EBLI Tutoring

Are you a new reader?

A struggling reader?

A proficient reader looking to supercharge your reading, spelling, and writing for more success in every area of life?

I’m excited to share EBLI (Evidence-Based Literacy Instruction) with you!

A few images from EBLI sessions. EBLI integrates reading, handwriting, sound and spelling sorts, multi syllable spelling and reading, sentence and paragraph writing, and authentic lessons based on real literature and articles for maximum success in literacy - and life!

EBLI is a speech-to-print (S2P) linguistic phonics approach that is…

  • Effective for people of all ages, from preschool to adulthood. We use age-appropriate materials - no baby texts for older learners.

  • Accessible for English language learners, autistic learners, and people with dyslexia, ADHD, and other learning differences and disabilities.

  • Challenging and rigorous for all learners.

  • A powerful alternative to Orton-Gillingham. Orton-Gillingham, aka “OG,“ is often called “the gold standard” for teaching reading, but S2P approaches are quickly gaining a reputation for being more pragmatic, accelerated, and effective.

My story

I’m a hyperlexic lit nerd. I’ve been obsessed with reading and writing since I was 5, and I’m a voracious learner, with dual master’s degrees in Special Education and Creative Writing.

But I had a dirty little secret: I didn’t like teaching people to read. I adored books, read-alouds, and teaching creative writing, but I dreaded phonics and spelling. I couldn’t keep track of diphthongs and schwas and unreliable spelling rules. I learned to read without them, so it hurt my head to teach them, especially to struggling readers. My students made progress, but I knew I wasn’t challenging them to their full potential.

Then I discovered S2P (speech-to-print, aka linguistic phonics) approaches like EBLI, and everything clicked. I love teaching reading! My students make faster progress, the learning is more practical, and it’s also more fun.

What's different about the S2P / SLL (speech-to-print / structured linguistic literacy) phonics approach?

  •  We focus on letter sounds, not letter names, so the learning is more concrete, intuitive, and streamlined.

  • In English, there are 280+ letter combinations that can make sounds… but only 44 sounds. Print-to-speech methods like Orton-Gillingham focus on letter combinations - but it’s much simpler to master 44 sounds and their patterns than 280+ letter combinations and their sounds!

  • We don't teach skills in isolation. We integrate listening, speaking, writing, and reading to make the learning “stick.”

  • It doesn’t require lots of working memory or a huge cognitive load. Instead of teaching a ton of rules (and exceptions!), we focus on real words and their meanings, while teaching problem solving and pattern thinking.

  • It's a dynamic system for all: accessible for people with disabilities, yet fun and challenging for typically developing & accelerated learners!

Tutoring should take months, not years.

I would love to work with you or your child for ages… but tutoring shouldn't take forever! I work with a streamlined process to get you reading and writing as fast as possible. And I teach you good habits so that you can be a better teacher to yourself.

If you’d like to learn more about the methods I use and why they are so effective, check out some of these links:

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    "My son used to avoid writing like the plague, but Kate makes it fun and makes it more manageable. It makes me so happy to see him proud of his writing for the first time ever!"

    Amara

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    "Kate was able to connect with my daughter on her level quickly and was able to get a lot in during their time together. She made class fun and engaging, and remembered a story my daughter had told her, which made her day! Lots of great activities at a good pace!"

    Jess

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    "Kate is amazing at connecting with students and communicating with them in many different ways. She is calming yet engaging. I’m thankful for such a kind soul connecting with my child.”

    Liz

FAQs

  • I’m an Arizona certified special education teacher, and I've taught literacy for 15+ years as a family education specialist, homeschooling parent, Chicago Public Schools teacher, ESL teacher, and performance poetry workshop facilitator. I have master’s degrees in Special Education and Creative Writing, and have trained in Wilson Reading System and Reading Simplified.

    I’ve been teaching EBLI since September 2025, and have used it successfully with over 20 students of various ages and ability levels. I will be fully EBLI certified by August 2026. I have a background as a developmental therapist, so I bring a global, multisensory approach, with years of ongoing learning and practice in mental health, mindfulness, sensory integration strategies, and culturally affirming teaching.

  • Yes! I love teaching people of all ages. It's never too late to improve your reading and writing. I use age-appropriate materials for older learners - no baby stuff.

  • I’m constantly learning more about brain science, reading science, and learning science, and refining my teaching accordingly. EBLI is based on solid learning science, as documented in books like Make It Stick - we use direct practice, spaced repetition, interleaving, and “desirable difficulty” to boost learning retention.

    I aim to transcend divisive “reading wars” binaries like phonics vs. whole language. I teach enough phonics so learners can “crack the code” of written English, while also teaching critical thinking and engaging with real literature beyond decodables and curriculum sets. Literacy is both a science and an art. I know from experience that cultural humility and culturally affirming teaching are just as important as staying on top of the data. As a writer and voracious reader, I have deep respect for literature in all its forms - oral traditions, song lyrics, rap and hip hop battles, zines, dialogue in great movies, plays, and TV shows… authentic literacy can be found all around us!

  • Yes! I’d love to chat with you about crafting sessions based on your interests and needs. I can teach all of the following:

    • Reading comprehension, including analytical skills, expanding content knowledge, and reading to deepen social-emotional capacities such as empathy, problem-solving, tolerance for ambiguity, etc.

    • Creative writing (fiction, memoir, poetry, etc).

    • Essay and academic writing using ThinkSRSD to plan, organize, research, write, and revise.

    • Public speaking / storytelling / creating audio books.

    • ESL (English as a second language) learning support.

    • Literacy for nonspeaking learners and learners who use AAC (assistive and augmentative communication).

  • Of course! Everyone can learn, and I consider it my job to figure out how to reach every learner. I have experience working with emergent bilingual learners, learners with DLD, people with multiple disabilities, autistic people, people with PDA profiles, and people who use AAC (augmentative and alternative communication).

  • I’m a certified educator, so I can accept state ESA funds.

    I use a sliding scale for tutoring: some people pay more so others can pay less. My sliding scale runs from $100 - $40 per hour.

    If you can meet your basic needs comfortably, with funds left over for things like eating out and taking vacations, thank you for paying on the higher end! You can also consider making a donation to support my work tutoring incarcerated youth, which pays far less than my private tutoring. Your generosity makes it possible for me to serve more people in need.

    You can make a donation at https://www.prosocialxd.com/pay.
Collage of 2 young people, a capybara, and an alien reading in a library. A cat looks out of a window at the sunset. There are magazines and cactus plants on the windowsill.

“Once you learn to read, you will be forever free.”

Frederick Douglass