About Me

I’m Maura Sutherland, a learning specialist and a student of students. My students, young struggling readers, propel me to seek the best approaches that science has to offer, then fine-tune them to be engaging and relevant enough to make a difference. This road has led me to a master's degree in special education, certification in various instructional reading programs, and recently, a master’s certification in neuro-education from Johns Hopkins. While raising my family, I ran a busy tutoring business and, for the last twenty years, I have worked as the founding director of the learning support program at a private elementary school outside of Philadelphia. My husband and I live not too far from our five adult children and their growing families.  When I’m not deep in a rabbit hole of science-based reading instruction writings, I love to garden, travel, try new recipes, and delve into sewing projects.   

I find myself drawn to the promise of a science-art nexus as a vital lever for moving best practices in reading instruction. Science clearly tells us that struggling readers need structured, sequential, explicit, multisensory instruction carefully matched to their skill level, and encompassing all the repetition needed to move them forward to the next skill. This can be truly hard work! How can we weave art into this process so that learning remains joyful and child-centered? I’ve got some ideas and new projects coming, so please follow me on Facebook and Instagram, and join my reader list for updates!