Who Is Orton-Gillingham Tutoring For?

Neil Holm

B.A., B.Ed., M.Ed, Dyslexia Interventionist in Training

Waitlisting for the Fall of 2023

Neil has worked as a teacher since 1998 in a variety of public-school settings. He has experience with all age groups but mainly worked at the Secondary and Post Secondary levels. For the last 10 years Neil has been working at North Island College in the Department of Accessible Learning teaching students with developmental and mental health challenges. In addition, he has also taught in the Department of Human Services at NIC teaching Students who are pursuing careers as Support Workers and Educational Assistants. He has a Bachelor of Arts with a Major in Geography (SFU), a Bachelor of Education (UBC). He received his Masters of Education Degree in Administration, Counselling and Curriculum Studies (City University, USA) with a focus on Special Education in 2006.
Recently Neil has participated in the Orton-Gillingham 64 hour coursework to become an Associate with the Academy of Orton Gillingham Practitioners and Educators while he completes his practicum.
Neil believes that the multi-sensory approach for teaching children is the most effective way to connect and allow a child to reach their full learning potential. He will accommodate for all learning differences to provide a constructive and positive learning experience.

Lorelei Holm

B.Ed., M.Ed.

No Availability

Lorelei received a Bachelor of Education Degree from the University of Saskatchewan and has served as a teacher and educational leader in both Public and Independent school systems for the past 25 years. Most notably, her experience has been as a classroom teacher for grades 1, 2, 4, and 6, school French teacher Kindergarten-gr.7, Humanities 9 and English 12 teacher.

During this time her teaching reports were punctuated with statements such as “kind”, “caring”, “has tremendous compassion and love for children” and “a true gift of creativity”. Lorelei’s classroom teaching experience allowed her to develop into a master teacher with a diverse and impressive skill set, knowledge of current BC. curriculum and an impeccable performance record. Her professional growth focused on Literacy Development and multi-sensory strategies using the Orton Gillingham approach and course work in the Provincial Outreach Program for Autism and Related Disorders (POPARD).

After completing her Master’s Degree in Educational Administration, Lorelei went on to assume leadership roles as a Learning Resource Teacher and Department Head in 3 Independent Schools of Vancouver where she was responsible for overseeing student IEP’s and support staff of Education Assistants. In her capacity as a Resource Teacher, Lorelei was able to more than double Special Education funding and enhance much needed support and interventions for a number of students with special needs. The aforementioned strong teaching performance record, successful and broad experiences in leadership-oriented pursuits as a Vice Principal, and a desire to grow her competencies as an educational leader, led Lorelei to successfully pursue a position
of Principal at a French Immersion school in Vancouver.

Lorelie has completed the Associate Level Orton-Gillingham Course through the Fraser Academy in Vancouver with the Academy of Orton-Gillingham Practitioners and Educators.  She has completed one of Marilyn Wardrop’s OG math courses and will continue her studies of multi-sensory math teaching with Maralyn in the Fall by taking her OG Academic Math course.

Lorelei and her husband Eric recently moved to the Comox Valley. Now retired from full time teaching and administration, Lorelei is excited to put her knowledge and experience to good use as a freelance educational consultant and tutor. Her passion has always been in helping students reach their full potential, particularly students who experience barriers or learning challenges.

Katherine Hallam 

B.P.E.,  B.Ed.

Dyslexia Interventionist in Training

Katherine completed her first year as an Orton-Gillingham Associate Level tutor in training and homeschool Language Arts/English support teacher at the same time she finished her first year in Canada. After 18 years spent teaching at private schools in Singapore, it was necessary to return. When abroad, professional opportunities included participating in a summer writing program at Columbia in New York; attending IB conferences in Adelaide and Hong Kong; and co-presenting a workshop with Dianna Pratt on responsible digital citizenship at EARCOS Philippines, a conference for international teachers in Asia-Pacific.

Establishing relationships through play and discussion are Katherine’s strengths. Her goal is to foster confidence, independence and joy in young people as they navigate learning the complexity of reading and writing.

Philosophically, she believes all learning comes down to two principles: having good communication skills and knowing when to take risks.  Putting that into practice, she anticipates becoming a certified Dyslexia Interventionist in the next year. 

Kieran Amidon

Math and Science Tutor, Bachelor of Environmental Science 

Wait Listing for the 2022/2023 School Year

Kieran comes to us with an extensive background in math and a Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental Sciences.  He has designed and conducted agricultural research work in laboratory and field settings and has a passion for applied science.  He has years of experience as a metal fabricator and experience with the application of mathematics.  Kieran is familiar with the math curriculum up to grade 9 and has experience working with the atypical student with learning differences and neurological/developmental delays.  He has been working with Partners in Education for the last 2 years as a support worker.  Kieran has successfully implemented a Multi-Sensory Grammar and Writing program with students who have learning differences, including dyslexia and dysgraphia, and he has a gift for connecting and creating relationships with kids.  He is an outdoor enthusiast who enjoys Mountaineering, Skiing, Hiking and Cycling. 

Karen Hayton

Certified with Orton-Gillingham Canada

Special Education Assistant