please please comment and share them with me and anyone else who stumbles on this site!