You’ve got a child who’s bright and curious and finding reading harder than it should be. Or a teenager who’s stopped reading altogether and decided they can’t do it. Or you’re home educating, teaching phonics yourself and looking for structured resources you can build into the week — including French and German vocabulary, if that’s part of your week.
You’ve probably been given advice that didn’t fit, or paid for assessments that didn’t change much, or sat in meetings where you were the only person in the room who’d done the reading.
This is the right place for that.
I’m Joanna Whale. I’ve been doing this work for twenty-three years — secondary English teaching first, then thirteen years of one-to-one specialist work with learners from primary age through to higher education. I’m a Level 7 SpLD specialist with AMBDA, a Level 5 Dyscalculia Specialist, and a PATOSS member. I’m also parent to neurodivergent children, and many of the families I work with are also managing complex disability alongside everything else.
More than half of my current students are home educated.
More about me →
How I can help
There are four routes in, depending on what you need.
If you’re not sure which you need, a consultation is the usual place to start — it’s where we work out what would actually help.
Before the Fire — Specialist Consultations
A consultation is a Zoom call where we sit down with what you’ve got — a report, a question, a situation you can’t see through — and think it through together. Three formats: an open Specialist Consultation, a Paperwork Review for reports and documents, and a Follow-Up for parents who’ve worked with me before. Plus two messaging tiers if a call isn’t what you need
The Chimney-Corner — Specialist Tuition
One-to-one specialist tuition for children and teenagers with dyslexia, dyscalculia, or related literacy difficulties. Weekly sessions over Zoom. Current waiting list status, fees, and what tuition actually looks like are on the Tuition page.
The Anvil — Resource Shop
Downloadable phonics, morphology, handwriting, French and German vocabulary resources for home use and tutoring. Most are £2-£4. They’re not a substitute for teaching; they’re the consolidation work between sessions, or the structured support a home-educating parent can build into the week.
The Bramble-Bush — Book Grading
Phonics-graded book reviews using the Hatcher framework. If you’re trying to work out whether a book is the right reading level for your child, this is the place to look.
Reading and reference
Alongside the services, there are four places on the site that exist as reading rather than booking.
The Compendium — Resources for Parents and Carers
A library of practical articles for parents and carers — the SEND system, EHCPs, DLA and PIP, assistive technology, home education. Plus podcasts, training, and social media voices worth following. Two strands of personal reflection sit inside it — Reflections on Parenting and Disability, and Reflections on Teaching and Learning.
The Wordhord — Word Origins for Curious Readers
Etymology entries for curious readers. Where words come from, how they’ve shifted, what they’re connected to. Some entries are full word cards; some are blog posts surrounding them.
The Hearth — Newsletter
Occasional letters when I’ve got something worth saying. Etymology, the SEND system, structured literacy, what I’ve been reading. There’s no schedule — I send one when there’s something to send.
Who I work with
Children and teenagers who:
• Have dyslexia, dyscalculia, or handwriting difficulties
• Are autistic or otherwise neurodivergent
• Have stopped reading, or never started properly
• Are home educated, in mainstream school, or in a specialist setting
• Don’t yet have a formal diagnosis but clearly benefit from structured help
A lot of the families I work with arrive after several years of frustration. With calm, structured support, progress can be significant within months — including for learners who arrived convinced they couldn’t read.
Evidence before assumption
‘Take nothing on its looks; take everything on evidence.’
— Charles Dickens, Great Expectations
The work here is grounded in research and careful observation, not trends or quick fixes. Families often arrive overwhelmed by conflicting advice. What I offer is something steadier - structure, and a clear sense of what actually helps over time.
If you’d like to talk through whether one of these routes fits your situation, get in touch.
