Illustration @flowoolgarbarrington

 Mrs. O’Donavan, Kidlington

“When we first discovered that [our daughter] was Dyslexic, it was a very difficult time, the school seemed unable to help and we were beginning to think we would have to place [her] in private education.  Since making contact with Mary-Louise, we have not looked back.  [Our daughter’s] understanding of Mary-Louise’s PHONIC RAINBOW™ was almost instant and her spelling has improved massively!

I think the main thing is that Mary-Louise has developed a program that makes sense.  It enables us as parents to help and most importantly, has given [our daughter] the ability to work with her Dyslexia.  Her confidence was very, very low when we started with Mary-Louise and just this week, she has volunteered to help the younger children in her school with reading.  This would not have been possible without this way of learning.”

Mrs. Willis, South Oxford

“Thank you for helping with [our son’s] reading and spelling.  In the ten months that he’s been coming to you, he’s made big steps forward with both.

When he first started, [he] seemed to understand the program very easily. The break-down of words into vowel sounds, punctuated by consonants, made sense to him.  The focus on vowel sounds (the colours) has helped him to break words down and think through the options for sounding out and for spelling.

[Our son] doesn’t enjoy literacy at school at all, and resists all practice with reading and writing at home, but he is always keen to carry on coming to his Mary-Lou lessons.  He doesn’t seem to feel threatened by them, and manages to concentrate for longer than he does at any other work.”

Mrs. Stevens, Wolvercote 

“It has been great to watch how my daughter has benefited from Mary-Lou’s PHONIC RAINBOW™. We have tried so many different approaches (including some devised specifically to help Dyslexic children), and this is the first one which I have felt has made a significant difference.  The other day [our daughter] came home from school saying that she had used ‘Mary-Lou’s spelling options’ approach and that ‘it had worked!’. 

Working with Mary-Lou has provided the ‘way in’ to helping [her] with her Dyslexia which we had been looking for.  Most importantly [she] is enjoying the sessions, making good progress and gaining confidence in her abilities.”

Dr Mark Burton, Reading

"We think that [our son] benefited significantly from his weekly tutorial sessions in Mary- Lou's PHONIC RAINBOW™. It provided a much richer and more diverse multi-sensory approach to literacy than the normal school curriculum did which really seemed to work for [him]. Mary-Lou also used a wide range of techniques to keep his interest and make learning fun. 

Over the year [our son] progressed significantly in his reading and spelling ability (as measured by the Dyslexia Research Trust), and while it is not possible to resolve the underlying sources of his improvements, it was clear from interaction from with [our son] that he was employing these techniques in his every day work to help him sound out words. 

In particular he found the colour associations a useful way to represent the sounds and link to their spelling options. We feel sure that PHONIC RAINBOW™ was a significant factor in [our son’s] progress.”
 

Mrs. Walker, Watlington 

“Having completed the course, [our daughter] has shown marked improvement in her reading and spelling, which has been recorded by the Reading Dyslexia Research Trust.  The course has helped her gain confidence in both reading and spelling, giving her a basis on which she can work out how a sound could be written.  PHONIC RAINBOW™ works well for her as it combines auditory and visual learning which was perhaps missing from the school environment.

We recently had a huge breakthrough and she has started reading for pleasure - a real achievement when reading can be so difficult!!”
 

Mary-Lou is excited to share the news! 

The first of four books which will teach Phonic Rainbow™ will be ready soon.  I am looking for a Literary Agent to represent me. I believe that this is rich resource which will help young readers, step by step, to gain confidence in reading out loud. Mary-Lou believes that every child deserves a quality education and the support they need to succeed.

The 'Mary' series and supporting materials will be designed to do just this.

Illustrations by Flo Woolgar Barrington 

IG: @flowoolgarbarrington 

Website: https://flowoolgarbarrington.art/coastal-illustrations