My name is Jodie Meidling. I am a qualified Orton Gillingham tutor with qualifications from the University of Sydney in English Literature conducting specialised tutoring for children aged K to 12 and adults who are struggling with reading, writing and spelling.
My passion for teaching children is due to my youngest daughter’s struggles with reading, writing and spelling. Her attitude to school started to dwindle and as she lost confidence and became withdrawn she also no longer wanted to go to school.
This made learning very difficult for her and I was worried she may never read. I studied various phonics based approaches and using these as a starting point worked with my daughter to remedy the problem. I then went on to further study and complete the Dyslexia Training Institute Certificate in Orton Gillingham.
Helping my daughter was not without tears and a lot of hard work however within a year she had practical, basic skills and was reading well which not only boosted her confidence but saw her attitude in the classroom transform and she was able to enjoy going to school rather than it being a chore.
I truly am committed to helping your child succeed and working with them to find their own program based on their strengths and weaknesses. My lessons are designed to complement your child’s learning style and are either paired or one on one. I know as a parent how difficult it is to try and tutor your own child and I know I would have used a tutor had there been a trained tutor available to me.
My life before tutoring saw me work in the disability sector and for over twenty years I educated both children and adults who suffered from either a hearing loss, speech loss or communication impairment ensuring they were confident in how to access useful and effective communications. Working in the disability sector saw me interact with a varied community helping me to see communication as an essential aspect of every person’s life.
I have an infectious love for books and I offer my students my own recorded versions of their favourite titles to take home and read along with me. I have been a volunteer at 2RPH (Radio for the Print Handicapped) for well over twenty years and I am committed to sharing the love of the printed word with everyone.