Meet The Tutors

Mary Jennifer Payne brings nearly 25 years of experience teaching students with a variety of learning disabilities – including dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia and ADHD – to her tutoring. After starting her teaching career in Southeast London, she returned to Canada to teach in the Toronto community of Regent Park, where she spent nearly two decades mainly in Special Education. A strong advocate for inclusion and equity, she carefully tailors each student’s program to reflect that individual’s strengths and needs and ensures that culturally-responsive and relevant resources are used. She utilizes the Barton Reading and Spelling Program and the Nessy Learning Programme, both of which are Orton-Gillingham based, as the foundation of her approach to supporting students with dyslexia.

Mary Jennifer also uses Foundations In Sounds which helps with auditory discrimination, auditory memory size and auditory sequencing skills. Payne is available for tutoring as well as educational advocacy for families, especially those navigating the public school system.

Mary Jennifer is an internationally-published writer and the author of many children’s and YA books. Her work can be found in Orca Press’s new ultra-readable hi-lo series and their hi-lo Soundings series, as well as Rubicon Publishing’s award-winning Boldprint series. She strongly believes in the importance of student voice and is passionate about approaching special educational exceptionalities from an asset-based lens.​

Julia Jack has experience supporting students of all ages academically and personally through research, library services, and inclusive programming to her tutoring practice. She is a recent Psychology graduate from Trent University and an incoming Master’s student in Applied Disability Studies at Brock University. Julia specializes in helping students strengthen their reading and writing skills through individualized, evidence-based instruction grounded in multisensory learning.

Julia has worked with students at the early elementary level, tailoring lessons to support reading development in ways that match each learner’s strengths and needs. Her approach draws on structured literacy principles and incorporates multiple learning modalities such as visual, auditory, and kinesthetic.

In addition to her tutoring work, Julia has taught art and dance to learners of all ages and abilities, volunteered in inclusive art programs, and worked in academic settings that promote student success. A strong advocate for equity and inclusion, she creates a supportive, encouraging environment where students feel confident and motivated to grow their skills. Her background in psychology and applied behaviour analysis informs her structured yet flexible teaching style, with the goal of fostering long-term success in literacy.

Paula Quintana is an educator in Toronto, with a specialization in Early Years education. She graduated from York University with a Bachelor of Education (specialization Early Childhood Education). She also attended the University of Ottawa, where she earned a Masters of Education in Education Counselling.

Upon returning to Toronto she was hired by the Toronto District School Board where she has worked in various positions in the classroom, ranging from Kindergarten to Grade 6 including Special Education and Health and Physical Education. Over the past 5 years, she has been centrally assigned. One of her roles was in Numeracy and Literacy to support students in grades 6 to 8 in the transition to Secondary school.

Currently she is working as a Early Literacy Intervention Teacher with Students in Kindergarten to Grade 2. She has extensive knowledge in early reading development. Paula is a responsive educator and approaches teaching from a student centered stance.​

Since 2009, Sherri has dedicated her career to supporting learners with diverse learning needs and neurodiversities. She holds a Saskatchewan Professional A Teaching Certificate and is listed in the Public Registry of the Saskatchewan Professional Teachers Regulatory Board.

As an Advanced Level Certified Barton Tutor, Sherri provides structured literacy instruction for dyslexic learners and others who experience reading and spelling challenges, using the Barton Reading & Spelling System. She has also completed coursework at the Classroom Educator and Associate levels through Learn Literacy, an approved training agency of the Academy of Orton-Gillingham Practitioners and Educators.

Sherri is listed in the International Dyslexia Association's Professional Directory as a structured literacy tutor and is an accredited registered instructor with the Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW). She is passionate about helping learners gain confidence, develop strong literacy skills, and experience success in their learning journey.

Hayley Goodman supports students in Grades 1–10 in developing foundational reading, spelling, writing, and comprehension skills. She works with learners experiencing a range of difficulties, including dyslexia, to help literacy become clear, manageable, and transferable to schoolwork.

Hayley has completed her certification in Evidence-Based Literacy Instruction (EBLI), a speech-to-print structured literacy approach. EBLI begins with the sounds in students’ everyday speech and systematically connects them to English spelling patterns, reducing memorization and confusion while strengthening decoding and spelling accuracy. She is also trained to teach writing using the thinkSRSD strategy, a structured writing process which helps students plan, organize, and express their ideas more effectively.

