Many children (my own included) do NOT want to learn from their parents. They simply see them as having a different role. It can be very frustrating to find yourself in a power struggle trying to persuade your child to do homework or to assist them with basic educational activities. Sometimes, just a fresh face with a different approach can make all the difference. I can give a professional assessment of your child's strengths and next steps and make recommendations that involve ME continuing to work with your child, or some ideas to help you make homeschooling more efficient.

I have extensive experience working with students who either do not see themselves as readers or writers, or do not enjoy these activities. It is my mission to find out what students DO love to do, and incorporate those topics into our learning. I believe that with strong support (sometimes going back to move forward), students will experience success with their language skills. This will in turn result in enjoyment which will lead to more effort and success.

This is one of the challenges of remote learning! Many adults and children are uncomfortable to put themselves "out there" and speak in a virtual meeting. We would definitely need to approach this issue gradually. Our first meeting would be brief, with the purpose of just saying hello and getting to know each other. A parent could participate directly and then become gradually a little less involved as the child feels more comfortable and the length of time for the lesson increases. Parents could do "practice" online meetings using different rooms of your own house. You will find more ideas and suggestions here.

Many kids' attention span and ability to sit still is quite limited. I do my best to keep the pace of the lesson moving quickly. We stand and stretch if I see the child getting fidgety and try to use physical movement as much as possible during the lesson. Some children would benefit from sitting on a stability ball during the lesson and others might prefer to stand at a table while using a tablet or computer to communicate with me.

I have a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Western University in London, Ontario, Canada. My Bachelor of Education is from Nipissing University in North Bay, Ontario, Canada. I have Additional Qualification Courses including: Part 1, 2, and Specialist in Computers in the Classroom, Part 1 Teacher Librarian, Part 1 Phys. Ed. I have attended hundreds of workshops and seminars over the years. I have presented many sessions for other educators at various conferences about various topics mainly involving the integration of Literacy and Technology.

The rate for tutoring depends on the number of students attending the session (I suggest a maximum of 2 students in one lesson), the length of time for each session, and the frequency of the sessions. Contact me for a quote.

I am happy to provide a current police check from the Ontario Provincial Police, documentation from the Ontario College of Teachers showing that I am in good standing and a Police Clearance Certificate from the Dubai Police certifying my good conduct and behavior while working with children in the United Arab Emirates.

I have a professional Zoom account. You will have a unique link and password to help your child access a meeting room where we will do our work. I encourage parents to join our meetings or to pop in and out, or to be close by as I am working with your child. When we are settled into the Zoom meeting, I can "lock" the meeting so that it is secure and can only be entered by an approved parent and the student(s).

See the Schedule page and the Tutoring page for more information about a typical lesson and details about the various subject areas suggested for tutoring lessons.

Using my education training, I gather resources and ideas from several sources. I follow the Science of Reading research that has been done over the last 20 years or so but is just now being implemented in Ontario schools (at the recommendation of the Ontario Human Rights Commission's Right to Read Report). I don't have one specific program but follow the child's school curriculum as a guideline. I don't teach the curriculum, I teach the child! By that I mean that I find out exactly what the learner's strengths are, and use them to fill in the gaps and help determine exactly what he or she needs to do next, in order to move forward. Using widely recognized assessments, I can analyze what skills are being used and which are NOT being used and customize my explicit and systematic instruction accordingly.

I will communicate clearly with parents about what we are working on in the lessons and give support and suggestions to them about how to continue the learning at home. I will give regular "Progress reports" by email or online meeting as requested.

I will make every effort to be sure that I'm supplementing what your child is learning in class rather than duplicating it. I feel very comfortable to share information with your child's teacher, but only with your permission and at your request.