Carlene Strathmann earned a B.F.A. in animation from the Rhode Island School of Design. She moved to Hollywood after graduating to work for the Walt Disney Company as an artist and married her college sweetheart shortly thereafter. Several years later, they had two children, and Carlene decided to homeschool. When her youngest child was diagnosed with dyslexia, dysgraphia, and dyscalculia, Carlene began her mission to learn all she could about these learning differences.
In 2014, Carlene completed her Orton-Gillingham certification at the Dyslexia Training Institute in San Diego, CA. She has continued her education since attending conferences and additional classes in subjects such as Structured Word Inquiry and Dyscalculia Awareness. As a certified dyslexia advocate, Carlene continues to network and stay on top of changes in Special Education law. She most recently completed certification in the Dyscalculia Tutoring Program offered by Dr. A.M. Schreuder and attended workshops by Marilyn Zecher, Making Math Real, and Stern Math.
Carlene is passionate about building confidence in every student and enjoys connecting with her students from around the globe. She lives with her family in beautiful Santa Clarita, California. She is a member of American Mensa, The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, and the International Dyslexia Association.
Training
COMPLETED: (certificate/degree-granting programs in bold)
Advocacy:
Dyslexia Advocate Certification October 2019-December 13, 2019, Dyslexia Training Institute
Dyslexia Training Institute, Advocacy virtual conference, September 2023
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Executive Functioning:
International Dyslexia Association, Executive Functioning Seminar July-August 2023
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Dyslexia/Language:
LEXinar™: Abjads for Orthographers - February 2024
LEXinar™: Greco-English Anatomy - December 2023
LEXinar™: Greek Ingredients - February 2023
LEXinar™: Grammar for Grownups - year-long class 2022
LEXinar™: Latin Anatomy - November/December 2022
LEXinar™: Not Angles but Angels: The History of English - year-long class 2021-2022
Rebecca Loveless, SWI for early readers, May 2022
5th Annual Virtual Dyslexia Conference, Dyslexia Training Institute, April 2022
LEXinar™: Etymology VIII conference - April 1-3, 2022
LEXinar™: Linguistics for non-linguists - year-long class 2021
LEXinar™: Pop-up Class The Anatomy of letters - October 2021
LEXinar™: Drawing Conclusions- May 2021
LEXinar™: Default Graphemes - May 2021
LEXinar™: The Zero Allophone - October 2020
LEXinar™: The Spell of Spelling and the Glamour of Grammar - October 2020
LEXinar™: InSights into Verbs - 2020 June/July 2020
Spellinar: Lexical Doublets - June/July 2020
Real Script with Rebecca Loveless - May 2020
Spellinar: The Suffix -ic - April/May 2020
LEXinar™: Etymology VIII conference - April 3-5, 2020
LEXinar™: Stress and the Schwa - January-February 2020
Spellinar: Latin for Orthographers 2 - October-November 2019
Spellinar: Lewis and Short Latin Dictionary - October-November 2019
LEXinar™: Latin Palatals - October 2019
Spellinar: Greek for Orthographers - September-October 2019
LEXinar™: Strong Verbs: from Old English to Today - September 2019
Spellinar: Transcribing Greek, July/August 2019
Spellinar: Real Script July/August 2019
LEXinar™: The Nature of the Grapheme - July/August 2019
Spellinar: Latin for Orthographers, June 2019
LEXinar™: The Nature of the Phoneme, May/June 2019
3rd Annual Virtual Dyslexia Conference, Dyslexia Training Institute, April 2019
LEXinar™: The International Phonetic Alphabet, April 2019
LEXinar™: Old English for Orthographers, April 2019
LEXinar™: Syllables: Fact & Fiction, March 2019
LEXinar™: Function & Content Words, December 2018
2nd Annual Virtual Dyslexia Conference, Dyslexia Training Institute, April 2018
1st Annual Virtual Dyslexia Conference, Dyslexia Training Institute, April 2017
Structured Word Inquiry, Dyslexia Training Institute, April 2016
Dyslexia Certificate Practicum, Dyslexia Training Institute, October 2014-January 2015
Dyslexia Certificate Program, Dyslexia Training Institute, June 2014-October 2014
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Dyscalculia/Math:
Stern Math Zoom Training, August 8-10, 2022
Making Math Real: Overview K-12, June 13-14, 16-17, 2022
5th Annual Virtual Dyslexia Conference, Dyscalculia seminar, Dyslexia Training Institute, April 2022
Multisensory Math: An Overview Workshop of Hands-on Instruction for Meeting the Needs of All Learners, IDA NorCal, October 2021
Dyscalculia Tutor Training Certification Program, Dr. A.M. Schreuder, Dyscalculia Training Center, January 2021
3rd Annual Virtual Dyslexia Conference, Dyscalculia seminar, Dyslexia Training Institute, April 2019
2nd Annual Virtual Dyslexia Conference, Dyscalculia seminar, Dyslexia Training Institute, April 2018
1st Annual Virtual Dyslexia Conference, Dyscalculia Seminar by Dr. A.M. Schreuder, Dyslexia Training Institute, April 2017
Dyscalculia Awareness Training, Dyscalculia Training Center, October 2017
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College:
B.F.A. in Film, animation, video, Rhode Island School of Design, 1998, Providence, RI
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Work:
Learn with Carlene, owner/tutor, 2018-present
Dyslexia Connect, dyslexia tutor, 2015-2018
The Walt Disney Company, designer, 2000-2005
Pike Productions, Inc., animator, 1998-1999
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Animated films:
I completed two award winning animated films in partnership with my husband, Brandon Strathmann. To see the films and their awards, please click on the name of the film below.
The Plastic Perils of the Pacific, 2008
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Professional Memberships:
American Mensa
International Dyslexia Association
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics