Founder of Fundamental Learning
Liisa Freure is an Ontario certified teacher with a Master of Education degree from University of Toronto – OISE – and over 30 years of experience in the field of education. Liisa’s experience trying to reach struggling students in her classroom and parenting her own children with learning challenges, led her to become certified as an education advocate, a CERI Structured Literacy Dyslexia Specialist, and an Accredited Training Fellow with the Orton-Gillingham Academy.
Liisa passionately embraces the idea that learning is truly a lifelong journey, and she has continued to expand and enrich her understanding of language, literacy, and learning, which has included extensive professional development, training in various programs, and a deep study of linguistics and Structured Word Inquiry (SWI). She has been actively involved with the Ontario Branch of the International Dyslexia Association since 2007 and has served in various roles including two terms as President.
Liisa runs a private educational consulting and tutoring practice for students of all ages, conducts workshops, speaks at conferences, and provides guidance, support, and training to schools and organizations, as well as individual parents, teachers, and other professionals in literacy and language (OG, Structured Literacy, and SWI) both in-person and virtually.
LIISA FREURE
STRUCTURED LITERACY DYSLEXIA SPECIALIST /CERI-IDA
HOW WE CAN HELP
We teach students of all ages – and that includes teachers!
Whether you are a teacher curious about the Science of Reading and Learning and how it can help you reach all of your students, a school administrator looking for professional development for your staff, a client looking to further develop your reading and writing skills, or a parent looking for help for your child, – we are here to help.
What People Have to Say About Us!
Liisa’s leadership has transformed the literacy practices at our school. She has inspired and supported our teachers, tirelessly providing knowledge and resources. We are seeing significant improvements in our children’s learning, but more importantly we are more skilled at assessing and monitoring the improvements than we were before. She has been extremely flexible and responsive to ensure that professional development was job embedded and just in time learning.
I am a high school English teacher with over 30 years experience in the Waterloo regional district school board. I came to this course looking for ways to support the underachieving students who somehow made it to high school without basic literacy skills and I am leaving with so much more than that. Not only do I feel like I finally have knowledge and tools to help my low students, but you have opened my eyes to a whole new way of looking at language. How did I not know that our English spelling system could be understood by morphology and etymology? I haven’t been this excited by anything since I saw my first live Shakespeare play. And speaking of Shakespeare, I can’t wait to share the old Shakespeare pronunciations with my students who will surely appreciate the bawdiness of it all! “There is no darkness but ignorance.” – William Shakespeare
As a school, we wanted to update our literacy curriculum and be responsive to the Right to Read report. A few of our teachers had trained with Liisa over the summer, but we needed every single teacher from each division on board to truly make a meaningful impact in our school approach. Through working with Liisa over the course of the entire school year, we are building deep understanding and growing our collective teacher knowledge. We understand the why! We appreciate her experience, coaching, hands-on activities, and virtual models for independent learning. Liisa is both responsive to our questions as they arise, and also fantastic at modelling lessons for us with our students. She is prepared, detailed oriented, and a true expert! We loved the fishbowl activity where she taught a morphology lesson in various grades, and allowed us to watch and reflect. Rather than simply a crash course in structured literacy, with Liisa we are working on developing tools, updating curriculum practices, and sourcing new resources for our school.
I would highly recommend this course to anyone interested in implementing a structured literacy approach – whether you’re a classroom teacher, a parent, a tutor, or an SLP. Liisa’s passion is infectious and she has sparked what is sure to be a lifelong learning journey into the English language for me. The depth of her knowledge is truly amazing; however rather than simply disseminating the information, I felt more that I “uncovered” the information due to her exceptional teaching style – not an easy feat in a virtual course! The time commitment involved in this course is well worth it and I can’t overstate the value of the content on my practice.
I am so glad I registered for Liisa’s OG training; it showed its worth in gold starting on day one! Despite having previously completed OG training years ago, I found I became much more formally acquainted with the English language and was able to begin ironing out all its “irregularities” and my own previously developed misconceptions. Liisa trains with such a passion;
I couldn’t help but develop a keen interest in furthering my informal education to support this learning. Liisa shared many resources to help support my learning and I will definitely look for other training opportunities with her!
I couldn’t help but develop a keen interest in furthering my informal education to support this learning. Liisa shared many resources to help support my learning and I will definitely look for other training opportunities with her!
Thank you for your dedication to the field. I have now been been working on dictation with my youngest son. We had a great conversation about the word usually — and how it is a word that is “used” often. He had written yousely. Yesterday, I was driving my eldest from camp and drove around a hubcap and we again had a conversation that we would have never entertained had I never taken your course. Thank you for opening my eyes into this new way. I am also grateful that I can apply my knowledge to help my dyslexic daughter. I now know that I need to keep encouraging her to keep up her b and d writing practice and not be so reliant on the technology which is the easier fix for school but not a practical solution for her long term.
I would highly recommend this course! It was incredibly informative. I loved that it had real content; every minute was purposeful and well thought out. I have taken AQ courses with xxxx that usually leave me disappointed because the courses are all about reflections and personal experiences and nothing that really helps me with what I am doing in the classroom.
If only this was an AQ course for teachers! Liisa is so passionate about what she does and it shows when she’s teaching.
If only this was an AQ course for teachers! Liisa is so passionate about what she does and it shows when she’s teaching.
Liisa Freure is an outstanding educator with a passion for learning and teaching. Over the course of a two-year literacy training program, Liisa provided direct instruction to our staff, supported teachers through their lesson planning, observed language lessons and provided individual feedback. Her instructional lessons displayed a wealth of knowledge in the areas of reading and writing that was fundamental to us developing a strong literacy program for our young learners.
