Meet the Authors
(who tested and improved these methods for 25+ years in the classroom, and wrote it down so you don’t have to. )
Dorothy Kardatzke
I live with my husband in Columbus, Ohio. I love teaching and taught for more than 25 years in both general education classrooms and classrooms for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. I have used an Orton-based program for teaching literacy since 1997 and have trained and coached teachers since 2003. I completed a double major in Elementary Education/Deaf Education at Augustana College and completed post-graduate coursework in Linguistics and Language Development at the University of South Dakota and Neuroanatomy at Ohio State University.
My passion is to work to improve literacy for those in need. When I am not teaching or writing I enjoy spending time with my family and being in the great outdoors canoeing, hiking, cross country skiing and growing things.
Melody Furno
My husband and I live in Columbus, Ohio where I taught an Orton-based Method for literacy in Kindergarten and first grade classrooms for 19 years. Since leaving the classroom, I have used an Orton-based Method to train and consult teachers in literacy and tutor struggling readers in 4th and 5th grades for Columbus Public Schools. My special interest is to encourage ministries to play a part in addressing youth and adult illiteracy.
Our desire to write this curriculum was born out of our own experience as teachers with our colleagues. We wanted to incorporate changes we needed and implemented when we were teaching a similar program. In that light, we are grateful to the schools who waded through versions of Literacy Essentials in draft form this past school year. Their input has greatly shaped the current version. We will continue to improve the program with your help. We deeply appreciate your assistance as we work to develop this curriculum to its full potential.
