Welcome to Journey to Better Reading
Hi! I’m Cheryl, a literacy specialist who has spent decades helping students, teachers, and families understand how reading really develops, and what to do when it doesn’t come easily. Journey to Better Reading is a place where I share clear, practical guidance rooted in how the reading brain works, so every child can become a confident, capable reader.
I’ve been teaching children to read since 1992, and I still love this work as much as I did on my very first day in the classroom. From fourth grade to eighth grade, from middle school reading classes to elementary interventions, I’ve seen firsthand that reading success isn’t about luck or guessing or being “a reading kid.” It’s about giving children the instruction their brains need to connect sounds, letters, and meaning.
Early in my career, I realized that simply surrounding kids with books wasn’t enough. Many students, especially those with dyslexia or persistent reading difficulties, needed explicit, systematic teaching to truly make sense of print. That led me back to graduate school for a master’s in reading, where the research aligned with what I had been observing all along: reading is a taught skill, and every child benefits from instruction that is clear, structured, and responsive.
That belief is now at the heart of Journey to Better Reading.
Here, you’ll find practical tips rooted in the Science of Reading, strategies teachers can use right away, and routines that families and homeschoolers can put into practice at home. You’ll also find explanations of the key ideas behind learning to read, like how the brain forms reading pathways and why approaches such as phonics, phonemic awareness, and morphology matter so much.
My hope is that this site becomes a reliable companion for anyone supporting a reader:
Parents trying to understand why their child is struggling
Teachers looking for routines that actually move students forward
Homeschoolers wanting clarity and confidence
Anyone learning how to build strong language and literacy foundations
No matter where you are on your journey, you’re welcome here. I’m glad you’ve found your way to this space, and I look forward to walking alongside you as we explore research, routines, and resources that make a real difference for kids.
Let’s keep moving forward, one step at a time, on the journey to better reading.