Denys Lyne

From a very young age I had the reputation of being ‘very clumsy’ and ‘permanently on the go’.  I struggled to learn to read, only being able to read through a mirror, upside down and back to front! Tying shoe laces was beyond me, velcro had not been invented. Learning to ride a bike was fraught with bruises and crashes. By the end of Primary school my teacher was concerned that I seemed to transpose all my maths answers. No one had heard of Dyslexia.  I worked very hard at school, I was a ‘good student’. In fact after my earlier rocky start, I loved learning.  I went on to complete a teaching degree and then found Montessori. It was during my Montessori training that all the problems I had experienced with maths just disappeared, I couldn’t understand why everyone was not taught in this way.

When my son reached 8 years of age, having been taught using the Montessori approach from birth, he did not make the jump from phonetic to sight word spelling.  He was a very good reader but didn’t ever finish a book.  His spelling ability was well below the rest of his peers and his self-esteem took a tumble.  I couldn’t understand what was wrong.  It was about this time that I first met Jane at a Montessori training event, where she was talking about recognising Dyslexia and other learning difficulties in the classroom.  I was inspired to find out what more I could do to help those children that were not making the expected progress despite the very hands on, multi-sensory approach of Montessori education.

It was through my own studies and training days with Jane that I discovered the fact that I had Dyspraxia.  Now everything made sense. I realised my brain worked differently from others and this prompted me to continue training and researching the benefits of the Montessori approach to learning as an intervention programme.  I went on to gain further training with Dyslexia Matters in assessing and teaching learners with Dyslexia and related learning difficulties.  I love working 1:1 with students and finding out what really helps them to learn, boosting their self esteem as they come to the same realisation as I did, their brain may work differently to others,  but success is about using those differences and making them their strengths.

I have now left teaching in a Montessori school to fully dedicate my time to teaching and assessing learners of all ages who struggle to learn in the conventional way.

I am delighted to join Jane and the team at Brainwaves International.

My APC certificate can be downloaded here:  APC Certificate Denys Lyne