Before entering education, Hayley earned an MBA from the Schulich School of Business and worked in marketing for consumer packaged goods companies. She now uses these skills to provide structured, supportive sessions to help students achieve their literacy goals.

Hannah recently graduated from Trent University with a B.Sc. in Psychology and a specialization in psychological development. With a strong foundation in understanding how students learn and grow, she completed courses in language acquisition, behaviourism, cross-cultural theories of human development, and the manifestations of psychological needs in the school system. This academic background allows her to approach learning with empathy, flexibility, and the knowledge that every student brings their own unique strengths to their learning environment.

Currently, she is pursuing a B.Ed. at Brock University in the Primary/Junior stream where she is continuing to develop her inclusive teaching practices. Through her work with students using structured literacy, she finds her greatest joy in watching them grow comfortable and enthusiastic in their exploration of the content. As she moves forward in her career, Hannah prioritizes helping students build self-confidence in their journey to become strong readers and writers while honouring their individuality as multidimensional learners. 

Cecil is a passionate and dedicated educator based in Toronto, Ontario. With 18 years of experience as a French teacher in the Toronto District School Board, he is committed to helping students excel in their French language skills. Cecil’s expertise includes working with students at various levels, including those in French Immersion programs and those with limited understanding of French.

As a bilingual educator fluent in both English and French, Cecil leverages his skills to create engaging and effective lessons. He consistently explores strategies to further enrich his teaching practices.

Cecil integrates the Science of Reading into his teaching methods, emphasizing a structured literacy approach to help students develop strong foundational reading skills in French. He combines evidence-based practices with engaging activities to support oral language comprehension, phonics, and vocabulary, ensuring his students build confidence and fluency in reading.

Cecil is deeply invested in the success of his students whether in classroom settings or through one-on-one tutoring. He is particularly passionate about creative learning approaches which make French come alive for his students.

Sanmi completed her Masters degree in Civil Engineering from Mumbai University with being one of the top scorers of her batch. She is a Math enthusiast and has a keen interest in teaching and delivering her subject knowledge to students. Her experience with students includes classroom teaching in Dubai and one-on-one tutoring in Toronto. She has a very positive and patient approach to helping students master the subject. Her focus is to build student confidence when dealing with Math as a subject.

Heidi Siebert is a OCT certified teacher with 22 years of experience with the Toronto District School Board. Heidi graduated with a BA from Dalhousie University and then taught English to both adults and children in Japan. She then graduated with a BEd from Mount Saint Vincent University before moving to Toronto in 2000.

She has worked in bookstores and has worked as a private ESL tutor. Most of Heidi’s career as a teacher has been working as a classroom teacher at the Primary and Junior level, however, she has also worked as a Resource and ESL teacher in many different grades. Heidi has travelled the world extensively and uses the knowledge she has gained to better understand other people and how we all learn differently. Heidi feels learning is an ongoing process and has taken courses in Reading, teaching ELLs as well as Special Education to help enhance her career. She looks forward to tutoring students and helping them to develop a love of conversational English as well as English reading and writing.

Naomi’s approach to teaching is student centered and supports the creation of a shared learning space that is inclusive. She is an educator who cares about the all-around learning experience of her students. This includes building positive working relationships and understanding their readiness to learn.

After graduating from York University with a BEd and BA in Sociology, Naomi traveled to Australia and taught in Sydney’s public schools as an elementary teacher. She has a Masters Degree in Environmental Studies and is an OTC certified teacher with qualifications in Primary/Junior Education and secondary school qualifications in Senior Social Science and Environmental Science. Her experience with students also includes one-to-one tutoring and classroom teaching in Toronto’s public elementary schools. 

Naomi is currently living and teaching in the UK, but is available for engaging, online sessions

HandinHand Reading Owner

Expert Assessments: Our experienced team provides thorough dyslexia assessments, offering valuable insights into your child’s learning profile.

Empowering Workshops: Interactive sessions designed to help parents understand dyslexia, navigate the educational system, and support their child’s learning journey.

Professional Career:

• 2008 – Special Education Teacher

• 2017 – Structured Literacy Dyslexia Specialist

• 2018 – Certified Academic Language Specialist