What Families Are Saying
Every student’s journey is different. These families share how individualized Orton-Gillingham instruction supported their children’s reading, writing, confidence, and progress.
“When my daughter began working with Jill, she had very little phonetic recognition and had made minimal progress with previous tutoring. Jill immediately impressed us with her compassion, patience, organization, and commitment to involving parents in the learning process. She welcomed me into tutoring sessions and emailed lesson plans and materials each week.
After approximately six months, the transformation in my daughter’s reading and writing was incredible. She progressed from struggling with basic phonics to reading above her grade level. More importantly, she became confident and excited about reading and could proudly read labels, signs, and books on her own.
Jill has a genuine love and kindness for her students. Educators like her are rare, and we feel truly blessed to have found her.”
~ Pooneh, parent
“When our daughter entered second grade, she was reading at an early first-grade level, her grades were falling, and she was losing confidence. After Jill evaluated her, we began to understand the gaps in her language foundation. The Orton-Gillingham method took her back to the basics and gave her a clear way to break down words, spell, read, and write.
Within a few months, she had soared. Her reading advanced to a mid-second-grade level, with other testing placing her at a third-grade level. Her grades improved dramatically, she became eager to read and write, and she even enjoyed sharing the rules she had learned with classmates.
We have watched her confidence grow at school, with her peers, and in her activities. Jill and the Orton-Gillingham approach gave us back a child who believes she can succeed through hard work and perseverance.”
~ Erin and Randy, parents
“My son Tyler began tutoring with Ms. Jill MacNiven in the summer of 2017 after testing showed that his reading difficulties were partially related to dyslexia. After two summers and two school years, Tyler went from dreading reading to choosing books on his own for fun.
Ms. MacNiven systematically taught him how to read and, more importantly, understand what he was reading. Her patience, warmth, and devotion made all the difference. Tyler became more confident, and I saw his anxiety decrease with every quarter.
She sent his lesson plan before each session and carefully documented his progress. We had been close to moving Tyler to a different school, but thanks to her consistent tutoring, he was able to remain in our school of choice. We are so lucky to have found her.”
~ Jamie, parent
Across these stories, families describe stronger reading and writing skills, greater confidence, and growing independence.