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TESTIMONIALS
"I have been working with Joanne for 2 years now and I can't even begin to tell you how helpful she has been. I look forward to every session and they always seem to fly by. Though they seem like they go fast, Joanne's sessions have this awesome way of infusing useful information into your head." Hans, student age 12
"Dear Joanne,
You have always helped me with my spelling and reading. You would support me when I was having a rough day. You made learning fun with your funny outfits and games. And I still have 'It's a job it's a job it's a cian' stuck in my head. I will miss you." Will, student age 12
"Joanne made learning the program fun. I'm so glad I got to learn with Joanne." Miller, student age 10
"Joanne has changed our life! Since starting tutoring with her 5 months ago our 7 year old daughter has gone from thinking she can't read to devouring every book she can get her hands on, even if it is well above her reading level. Her confidence has sky rocketed and she is no longer timid about trying to read. Her scores on the DIEBELS test have also gone from mostly below grade level in every area at the beginning of the year to at or above grade level just 4 months later. Joanne makes our sessions fun with lots of stories about why certain letters make certain sounds in words and our daughter looks forward to her time with Joanne every week. My husband and I are so thankful for Joanne's willingness to tutor our daughter via skype, we live several hours outside of the Seattle area, and feel blessed that we finally have the tools needed to help our daughter learn to decode the English language. Joanne has also helped us advocate for our daughter in the school setting by making sure we are communicating with the teachers about what she specifically needs while in the classroom. Joanne incorporates lots of strategies in her tutoring sessions based upon your child's specific needs and is available for support in-between sessions should any questions arise. If you are need of someone who can help your child learn to read and write Joanne is your answer. Our family will be forever grateful for her time, attention, energy, and enthusiasm which has helped bring the spark back to our daughter and returned her zest for learning to read and write. Thank you Joanne!" Heather, parent
"Joanne is the best tutor I’ve ever worked with for any subject! She tailors weekly lessons specifically for each student every single time. It is clear that she is passionate about teaching reading and literacy. What I love about her is that she is always learning about new approaches and ways to effectively help kids. She is communicative, prompt and extremely professional. The best part is that her work with my son over the past year and a half has helped him to jump multiple reading levels and gain confidence in reading and writing. She really is the best." Leisa, parent
"Joanne is the best addition we have made to our son's education! She began by giving him a foundational (age appropriate) understanding of dyslexia, explaining why his brain learns best when taught in specific ways and assuring him that he would learn to read. When we began working with her, our son was frustrated with his below grade level reading and lost confidence in his abilities. His growth in reading and writing since then is stunning. He now LOVES to read and write!
"Joanne's partnership approach with parents is unique compared to any other tutor our son worked with previously. We are so grateful that she includes a parent in the tutoring appointments. This empowers us with tools to practice with our son and reinforce his learning throughout the week. Her experience means she has seemingly endless ideas and methods for teaching tricky topics. She reads our child's frustration or fatigue and easily pivots to another game to meet the same goal in a way that engages him. Each session is tailored to him and ready before we start but also flexible enough to work with his energy level that day.
"Joanne recognizes effort and progress with concrete, meaningful feedback. Our son knows that she is rooting for him and her feedback is very important to him. We leave each session truly energized by his progress, ready to keep working and confident that we have the best 'team captain' in Joanne." Christina, parent
"It's difficult to express how much Joanne has done for my son and for our family. I can start by saying that she has changed my son's ability to participate in the world around him. Everyone starts somewhere and my son started with zero percent legibility despite being gifted in other areas. At school he was falling further and further behind. Joanne was patient with his challenges and at the same time set high expectations. I cannot believe how far he's come in one year. He tells me he's excited to start Latin and Greek spelling rules soon. He is confident and isn't scared to play games with friends where they have to write or draw. What's more, by demonstrating to me how his brain interprets letters and words and ideas; I feel able to help him learn at home now. Thank you, Joanne!" Katie, Parent
"We are so grateful to Joanne for all she has done to help our son. She is a devoted teacher who genuinely cares about our son and puts forth every effort to ensure his growth. Joanne is organized, patient, dedicated and caring. She is intelligent and creative in how she tailors her approach to meet our son's needs. Our son has made significant progress working with her. Joanne is easy to work with. She communicates often to ensure we are all on the same page and working together to help our son be successful. We highly recommend Joanne! We are thankful for our wonderful relationship with Joanne and we look forward to continuing to work together." Janna, parent
“Joanne has been working with our now 8-year-old for about 18 months now (starting well before COVID hit). When our daughter started, she was still at an early kindergarten reading level despite being in the tail end of 1st grade. The learning curve associated with reading was a real struggle with our daughter who also has challenges associated with executive function. We couldn't figure out how to get her on the right path and it was clear she needed more support. Fast forward, our daughter has totally thrived with Joanne, reading beyond her grade level and best of all, actually enjoys reading on her own! She now stays up way too late reading.
