FAQs
- What should the customer know about your pricing (e.g., discounts, fees)?
I base my prices on the qualifications I have and my very successful record of helping students reach their goals. I know what I am doing and I do it well with warmth and humor. My happy and successful students are my deepest reward! Please note : if I have to travel a significant amount of time to reach you there is an additional fee for travel time. Also, all lessons are for one hour or more. I have found that even younger children are able to do this with changes of pace throughout the lesson. When lessons are less than one hour, it is much harder to make good progress. For students with significant memory and fluency issues, I may recommend a twice a week schedule for the greatest student progress.
- What is your typical process for working with a new customer?
I am happy to have an initial conversation by phone. I then like to meet with the student and parents to discuss needs, strengths, and expectations, and the time-frame to achieve goals. I will work a bit with the student to see what and how s/he/they does things. Depending on age, I like to look at student work, progress reports, and any assessments done by professionals. I will attend conferences with school personnel at parent request as well. I will then suggest a plan of action that I think will help the student. I keep parents informed regularly of what I see and assess during work times, and give suggestions for how to further support the learner at home and school. I can meet the student at home or at their school to work. Since the pandemic, I am only working online.
- What education and/or training do you have that relates to your work?
I have had a wonderful career teaching full-time--in the classroom, as a specialist, and as a professor of education. I've taught literacy, math, science, social studies, and using the arts in education. I have two bachelor's degrees in music education, a masters in early childhood education focusing on literacy development, and I did doctoral work to the Ph. C. level on literacy and language and English language learners. I've taught in bicultural and bilingual contexts in Japan, in a remote Iñupiat (Eskimo) village, and in several schools in Washington with highly multicultural classes. I've taught gifted and talented students. I've taught English literacy (reading, writing, spelling, grammar, handwriting, speaking, listening) in a French immersion school and in a summer camp program for students from China. It is all valuable to draw from as I work with a range of students with differing backgrounds and needs.