Her demonstrations, exemplars, and activities made deep connections in learning for both the teachers and the students. Her breadth of knowledge and passion was contagious and invigorated our staff to take her teachings and put them into action. Liisa was able to take complex topics and present the information in a digestible, friendly and open manner. Her approach was welcoming and warm. She provided constructive feedback while holding firm to the philosophy and respecting each individual for the qualities that they bring to the classroom.
Her demonstrations, exemplars, and activities made deep connections in learning for both the teachers and the students. Her breadth of knowledge and passion was contagious and invigorated our staff to take her teachings and put them into action. Liisa was able to take complex topics and present the information in a digestible, friendly and open manner. Her approach was welcoming and warm. She provided constructive feedback while holding firm to the philosophy and respecting each individual for the qualities that they bring to the classroom.
I have the unique perspective of having had the pleasure to witness the magic that Liisa brings to her teaching and tutoring as both an elementary school teacher who attended her Orton–Gillingham training and as a parent of a child who painfully struggled with both reading and writing.
I have yet to meet someone as able, knowledgeable, committed and passionate about teaching her students the fundamentals of reading. It is amazing what happens when you teach someone how our language actually works! Students begin to feel, perhaps for the first time, the beauty of language and the pride and success of unlocking the rules and patterns, origins and complexities of the English language. Her lessons are engaging, meticulously planned and individually tailored to engage the student from where ever they begin their journey to reading.
I am completely in awe of the skills, results and enthusiasm that Liisa has been able to provide for my child. This approach coupled with this exemplary educator has been a very bright light along our journey to reading.
I have yet to meet someone as able, knowledgeable, committed and passionate about teaching her students the fundamentals of reading. It is amazing what happens when you teach someone how our language actually works! Students begin to feel, perhaps for the first time, the beauty of language and the pride and success of unlocking the rules and patterns, origins and complexities of the English language. Her lessons are engaging, meticulously planned and individually tailored to engage the student from where ever they begin their journey to reading.
I am completely in awe of the skills, results and enthusiasm that Liisa has been able to provide for my child. This approach coupled with this exemplary educator has been a very bright light along our journey to reading.
All through my life I’ve had difficulty with reading and writing. I am an adult and it came to a point that I needed to find a solution to this problem. My wife was supportive of my problem along the way, and I had tried a few different courses that weren’t successful. Then we found Liisa through the Internet. I contacted Liisa and met with her in March. Since meeting with her, I have noticed a huge improvement in my reading and writing. Now I can pick up a book and read because I want to and I am not scared to, something I have never done before, thanks to the methods Liisa has taught me. I have since taken a course to better my career, which is something I would never have had the courage or ability to do before. Liisa’s teaching has changed my life. It is never too late to get help for your learning needs.
My experience with the O-G courses (the Associate and the Certified levels) has been unexpected. I remember being skeptical at first and not entirely convinced that I would get anything out of it especially since I already had a Master’s degree in Special Education and had been actively tutoring for about 12 years. I have to say that even though the theoretical aspects came easily to me, especially that I was familiar with the terminology, it challenged some of my set beliefs. A good example would be learning to use morphology and etymology to explain and make sense of many sight words, rather than just teaching them as “rule breakers”. I was also in for a surprise when I started the practicum. The amount of planning, note taking and analyzing that was involved, forced me to look at my methods and lesson content under a microscope. Liisa’s meticulous and honest feedback was especially valuable to me. She is always exceedingly generous with her knowledge and guidance; she readily shares resources and information to give support in any way that she can. It is good to know that I am now able to give my students the best, evidence-based, individually-tailored intervention that they deserve. Becoming a part of the O-G community has been, and continues to be, a growing experience and a privilege.
Liisa and I have serendipitously crossed paths and forged a deep collegial bond as Orton-Gillingham Fellows and educators.
I have had the privilege of attending numerous enlightening presentations by Liisa at the annual OGA conference.
Liisa radiates passion whenever she delves into the captivating history of the English language. Whether she is unpacking the intricate journey of a single word across centuries or elucidating the broader significance of enhancing students’ English language proficiency by refining their decoding and encoding skills, Liisa possesses an inherent talent for seamlessly intertwining morphology, etymology, phonology, and all elements of an OG lesson into a vibrant and dynamic discourse.
She exudes empathy for aspiring teachers through profound conversations and stimulating professional dialogues, all while consistently placing the needs of students with dyslexia at the forefront of her endeavors. I wholeheartedly endorse her structured literacy training sessions. After witnessing Liisa’s presentations to our expansive public school district, our educators were captivated by her content and engaging delivery, making her an invaluable resource in the realm of structured literacy training and education.
I have had the privilege of attending numerous enlightening presentations by Liisa at the annual OGA conference.
Liisa radiates passion whenever she delves into the captivating history of the English language. Whether she is unpacking the intricate journey of a single word across centuries or elucidating the broader significance of enhancing students’ English language proficiency by refining their decoding and encoding skills, Liisa possesses an inherent talent for seamlessly intertwining morphology, etymology, phonology, and all elements of an OG lesson into a vibrant and dynamic discourse.
She exudes empathy for aspiring teachers through profound conversations and stimulating professional dialogues, all while consistently placing the needs of students with dyslexia at the forefront of her endeavors. I wholeheartedly endorse her structured literacy training sessions. After witnessing Liisa’s presentations to our expansive public school district, our educators were captivated by her content and engaging delivery, making her an invaluable resource in the realm of structured literacy training and education.