By the third grade, Jeanine Phillips was struggling to learn to read.

“I had already labeled myself stupid or dumb by then,” she recalled. “I couldn’t read and was relying on my classmates for help.”

But a dusty acrylic box containing pastel letters jump-started Phillips’ learning journey.

Using those pastel letters to visually associate each letter’s name with its shape, Phillips’ teacher helped her learn to read. While the technique proved effective at that moment, Phillips didn’t progress beyond a third-grade reading level until she reached college.

That was when she first heard the word “dyslexia” from a professor who had identified the source of her challenges. Dyslexia is a language-based learning disability that results in difficulties with specific language skills, particularly reading.

Phillips would hear the word again when her son struggled to read in kindergarten — and she was told he might never learn. She spent years unsuccessfully searching for answers and worrying that her son would never succeed in school, until an educational psychologist uttered that same word — dyslexia — and everything changed.

The quest to better understand her son’s mind has evolved into the Phillips Fundamental Learning Center, a nationally recognized model of what it means to serve children with learning differences — not by “fixing” them, but by seeing them as they truly are.

Based in Wichita, Kansas, PFLC is part school, part training hub, and part movement. At its core is the belief that every child’s mind has a place in the future when we build systems that center their unique gifts and strengths.

‘We didn’t know how to help him’

While the exact cause of dyslexia is not known, studies have shown that differences in brain development and function could make it difficult to distinguish separate speech sounds and learn how letters represent those sounds.

Around 20% of people in the United States have dyslexia, making it the most common learning disability. Many schools lack the proper resources and training to effectively teach children with dyslexia, leaving kids to struggle.

“We didn’t recognize my son,” recalled Sarah Collins, PFLC’s director of development and a mother of two. “He got to kindergarten, and he didn’t know his letters. He was angry and calling himself stupid, and he was sick every day. We didn’t know how to help him.”

Childhood struggles with reading, writing, and spelling can have a profound impact on an individual’s potential for employment and financial security, as well as their mental, physical, and emotional health outcomes.

Society feels the impact, too. It’s estimated that adult illiteracy and low literacy skills cost the U.S. economy up to $2.2 trillion annually due to high health care costs and reduced productivity.

PFLC is tackling more than a literacy crisis — it’s reframing how we approach learning.

A different way of teaching — and learning

When Phillips discovered there was no local support to effectively teach kids with learning differences, she traveled to Dallas, Texas, then a national leader in dyslexia research and instruction. The innovative, multisensory instructional method she learned propelled her to university-level proficiency in reading, writing, and spelling.

“On the very first night, I realized everything made sense — my struggles, my son’s struggles,” Phillips said. “I remember thinking, ‘Why didn’t anyone teach me this before?’”

Phillips returned to Kansas with her new knowledge and launched PFLC.

Today, PFLC offers a comprehensive ecosystem of support, including personalized student instruction, curriculum, and training resources for teachers and parents, and advocacy training for families.

Phillips emphasized that dyslexia is not a visual problem, but a language processing difference. To that end, the center’s training and curriculum focus on explicit phonics instruction, guided letter-naming activities, and phonological awareness — the ability to recognize and manipulate the spoken parts of words. Students trace pastel-colored letters with their fingers, engage in kinesthetic learning, and read stories that align with their passions.

The group’s mission is to develop strong readers and to reframe dyslexia as a strength to unlock, instead of a deficit to fix.

For Collins, her son’s initial assessment at PFLC was the first time she had heard anything positive about him in a school setting in a long time. “It was such a weight off my shoulders to know that he is brilliant and has strengths and things he’s good at,” she said.

Collins enrolled her son in the Rolph Literacy Academy — the laboratory day school that is part of PFLC — where she saw him learn to read and enjoy math, science, drama, music, and art. Five years later, he was reading the “Harry Potter” books to Collins and looking forward to middle school.

Unlocking a child’s superpowers

PFLC’s goal is to approach teaching reading in a way that nurtures creativity, big-picture thinking, and resilience with a strengths-first model that unlocks a child’s “superpowers.”

“Individuals with dyslexia are often very creative and gifted in the areas of engineering, design, and the arts,” Phillips said. “When a child can identify their superpowers, it gives them the confidence to forge ahead in school.”

And PFLC students do forge ahead. One kindergartener came to the center with 4% phonological awareness and catapulted to 98% by the fifth grade. Another student came to PFLC in the second grade with 74% phonological awareness and reached 100% in two years.

Liberate students — don’t label them

While PFLC’s home base is Wichita, Phillips’ vision is nationwide. With the launch of The Sound Case™, an early childhood phonics-based literacy curriculum, she aims to broaden access to PFLC’s approach to homes and classrooms across the country.

“We want parents and educators everywhere to have access to what worked for us,” Phillips explained.

What has worked for PFLC highlights a different story of how we understand kids with learning differences. One where we see the benefit of developing and expanding access to alternative methods for teaching children and supporting families. One where we liberate, rather than label, students.

“This isn’t just about literacy,” Phillips said. “It’s about identity. When kids learn to read, they don’t just see words — they see themselves differently.”

Phillips Fundamental Learning Center is supported by VELA, which as part of the Stand Together community supports everyday entrepreneurs who are boldly reimagining education.

Learn more about Stand Together’s education efforts and explore ways you can partner with us.