FINDING A QUALIFIED AND CARING PROFESSIONAL TUTOR/LEARNING SPECIALIST/ COACH FOR A STUDENT WITH A LEARNING DIFFERENCE

Finding the appropriate tutor with the right academic training, professional experience, and the ability to guide and nurture their student can be a challenge, particularly for a child with a learning difference, such as dyslexia, ADHD, autism spectrum, language processing difficulties or other issues.rnAnyone can tutor; it is an unregulated field. Finding the best learning support for your child, when he or she is demonstrating learning issues, is crucial. The right professional can make a significant difference in your child’s life.rnIf your child is demonstrating learning difficulties, parents should request an evaluation performed by a state licensed professional such as a psychologist, neuropsychologist, speech language pathologist, and/or occupational therapist etc. Effective tutoring is guided by a thorough evaluation, particularly a multidisciplinary one by licensed professionals.rnWhen working with students, particularly those who struggle with learning, it is necessary to explicitly teach them skills to facilitate their learning, encouraging them to become more efficient life long learners. More often than not, these students don’t know how to effectively plan, organize, brainstorm, extract important information, read effectively and efficiently, and write fluently, and/or structure essays. Learning is frustrating, hard, and draining.rnWhen shopping for a tutor, ask important questions. Many tutors have advanced degrees in content such as history, but they do not have the necessary and thorough training in assessing and teaching students with learning differences. • Has the tutor earned at least a master’s degree? In which area of specialization? Does your tutor have any state or national licensure?
 • What is your tutor’s professional teaching experience?
 • Does your tutor work with other professionals? Does the tutor know when to refer/consult with other professionals and does he or she communicate with the school, if the parent desires that he or she do so?
 • How up-to-date is the center or tutor with techniques and strategies to help your child with learning differences? Is their instructional approach based on research published by academics in peer- reviewed literature?
 • Does the tutor provide individualized differentiated instruction, instead of just one type of instruction? A one-size-fits all approach is typically not effective. Children with learning differences benefit most from tailored approaches that fit their individual needs based on how your child learns.
 • Small businesses or individual professional tutors may offer a more personalized tutoring experience for your child and family compared to a large tutoring company, more often than not where tutors’ qualifications are not transparent.
 • If requested and appropriate, does the tutor offer or provide technology to supplement the tutoring? How important is this supplementation for your child’s learning needs?rnSecured a Professional TutorrnOnce you find the right professional, it is important to ask yourself if your son or daughter has a strong rapport with that person. Students should feel comfortable asking questions, contemplating and digging further into the material, learning techniques, and be motivated and feel good about learning.rnIt is also important to ascertain whether your child seems to be learning well with the professional. An effective tutor translates and dissects the material that overwhelms your child and offers more efficient ways to process and retain the information. Finally, how well will your tutor grow with your son or daughter’s emerging/changing needs, while remaining true to his or her training?rnImportance of TeamworkrnYou want a tutor who not only works with your child, but with you- the parent, the school and someone who can offer strategies and helpful tactics for when you are at home with your child. Also, it is important that you hire a tutor who is experienced with your son or daughter’s curriculum and school’s culture. -Craig SelingerrnLearning SpecialistrnCEO of Themba Tutors LLC www.ThembaTutors.com Themba Tutors LLC offers in-home & at-school professional services (for all ages), academic tutoring & executive functioning coaching, multidisciplinary learning specialists & Ph.d. content tutors, one-on- one customized tutoring & coaching for New York City (Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island), Long Island, Westchester, and Connecticut. Academic specialists work with high school and college students on content support covering the full range of STEM subjects, including: biology, chemistry, earth science, environmental science. Our tutors, who are experts in math, teach trigonometry, algebra I and II, calculus (and pre-calculus), geometry, physics, and statistics. We also offer foreign language tutoring. Coaches and experts in the field of journalism and higher education teach high school, college, and professional writing, a skill so fundamental that it applies to all subjects and professions. Writing Coaches support the development of rewriting from novice to the professional level, teaching Language Arts such as grammar, spelling, decoding, reading comprehension, writing structure, and identifying main ideas and details. Our Learning Specialists provide learning support in academics including English Language Arts, Math, Writing, Social Studies, Science, History, and other subjects. They are experts in ADHD/ADD, executive functioning, language processing, reading, writing and math disorders, autism spectrum disorders, non-verbal learning disorder, and other learning differences. They support the development of reading and writing from novice to the professional level, teaching Language Arts such as grammar, spelling, decoding, reading comprehension, writing structure, and identifying main ideas and details. Our specialists with math expertise support arithmetic, algebra I & II, Geometry, Trigonometry, Calculus I & II, and Statistics. Our learning specialists also support students and adults who struggle with executive functioning skills. They coach students to learn how to organize, plan, prioritize, focus, avoid distraction, and keep track of materials and tasks. Our goal is to help all students and professionals feel more confident and become more effective learners and workers overall.rnCONTACTrnThemba Tutors LLC. www.ThembaTutors.com, 917- 382-8641, info@thembatutors.com,