Colleen began her teaching career in Tucson after graduating with her Masters degree in Special Education—Deaf Education from The University of Arizona (1999).  She earned her Bachelors of Science degree from Brigham Young University in Family Sciences—Early Childhood Education and Elementary Education (1996).   Colleen has homeschooled her children for over 18 years; her oldest two children have graduated high school (homeschooled K-12); two children have dyslexia.  Colleen is passionate about learning and teaching, especially reading and writing!  Reading is often the gateway to limitless experiences and knowledge.  However, when reading is a struggle and becomes burdensome it can become the gatekeeper, limiting access to new world views, life experiences, and knowledge.  Colleen has experience teaching reading and writing at the K-12 level and to adults at the college level.  With her special education background, she is able to review special education reports, psychological evaluations and IEPs to task analyze areas of need, create individualized benchmarks to implement needed strategies and instructional approaches for all students.