Hello!
I'm Del...
I believe helping a child fall in love with reading is one of the most powerful things we can do.
Literacy isn’t just another skill - it’s the foundation for learning, for opportunity, for emotional connection.
It’s the doorway to understanding themselves and the world around them.
And right now, that foundation is at risk. Mental health issues are on the rise in young adults. At the same time, we’re seeing a sharp decrease in young people reading for pleasure. The two are connected and I truly believe that in order to improve it, it has to start early.
Children who love reading are more likely to thrive emotionally, academically, and socially. But fostering that love doesn’t happen by accident - and it doesn’t happen by pressure, either.
There is so much more to reading than learning letter sounds - and so much that needs to come before it.
It’s in those early, joyful connections with language, story, and communication that a true love of reading begins.
Yes, phonics, reading, and writing need explicit teaching - and I help parents build those skills in a sustainable, manageable way - but we also need to nurture everything that comes before and alongside it: the listening, the talking, the playing, the connecting.
Messy play, sensory experiences, and creative activities absolutely have their place in a rich childhood - they are beautiful, important parts of a child's development.
But they don’t have to happen every day for your child to thrive. That’s not realistic for every family.
That’s where my approach comes in: giving parents simple, sustainable ways to build connection and literacy into everyday life, even on the days when energy, time, and bandwidth are low.
When bigger activities are possible, they complement the foundation you've already built - not carry the weight of it.
We can’t just tell parents they should be helping more at home.
We have to meet them where they are - often tired, overwhelmed, and already carrying so much - and give them tools that feel doable, manageable, and sustainable.
Hands-off activities. Everyday conversations. Micro-moments of connection that don’t require prep, clean-up, or mental overload.
That’s where real change begins.
Not in Pinterest-perfect crafts - but in the small, real-life moments where connection and literacy grow side by side.
Before becoming a mum myself, I spent over a decade specialising in Early Literacy, Phonics, and SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities) as an Early Years teacher and SENDCo.
I developed phonics curriculums, led early reading across schools, trained many teachers, and supported hundreds of families.
I also completed two Master’s degrees - one in Attachment and Trauma in Childhood, the other in Special Educational Needs - because I knew literacy wasn’t just about decoding words; it was about unlocking confidence, resilience, and emotional wellbeing in all children.
Helping children learn to read - and learn to love reading - became my mission long before I had a child of my own.
 It wasn’t until life turned upside down that I realised just how deeply my mission mattered.
In 2017, my husband, Adam, was rushed to hospital with a suspected heart attack.
He was later diagnosed with a heart condition called Wolf-Parkinson-White Syndrome, which eventually led to a diagnosis of fibromyalgia as a result of a heart surgery.
Everything changed overnight.
Life slowed down, but the weight of it all grew heavier.
Between medical appointments, uncertainty, and adjusting to a new reality of navigating a chronic illness, I found myself reaching back to the one constant I had always known: reading.
Books became my way to breathe again.
They anchored me.
They reminded me that no matter how chaotic life felt, there were always pockets of calm to be found.
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That’s when I truly realised - reading isn’t just academic. It’s emotional survival. It’s connection. It’s hope.
Motherhood had been a long, hard road for me.
After struggling with fertility and experiencing the heartbreak of a miscarriage, when I finally became pregnant with Rose, I was filled with hope - and a little bit of naivety.
I thought my background as an Early Years teacher, my experience with child development, my years of studying attachment and communication - all of it would make motherhood feel easier.
After everything we’d been through, I was sure I’d step into this new chapter with confidence, joy, and a deep sense of purpose.
But the reality hit differently.
Motherhood shook me to my core.
The noise, the mess, the constant touch - it was overwhelming in a way that no training, book, or experience had prepared me for.
The pressure to 'get it right', especially after wanting it so badly for so long, felt crushing at times.
And despite everything I knew professionally, I still often felt like I was failing.
It wasn’t the big moments or the perfectly planned activities that got me through.
Between navigating my husband's health and the bone-deep tiredness that motherhood brings, big activities just weren’t realistic most days.
It was the tiny, imperfect ones - the micro-moments of connection, of story, of play - that made all the difference.
In those early months with Rose, I clung to what I knew best: the power of connection through reading, sound games, and everyday language.
I didn’t have the energy for elaborate crafts or curated activities all the time — but I could find small windows every day to share a story, sing a silly sound game, or talk about the world around us. That was more sustainable for me.
And as I leaned into those micro-moments, something clicked.
It wasn’t just helping her — it was helping me too.
We were building her early literacy foundations, yes.
But we were also building trust, resilience, and a sense of calm between us.
When I looked online, though, I couldn’t find that approach anywhere.
Everything seemed to swing between two extremes: high-effort, picture-perfect activities that required hours of prep… or the narrative that if you couldn’t manage that, you might as well do nothing at all, or you were a bad mum.
There was no middle ground for mums like me — who wanted to support their child’s learning, but needed it to be manageable, sustainable, and real.
A place where early literacy fits into your real life - no elaborate setups, no extra pressure - just simple, powerful ways to nurture your child’s reading, writing, and phonics skills one small, connected moment at a time.
Today, I help overwhelmed mums support their child’s early literacy without sacrificing their sanity.
As an Early Literacy Specialist and Mental Health advocate, I make supporting early reading, writing and phonics at home feel manageable for overwhelmed mums using low-effort, high-impact tools — so they can feel confident they’re giving their child the best start in life, even on the days when life feels like a lot.
Through simple strategies, micro-moments of learning, and a grounded, realistic approach, I show mums that early literacy doesn’t have to take over their lives — but it does have to be part of it.
Because small moments matter.
Because connection comes before perfection.
Because every child — and every mum — deserves a story worth telling.
And here’s the thing:
Messy play, sensory experiences, and big creative activities absolutely have their place — they’re wonderful parts of a rich childhood.
But they don't have to happen every day to make a difference, and you aren’t a bad mum if this is the case for you.
My approach gives you a consistent, sustainable foundation you can lean on daily — so when you do have the bandwidth for bigger activities, they complement what you’re already doing.
You’re not failing if today is a "small moments" kind of day.
You’re still giving your child everything they need.
When you’re ready, I’m here to show you how simple it can be.
