What I Teach

"Thank you for all your help with A's reading. Her confidence has grown with each lesson and she has her smile back!"

Between 1982 and 1986 I trained as a primary school teacher at Warwick University. For the next 10 years I worked as a full-time primary school teacher with Years 3-6. I qualified as a dyslexia tutor in 2005 and have been working with children who have dyslexic tendencies since then. I have always worked with the primary age group either as a class teacher, a learning support teacher or as a private tutor.

Don't be alarmed if you think, "Gosh, she must be old!" I don't look my age, act my age or feel my age, and the kids love their lessons with me. When that changes, I'll stop!!

Dyslexia Tuition

I will guide your child through the world of phonics, phonological awareness, high frequency words, reading, spelling and handwriting in as multi-sensory a way as I can.

Help with phonics is the core of my teaching but I try to make it fun and multi-sensory. I use the Wordshark CD Rom in a carefully structured way and have a series of phonic readers which I lend out if needed.

I use a variety of methods in my practice, all designed to get the best from your child and increase confidence. I use lots of praise, stickers and stamps, helping your child to improve their performance at school and raise levels.

I tend to focus on phonic support, reading fluency and learning high frequency words.

One of my students has put all his Spotty Dog cards up on his door in his bedroom! As you can see, I try and give lots of positive feedback as well as using stickers and individually made certificates (using Vistaprint) to motivate and keep the children on track.

Handwriting Help

I teach a cursive form of handwriting based on continuous flow. A whole hour of handwriting might be too much although I am creative and always manage to maintain interest. I did 'box writing' as part of a lesson with one student which simply consisted of bringing in a cardboard box, flattening it in the lesson, practising writing the letters on it, and then putting it back together. That particular student always looked forward to what box I was going to bring in next! Luckily I buy quite a lot of things online!

This photo shows a child grouping the letters into handwriting families. For example the letters in red all go the same way - I say, 'up the hill and round, back the same way because you've forgotten something, kiss mum, and on your way.' This makes more sense when I have a pen in my hand!!

Booster Lessons in Maths

I no longer teach maths online - however I highly recommend Komodo Maths - a British online programme for primary aged children.

Stop Motion Animation

I used to offer stop motion animation but no longer have the space to do this I'm afraid.

You can visit the Spotty Dog Youtube channel to see all of the films made over the years.

There are also some featured on the website:visit my Stop Motion film page.

The photo below shows the making of the famous film, Red Noses On The Moon by Cal123 :-)

I specialise in working with children who have dyslexia although I do work with any child who seems to be slipping through the net at school and needs extra help in literacy.

Created and written by Hilary Burt.