I found out that I had dyslexia when my parents took me to get tested. It explained why
my teachers had always been so concerned about me.

Every week, my teachers would talk to my mum about how poorly I did on my weekly
spelling tests.

Reading was also hard for me. I didn't want to read out loud in class, because I skipped
lines and I didn't know half the words. One teacher would regularly remind me how far
behind I was, compared to the rest of my class. She kept telling me, "You need to read
more books. You need to practice!"

I felt ashamed and embarrassed.

My mum tried to help me. She and I would sit on my bed with a book. She would read a
line, and then I would copy her. I tried my best, but it didn't help.

Then I got evaluated, and we found out that I am dyslexic. I was glad to know that there
was a reason why reading and spelling was so hard for me.

Unfortunately, my first tutor made me feel scared and nervous, because she often got
frustrated with me. She didn't understand how to teach me.

However, when I started lessons with Karen, I didn't feel scared anymore. I felt safe and

accepted by her, because she welcomes mistakes!

I remember the first day I met Karen. My parents and I were getting acquainted with her
on Zoom, and she taught me a spelling trick called the Floss Rule. Afterwards, I told my
mum, "This is the most amazing thing! I just learned more about spelling in one session
than I've ever learned before! And it's actually going to STICK!"

Karen's program has made me so much more confident at school. It's awesome to
actually know how spelling works! She showed me how to break down words into
smaller parts, to understand their meanings and spellings. I'm grateful that Karen taught
me how to figure out long, complicated words, because the teachers at school don't
explain these things to us.

During Karen's program, I always enjoyed telling my mum about my lessons. I proudly
explained the new concepts and showed her my workbooks. My mum was very
impressed with the things I taught her!

I'm really involved with horses. In the future, I hope to use horse therapy to help people.
Studying with Karen has helped me with the medical terms for horse conditions like colicus,

or medications like Vetracin, because I'm familiar with Latin and Greek! I also know how to

go online now, to look up the etymology (the origin) of words, so I can keep learning more.

Life is so different now, in a good way! These days, people ask ME for help with
spelling! I used to be the person who needed help...and now I'm the one who's helping
others. The best part is, I don't just tell them how to spell the word. I tell them why it's
spelled that way.

One day at my house, I showed a friend one of my tutoring workbooks. She really admired

what I was learning, so I taught her a few things!

At school, I often sing Karen's spelling songs to myself. They really stick in my mind!
One day, I taught another student one of Karen's songs, and we both went around
singing it for the rest of the day! Those songs are really helpful.

Recently, I had a conversation with my aunt, who is struggling with health issues and
stress. It made me think of a word I had just learned from Karen: psychosomatic. I
asked my aunt if her problems might be psychosomatic. Surprisingly, even though she
studied psychology, she didn't know what that word meant! I showed her how to break

the word down, to understand that it means "the mind-body connection."

My aunt was amazed and envious! She said, "I could have used this kind of education
years ago myself!"

Lessons with Karen are so much fun. I've always been happy to come to our sessions
because her materials are so colorful, and her stories are really entertaining.
In fact, Karen's creative stories are so enjoyable that they actually got me interested in
reading!

 

I am now a confident, expressive reader, and I have a shelf full of books that I
love to read. I've discovered that I like murder mysteries, and I have a whole stack of
books by my favorite author. I also have Pride and Prejudice, Animal Farm, Harry
Potter, and lots of books about horses.

I also want to mention that sometimes, when I was having a rough day, I would come to
my lesson looking sad. Karen would ask me, "Do you want to talk about it?"

 

I would share what was bothering me, and she would listen. A few times, we talked for the

whole hour, and she always helped me feel better. It was very comforting.

I am happy that I will be able continue on in school, with a much higher level of knowledge

and skill than I did before!