I learned to read when I was four years old…I never struggled in school (except for Algebra) and didn’t know how it felt to truly to work hard for anything when it came to academics…and then I had my daughter. 

I read to her in the womb, we worked on letters and sounds, she spent an extra year in VPK, I have a SPECIALIST DEGREE IN READING (from UF, Go Gators!), and when my kiddo didn’t know her letters and sounds by the end of her second year of VPK, the private school she was attending said she could not come to kindergarten there. I began a hunt for somewhere that might see her as a “whole child” and not just a test score. 

We found a private school and things were ok, but not great…mid-kindergarten she only knew about 12 letters and sounds. She began tutoring and did better, but still was struggling. I was finally able to get her tested by a neuro-psych who diagnosed her with dyslexia. I felt both relief and sadness at the same time, but most of all I needed to learn more about what it was going to take to help her become a proficient reader. As a result of her reading disability, amid the quarantine, I began homeschooling her…that was a nightmare (just being real). Ultimately, it was what was best for her. 

After my struggle with the private schools, I realized how many parents didn’t know what their rights were regarding IEPs and their child’s disability. I began helping friends, doing more research, tutoring children with reading disabilities and eventually started my own little business. I do this work so that I can reach and impact more families. We still struggle some days, and there are many days I find myself feeling sad, tired, or over-stressed and then I am reminded that we are doing the very best work for the most important population.

Literacy and Justice For All,