Unfolding My Legacy: The Alphabet System and the Teacher I Never Meant to Be:

For years, I called myself a teacher. A special education teacher, to be exact—trained, licensed, and deeply dedicated. But somewhere along the way, I realized “teacher” never quite fit. I wasn’t just delivering information—I was asking why.

Why do we teach phonics this way? Why do we pull students into closets and call that support? Why are we still memorizing, instead of understanding?

These questions haunted me—not because they had no answers, but because no one was really asking them.

And so, I did.

I questioned everything. I got curious, not just for myself, but for the other versions of me I saw every day—kids and teachers who were quietly aching for a different way to learn.

That’s how The Alphabet System™ was born. Not as another curriculum, but as a living answer to the questions I couldn't ignore. It wasn’t enough to teach kids the “rules” of reading—I needed them to see the logic, the patterns, and most of all, their own brilliance reflected in those letters.

It’s funny. I spent so much time buried in IEPs and assessments, I forgot to reflect on my own journey. But now, 15 years in, I can say this:

This is legacy. Not a product. Not a checklist. A legacy. A folding in, a remembering, a reclaiming of what learning is supposed to feel like—joyful, shared, and full of belonging.

So no, I don’t think of myself as “just a teacher” anymore. I’m a question-keeper. A curious mind. A reflector. A mirror.

And The Alphabet System™? That’s the map I made for every version of me who still needs one.

💛Tammy Bick

💛 Written by Tammy Bick

Creator of The Alphabet System™

Forever curious, always unfolding.