“Also, I wanted to share that our child was no walk in the park in these sessions. Sometimes she gets frustrated, cries, or doesn't even want to participate. But Joanne is very adaptable in these situations and our child adores her. It doesn't make a difference if the session is in person or on Zoom - they are both impactful. Sometimes the homework is hard and requires a lot of parental vigilance, but Joanne has partnered with us to find solutions and engage her interest. We could not be more grateful to discover Joanne!” Karen, parent
"I highly recommend working with Joanne. My son was struggling in early elementary school with reading and writing, and working with Joanne gave my son the confidence he needed to like school again. Through the years of working with Joanne, my son saw what a difference she has made with his learning, grades, and his ability to advocate for himself. I think the hardest part was saying goodbye to Joanne after we finished the program because she became such an important part of our world." Katie, parent
"Joanne has been fabulous to work with. She is always prepared with a customized plan for my son. My son has made more progress working with her over the last six months than four years in the public school. His writing and spelling have improved dramatically, and his teachers cannot believe the speed of improvement. I recommend Joanne wholeheartedly." Sharon, parent
"Due to the educational challenges presented with the COVID-19 pandemic, we wanted our daughter to receive some extra assistance with reading and writing. Joanne was recommended. We have worked with Joanne for 3 wonderful years. We watched our daughter go from a 0.5 grade reading level to a 5+ grade reading level using the skills learned from Joanne. It was truly a team effort – Joanne, child, parents, and even Grandma – practicing most days and meeting with Joanne weekly.
Joanne brings a wealth of knowledge and years of experience. She is always positive and reviews (and reviews) until the content is solid; always moving at the pace of the child with realistic expectations. She makes learning fun by including characters to help remember different rules, even dressing the part. I was surprised to discover I learned as much as my child.
With Joanne, my child’s confidence grew exponentially. She is fluently reading and enjoying chapter books! Further, she gained insight into the importance of practice and how/when to practice, and now has the self-assurance to learn new material. " Elizabeth, parent
"We’ve worked with Joanne for quite a few years to first establish the very basics of spelling, writing and reading, and now going through Latin and Greek based spelling and writing. Joanne has been very methodological and yet emphatic teacher, knowing when to push more and knowing when to pull back. She is encouraging and always comes up with a way to engage my daughter. Our work together has not only taught my daughter to write and read fluently, but it’s given her an interest in literature as a creative expression as well. She also learned important study techniques that she will be able to use the rest of her life. I would recommend Joanne for anyone whose child struggles with reading and writing." Anu, parent.
"Our daughter was diagnosed with dyslexia at the age of 11, and we knew time was of the essence for finding a tutor who could help her develop the skills she would need to succeed academically. We are incredibly fortunate to have found Joanne; from the very beginning of our journey with her, we knew she was the perfect fit for our daughter. Joanne embodies enthusiasm, creativity, and compassion. She makes learning fun and engaging -- two key elements for helping kids succeed as learners. Joanne and the Wired for Reading program have helped our daughter understand her dyslexia, decipher written words like never before, improve as a reader, and actually enjoy the written language instead of feeling intimidated by it. We are delighted with the growth our daughter has exhibited under Joanne's guidance and cannot recommend her enough." Meredith, parent
"Joanne is an engaging, caring and supportive teacher who offers a thorough and powerful program from which our son has made much progress. She keeps her sessions lively and consistent; between sessions she's responsive to questions and parent concerns. Joanne is very organized, reliable and has clear business practices. We are grateful to Joanne for all of her support and encouragement as well as her knowledge and experience in other educational matters. We highly recommend Joanne." Judy, parent
"We are so pleased to be working with Joanne. We appreciate her warm and friendly approach. She quickly developed a rapport with our skeptical son. We appreciate her mentorship in helping us meet our sons’ educational needs and we are pleased with the progress he is making as a result of her incredible support." Carrie, parent
"Our 11-year-old had struggled for years with her ability to read. This struggle caused her to be pulled from class and put in special groups beginning in 1st grade. By 3rd grade she would come home in tears as she felt left out and embarrassed she was unable to read as well as her peers. We had previously placed her in several reading programs and speech therapy, but there was very little improvement. In 2018 we learned about Wired for Reading and were introduced to Joanne. From the start we had a positive feeling about the program and Joanne. We cannot express how amazed we are at the progress our daughter has made thus far. She is starting sixth grade this year and can read thanks to the team effort Joanne championed over the past year. Our daughter’s self-esteem has been boosted and she is much happier when going to school in the morning. Thank you so much Joanne, you are a great educator for sure!" Bill and Renie, parents
