Central Coast Tutor Testimonials

MSL maths

We were very fortunate to of had Terri MacKenzie in our children’s educational lives.My daughter aged 10 and son aged 6 were helped immensely with Terri’s tutoring.They both had previously been diagnosed with dyslexia and were failing to keep up with the school work.

In Terri’s first initial screening she was able to get an understanding of their learning style and how to adapt her program, to help them to succeed.

My daughters main struggle was mathematics. She was currently in Year 4, but still didn’t have the basic facts of number (addition/ subtraction) So rather than staying at Yr 4 Maths curriculum, Terri took her back to basics. This was the best move for her, as we watched week by week her gather the main aspects of Math facts.

This also helped her to have confidence in her abilities/self esteem. This is something that was lost a long time ago. She would attend Terri’s lessons eagerly and wanted to learn more to succeed. Through repetition, visual aids and whole movement body exercises she gained the understanding of Math terminology.

My son on the other hand had completely shut himself off from learning. His confidence had completely gone. He was in year 1 and had no knowledge of how to read. He didn’t even have the basics of phonological awareness. Terri week by week worked with him one on one to develop this awareness. By about the third week he was able to read his first basic words and I will never forget the happiest of all smiles on his face.

He just kept progressing each week and quite quickly moved onto reading a full reading book. His confidence had increased and he now loved to read. He started in May 2016 at a Level 2 reading book and by the end of the year he finished on a Level 13.

This new progression in both my daughter and my son was recognised at a principal’s assembly. They both gained themselves a medallion in “Commitment to Learning”.

My daughter has worked her way up to high marks, completing at the same stage/level as her peers.

I highly recommend Terri to those with struggling children. She is warm, friendly and so approachable to answer questions. She will give you the knowledge and understanding of how we can best help our children at home. She goes above and beyond in helping our children to succeed. I especially love how her lessons are “out of the square” teaching, not your common text book lessons.

Terri has been a godsend for our family and my children already miss her.

Yours sincerely,

Suzanne Cameron

My son has a reading disorder, he was well behind his class mates and suffering from high levels of anxiety at and before school.

Terri took him under her wing and invested the time to tailor a program to fill all the gaps in his learning and give instruction that he understood.

He is now a confident reader and keeping up with his peers.

The journey wasn't all smooth sailing but Terri was very patient and flexible in her approach and managed to navigate all the avoidance strategies my son had up his sleeve!

Well worth the investment of money, time and effort.

I highly recommend Better Basics.

Thanks, Penny 😊

“My daughter Angela (12) was diagnosed with dyslexia at the age of 8. For several years I sought a variety of learning support programs that seemed to be quite ineffective for long term strategy and progressive improvement. I was referred to Better Basics in 2015. Better Basics provides a solid skill set laying the foundations of a confident learner. Angela has since become an independent learner. Terri’s qualifications and personal experience have equipped her to comprehensively encompass the needs of children that see and learn through a different lens. Angela’s reading skills have improved twofold, she instinctively applies coping strategies for processing, storing and retrieving information learnt, and her overall attitude and confidence has grown immensely.

What I mostly appreciate of Terri is the effort she puts in with the parents. I had never had any exposure to dyslexia. Unfortunately, it is also under recognised, poorly addressed by the Australian government, and a concept very broad and difficult for many to empathise with and understand. Terri has offered plenty of practical advice to support Angela and to help me understand how her thinking processes differ from my own. She has clearly demonstrated that dyslexia is not a hindrance, but merely the need for an alternative path of learning.

I would not hesitate in recommending Better Basics to anyone who is seeking a trustworthy, experienced, and devoted tutoring service.”

Alison, Cranebrook

I would highly recommend Terri for anyone looking for a tutor. Terri was my sons tutor for 18 months before moving away. Terri is very experienced with children with special needs as my 9 year old has Dyslexia, Auditory Processing Disorder, Severe language disorder and Sensory Processing Disorder.

When we started with Terri my son was nearly 2 years behind his peers in reading and writing. Terri's experience and knowledge was evident and gave us great comfort and confidence that we had made a great choice in Terri.

My son jumped 16 reading levels in the time he was with her and his writing and confidence improved greatly. My son responded well to her methods and was able to retain the information given. The methods used were highly effective and spot on to the way my son learns.

Terri kept us informed of how he was going and what they worked on each time. Terri was patient and caring and provided us as parents with information and knowledge in ways we can support our son at home and school.

I am greatful for our time with Terri as she will be sorely missed in our community.

Heather Town

Glenmore Park

I was happy that Terri took the time to get to know Emma and formed a relationship with her. She was always happy to go to tutoring and always felt like she was learning. It gave her more confidence in school and day to day.

Terri knows what she is doing and made tutoring enjoyable and fun and also tested Emma at the start so she knew exactly where she was at and tailored your program to suit her individual needs.

Thanks and good luck!

Karen, St Clair

Terri from Better Basics provides a wonderful service by assessing what areas require support and then following through with a range of activities that are fun and engaging. My 9 year old granddaughter was able to make a steady improvement with her reading and spelling as the strategies that Terri uses, teach the student foundation skills and build their self-confidence.'

Cath Strong, Penrith

Terri is an outstanding teacher and from the moment I met her I knew my daughter was in capable hands. After every session she would give me a summary on how Ellie was going and what they had covered. This level of communication was very important to keep me informed and confident that Ellie was progressing well. I know that Terri's methods had an impact as Ellie's schoolwork improved and her teacher reported that she was making a difference. Most of all, Ellie's confidence improved and she no longer felt like there was 'something wrong with her'. We would still be with Terri if she hadn't moved away and were very disappointed when she left. I will always be grateful to Terri for how she helped decrease our stress and made us feel confident that there was a way forward.

Larissa, Blue Mountains

I love Terri - her lessons were fun and I loved going there every week. She made me feel so much better and her lessons were so interesting. I was even teaching my parents spelling rules! I was very sad that she had to leave Sydney. She made me feel confident and I stopped feeling frustrated. I knew if I had a problem I could ask her for help.

I think you should consider Skype lessons if you haven't already.

Ellie (student testimonial)

I met Terri when searching for an MSL tutor for my dyslexic daughter. Right from the start I found Terri to be very supportive and understanding.

She was very quick to pin point the areas my daughter needed to work on and happily corresponded with my daughters school with recommendations.

During lessons a variety of techniques were used which kept my daughter focused and interested. I highly recommend Terri as a tutor.

Kim Dunbar

The Ponds

Testimonials from my wonderful clients