Smith-Brock Phonics Consulting

After teaching secondary school English for 43 years, I recently retired and took on a “Can you help my 6-year-old reluctant-reader with her reading confidence?” tutoring challenge. It took about ten minutes for that feisty first grader to convince me that I was way out of my league.

But Jennie Smith-Brock introduced me to the “Jolly Phonics” philosophy and protocols, and encouraged me to ask follow-up questions as they arose. Her intro’ webinar was enormously helpful, as were the few subsequent consults/conversations that followed. The inexpensive and engaging “Jolly Phonics”-sequenced readers were a life-saver. Clearly, the measurable progress they afforded gave a much-needed boost to my young student and to her crusty teacher, each. Jennie was the competent, patient, sensible, no-nonsense tutor that I myself needed. I whole-heartedly recommend both Jennie and her approach.

I highly recommend Jennie as a reading tutor. She knows how to quickly fill in gaps in a student’s phonics knowledge and thereby build their skill and confidence. My daughter’s ability to read greatly improved.

THANK YOU for showing me how to be a teacher. You are one of the best I’ve ever known or experienced (and I wouldn’t just give that away!) and you came into my life at a most serendipitous time. I can’t overstate the relief of finding someone who has such thorough knowledge of phonics and the ability to instruct both me and my son so fluently and responsively. It turned what felt like a very discouraging and bewildering situation into an adventure that has been exciting and joyful. I truly cherish it and have immense gratitude to you and for you. Amusingly, one of the more significant measures of his ability to decode is listening to him read from a book about Pokemon characters who have lots of made up names like, “Bulbasaur,” “Charmeleon,” Squirtle,” and “Wartortle” that he is sounding out with ease and accuracy.

I truly cannot thank you enough for the amazing resources and information you’ve shared. The program is going so well. We truly look forward to it each day. Thank you so, so much!

Children are excited to write and have progressed greatly. It has given the [kindergarten] students confidence and provides the scope and sequence and multi-sensory experience to advance their phonic knowledge way beyond CVC patterns. Children are willing to take risks with multi-syllable words and write with great stamina! This is such an easy-to-implement and most affordable program.

The feedback from teachers about the Jolly Phonics workshops from Smith-Brock Phonics continues to be amazing.