"We are so thankful to have Joanne working with our daughter! Our 8 year old was not only struggling to read, but also struggling with self-esteem due to feeling so behind in class. We noticed a both a boost in her self-esteem and progress in reading almost immediately. Joanne has made it fun, but also makes sure that the lesson is completely understood before moving on. Joanne’s ability to find ways to teach different learning styles, and catch the smallest of details is so appreciated as she has really been nurturing our daughter’s self-esteem in the process. She is now able to read to her brother at night, or read a book to enjoy herself, as well as feeling more confident and able in the classroom. We are thrilled for her." Audrey, parent
"The individualized attention that our daughter receives from Joanne is a great confidence builder. She provides a safe, encouraging, and patient environment to help our daughter learn. In just a few months we are seeing improvement in reading, writing, and testing scores. We are lucky to work with Joanne and I would absolutely recommend her to anyone." Dina, parent
"We love Joanne and the work she does with our son. We have seen his advancements from her work and his eagerness to face his challenges is invigorated, which helps both us and our son. She works very much in a partnership and is very supportive. I would recommend her to any parent that was looking for a tutor." Brianna, parent
"Joanne Cahn has been our daughter’s tutor for the last couple of years, providing keen awareness in diagnosing and then intervening in the most effective ways. Joanne demonstrates sincere empathy as well as holding a firm line in challenging our daughter. She’s very understanding of our child’s needs. Joanne is super organized and understands how the wired-for-reading process works. We are on a great path with Joanne. I highly recommend Joanne. She is terrific, and we are grateful she has the patience to work with our daughter. As parents of a child who was struggling and is now succeeding, we would give Joanne a 5-star rating. Even better, our daughter agrees!" parent from an independent school
"Our daughter is quite bright but struggled to read at grade level and was in the 15th percentile of spellers. She is now reading at grade level and she can spell! If it weren't for Joanne's fun, passionate, and positive energy, my daughter would have completely resisted tutoring. Instead, I think she secretly enjoys her tutoring sessions. Joanne clearly has years of experience and her methodology is straightforward, logical and I have even found myself using it from time to time. We really enjoy working with her. We also appreciate her focused attention during the tutoring sessions with the entire hour focused just on learning, billing and schedule happen outside of sessions. I highly recommend her!" Mo, Parent
"We feel really fortunate to have Joanne working with our daughter. She is incredibly knowledgeable, friendly and organized. We always get all of her attention when we are working with her. Joanne goes out of her way to be accessible for any questions we have in between sessions and my daughter's skill level and confidence have improved rapidly with the approach that Joanne uses." Laura, parent
"Joanne offers a unique skillset that combines her expertise in teaching techniques drawing from Orton Gillingham, Slingerland, and the Wired for Reading programs. With such a broad base of knowledge, she was able to customize a tutoring program that was specific to the needs of my son, adding material and using strategies that honed in on the specific areas that most challenged him in his learning. She has provided unmeasured support to our son and, in turn, to our family as a whole during a really stressful season. We are so grateful for the opportunity to work with her." Jenny J. parent
"Joanne is a wonderful fit for our 8 year old son in supporting his reading and writing. She is both encouraging and supportive and also appropriately demands that he live into his potential. Her approach is both methodical and flexible to accommodate our son's needs. She works collaboratively with us as parents so we can support him as well." Jill, parent
"Joanne uses her vast knowledge in countless teaching modalities to best meet each child. The flexible and organized manner in which she approaches each teaching session makes every hour count. She is approachable and extremely responsive for any issues that arise during home practices. Overall, Joanne has been a key player in meeting our son where he was academically and moving him along a path of success and regained confidence." Stephanie, parent
"Joanne is fun, attentive, and dedicated to her work. She joyfully helps my child learn. He feels supported and pushed without feeling less than." Tracy, parent.
"When our daughter started first grade, she was assessed at entry-level kindergarten. She had attended a school the year before that had bigger issues than teaching reading. We weren't sure how Joanne's methods would work, but as an education attorney I was deeply impressed with her qualifications and training, so we decided to give it a try. In the beginning, it felt as if our daughter would take a long time to gain ground as Joanne began by breaking down reading into individual sounds and written letters. She methodologically made sure our daughter learned each new lesson before progressing. As time went on, we began to see that she was training our daughter to fundamentally hear language differently and provide a powerful foundation for her to read and write. Our daughter started hearing the softer blends in words, and then layered on that, phonetic understanding. Joanne taught our daughter words that don't follow rules and rules that do work in English. Piece by piece, our daughter began gaining speed, learning large groups of words with each new rule. Her spelling improved, her reading and writing, and most importantly, her basic confidence in herself and her ability to learn. With Joanne's help, our daughter ended the first grade at entry-level second grade standards, as assessed by her school. While we are now very satisfied with our daughter's public school, we have decided to continue working with Joanne to supplement, as what she provides is unique and has deeply helped our daughter become a confident student." Rebecca, parent