About Us

We are a 501c3 Educational Foundation
EIN 88-3893415

It began with this idea:

For decades, McNichols Learning Center founder, Joan McNichols, and volunteers for The Dyslexia Foundation have worked one-on-one with learning different children who struggled with math and reading problems.

She also helped children needing a full psycho-educational battery of testing for dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, and the other issues that impact learning.

Over the last few years (since her death and the onset of Covid-19), those who have known and respected her over the decades downsized the center. It, its huge stock of materials, and the outreach services for The Dyslexia Foundation has remained open.

What Joan had always envisioned is now a reality. The knowledge passed from her to trainees, parents and interested teachers — along with all of her materials — is available like never before. As a 501c3, we hope to bring them to community centers and other places dedicated to supporting and enriching education for all learning types.

Joan McNichols

Joan McNichols, this center’s founder, began her 60+ years of teaching in Kansas and eventually moved to California. She taught at Polytechnic High School in Pasadena then moved to Orange County where she created the Math Lab at Harbor Day, a private school in Corona del Mar for grades K-8.

In the ‘80’s, Joan left the school system and created McNichols Learning Center because she recognized the importance of addressing individual learning styles and building a solid concept base. At her center, she was able to use the engaging activities she discovered to develop higher-level thinking skills. This center provides a safe atmosphere in which children can enjoy the learning process in many ways.

But that is not all: Joan helped form Prentice School in Santa Ana for children with dyslexia and helped Will Baker develop the National Dyslexia Research Foundation (NDRF)—now called simply The Dyslexia Foundation (TDF) which is on the East Coast.

In addition to teaching children one-on-one how to truly understand what they were supposed to be learning, in 1995, Joan began providing “outreach services” for TDF on the West Coast. She also presented annually at the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) and offered training without charge to anyone at this center before her death in September, 2018.

Joan’s sudden passing followed by the Covid-19 Pandemic has challenged the center. It has tested our parents, teachers, and TDF volunteers. With the loving support of many parents, some of those trained and mentored by her in the past now continue her purpose:

  • to keep this Center and her knowledge alive,

  • to share her materials with those who need it—in every way, shape, or form possible,

  • to educate children, families, teachers and communities on organic learning—the McNichols Learning way—that does not rely on memorizing, drills, or “jigs”.

  • to help with homework and fill in the gaps that lead to deeper understanding.

Lenore Waring

22 years ago, Lenore met Joan McNichols and discovered education beyond the classroom. Joan’s approach to learning appealed to her decades-long work in the psychology of change: being person-centered, it supports organic learning—the basis of all healthy change.

Since Joan’s learning center was also Outreach Services for The Dyslexia Foundation, Lenore Used her writing and language arts experience to interview specialists, write articles and publish the TDF Newsletter. She gained even more knowledge about learning differences through her interviews.

Over time, those interviews and Joan’s many shared experiences motivated her to take on Orton-Gillingham-based reading programs such as Lindamood-Bell (LIPS), Wilson Reading, Slingerland, and Texas Scottish Rite Hospital (TSRH). Learning differences of various kinds—for which “Dyslexia” is an umbrella term—had  become her passion, too.  

Joan’s many multisensory tools for math were her next steps: watching Joan teach one child division and another algebra opened her eyes. Lenore remembers realizing: “If I had had those in school, I wouldn’t have hit a wall.” She enjoys sharing her discoveries with children from Pre-K up to pre-algebra.

Her Language Arts knowledge of spelling, grammar, phonics-based multi-sensory strategies, sentence diagramming, critical thinking, and creative writing serves students well.  

Children and adults discover that they really can read and comprehend the words in books as well as (literally and figuratively) build an understanding of math.

To quote Joan, Lenore remembers to be “the guide on the side, not the sage on the stage.” Her gentle, patient manner helps teens and adults as well as children overcome anxiety so that they find themselves surprised at how quickly they understand.

Marilyn Bloomberg—a California State Credentialed Teacher

Although receiving her M. A. in Spanish with a French minor, Marilyn always had a passion for math and science and has taught all levels of Spanish as well as French, math, social science, and English in California schools.

She felt that students needed to be actively engaged in activities that addressed their individual learning styles.

In an effort to implement more effective ways to teach struggling students, she taught special education classes in Newport-Mesa USD for twelve years and received training from Joan McNichols to improve the teaching of mathematics to regular students as well as those with special needs.

While teaching in public schools for more than four decades, Marilyn took additional coursework, participated in consortiums dedicated to improving teaching methods and earned a special education credential from Chapman University.

In addition, she participated in the California Literature Project in Spanish for three years and the Stanford-UC Riverside Consortium for improving the teaching of world languages.

Marilyn has devoted many years to sharing her knowledge and has even coached teachers seeking effective techniques.