Hi, I'm Candace
I'm a certified reading specialist, a former classroom teacher, a curriculum designer, and a mom of two (Audra, 11, and Wade, 9) who has been obsessed with books and reading for as long as I can remember.
I hold degrees in both Elementary Education and Secondary English, and I earned my Reading Specialist certification because I wanted to understand reading at the deepest level: not just how to teach it, but why some kids struggle and what actually works to help them break through.
Here is what I figured out pretty early in my career: my real passion isn't standing at the front of a classroom. It's building the curriculum, designing the activities, choosing the perfect book, and figuring out how to make a tricky concept click through play and stories. That's the part that lights me up.
That passion is what led me to leave the traditional corporate workforce. When my own kids were little, I created a full preschool curriculum for them from scratch. It's hands-on, play-based, and built around books they couldn't put down. Watching them fall in love with learning that way, I knew I was onto something. So I turned it into Reading to Discover, where I design literacy-rich activity packs used by parents and educators across the country.
The Discovery Reading Club is where all of that comes together. Through the membership, I'm bringing the same curriculum-building skills and play-based, book-driven approach to families everywhere: games, activities, and printables designed around real books your child will love, with targeted skill work woven in so naturally they just think they're having fun.
What I believe
Every kid can become a reader. Sometimes they just need the right person, the right book, and a little patience.
I believe reading should feel like an adventure, not a chore. I believe in meeting kids where they are and building from there without shame and without pressure, just steady, joyful progress. And I believe that when you combine the science of how reading works with books a child actually cares about, something magical happens.
Certifications & professional development
I take my own learning as seriously as I take your child's. Being a great reading teacher means staying current with the research, continuing to sharpen my skills, and always pushing myself to get better at this work.
Current credentials: Reading Specialist certification, degrees in Elementary Education and Secondary English, years of classroom and curriculum design experience.
In progress: IMSE Orton-Gillingham Plus (OG+) training, a comprehensive course in structured literacy and multisensory instruction, plus IMSE's Phonological Awareness course.
Coming next: IMSE Interventionist Practicum, the supervised, hands-on capstone of the IMSE certification pathway.
I'm also studying the work of David Kilpatrick, Louisa Moats, and Sally Shaywitz, three of the most influential voices in reading science today. Their research directly shapes everything I create.