Who is BusyMessyHands?

I'm Kate Oznick, M.Ed., A/OGA, an Associate-level Orton-Gillingham Practitioner certified through the Academy of Orton-Gillingham Practitioners and Educators. For over a decade, I've worked one-on-one with children using the Orton-Gillingham approach, teaching them to read and spell through explicit, structured, multisensory instruction.

That training didn't start with literacy, though. It started in the classroom. I spent fourteen years teaching, most of it Pre-K and Kindergarten at Belmont Day School in a Reggio Emilia–inspired program, where I helped shape hands-on, play-based environments built around the whole child, not just academic skills.

At Belmont Day School, I also played an integral role in programmatic design, leading professional development for other teachers in early literacy, health and wellness, and emergent curriculum. That's the same work I now bring to schools and programs through consulting and staff development.

That's still how I see reading. It's one part of a child, not something taught apart from who they are. When a child struggles to decode a word, I'm not just looking at the word. I'm looking at the child in front of me, what they understand, where they're stuck, and what they need next.

Becoming an Associate-level practitioner took real work: 100 hours of supervised practicum, overseen by an OGA Fellow (the Academy's highest training level), plus 70 hours of coursework, and professional education that hasn't stopped since.

In 2021, I stepped away from the classroom to care for my newborn son. When I came back to this work, I came back to my roots on the East End of Long Island and founded BusyMessyHands, bringing that same whole-child, individualized approach to literacy intervention, consulting, and family advocacy.

It's still hands-on work. Still messy. Still built one child at a time.