RE: Tutor?

November 14, 2004

If you do have a tutor, do you know what their

qualifications are? Are there special D/HOH tutors?

I know of one TOD that tutors D/HOH kids in our area. I think that if you are

going to tutor these students in areas related to the hearing loss, then you

would need to have a degree or training in that area.

As far as tutoring in general, it's best to tutor in a subject area that you

know well. I know several teachers who tutor for extra cash. They are sought

out for mostly reading issues, but sometimes for math. I had thought about

being a tutor several years ago, but realized that I didn't have a place that I

could use to tutor students. I didn't think parents would be comfortable

bringing their children to my home and we had no library at the time that I

could use.

Debbie

" I'm through accepting limits, Cuz someone says they're so. Some things I

cannot change, But till I try I'll never know " Defying Gravity from

" Wicked: The Musical "

__________________________________________________

November 14, 2004

yes, i take my daughter to a DHH tutor who is a ToD. She teaches preK and K

in the a.m., DHH.

>If you do have a tutor, do you know what their

>qualifications are? Are there special D/HOH tutors?

>

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November 14, 2004

In a message dated 11/14/2004 6:52:02 PM Eastern Standard Time,

tndarcher@... writes:

Does anyone take their kids to a tutor?

I was thinking of getting into this as a side kind of job. There seems to

be a shortage in our area. If you do have a tutor, do you know what their

qualifications are? Are there special D/HOH tutors?

Around here tutors tend to be teachers or retired teahcers in the same

discipline as they are tutoring The TODs have degrees in Deaf Ed and have to

pass

the NYS certification process for that discipline. If I were hiring a TOD I

would be looking for someone with the same kind of qualifications as any

tutor. A teacher experienced in the requirements for the subject. For instance,

my

husband has tutored Earth Science, which he has taught in the classroom for

almost 20 years. He also teaches (and therefore is qualified to tutor)

physics, chemistry and math. He knows what is expected for the NYState

curriculum

and Regents (state mandated final exams) for those subjects. Someone without

that experience might know the subject, but not what is required for the actual

courses.

If I were looking for a TOD tutor, I would want the tutor to have experience

teaching children the age of my child, who is knowledgable about that

grade-level's needs. Or if it is a younger child, experience/degree in Early

Childhood Education with specialization in D/HOH or TOD qualifications.

No insult intended here, but the problem I see in getting into this as a

side job is that its not really the kind of thing you just do on the side. These

kids have very specialized needs and each needs a combination of solutions

that answer their unique needs. The little ones may seem to be playing games,

but each game is designed to answer a specific needs, a specific skill while

making it fun. It's not really just play. What worked for our son does not

work for the other 3 kids our TOD works with. She is trained to see their

needs,

weaknesses and strengths and play to those in order to address their needs.

It's not like a few tricks or games are enough to actually address a child's

needs. The tutor/teacher needs to be trained to see the underlying cause and

address that.

Think of this job as accepting the trust of another parent. Someone is

turning to you to help their kid and to be knowledgable enough to see what the

issues are and know solutions. What would you accept for your child? What

qualifications would you look for when hiring someone to teach your child?

Since

we're a family of teachers, I know that I tend to set my own sights quite high.

I don't want to say this is an impossible thing. It just strikes me as a

specialized, focused task that would take time and schooling to achieve.

Best -- Jill.

November 15, 2004

I took to a tutor for reading last summer before entering

first grade. The reason I did it was not because he was behind --

he was solidly at grade level -- but I wanted him to be a little

ahead and not have to struggle with academics at all in his first

mainstream experience this year. I figured he would have a lot of

adjustments as it was. (Though I admit, compared to his brother who

read by 4, 's reading progress seemed very slow to me, and I

was in a bit of a panic. is also a year older than his

classmates because he got his implant late and repeated a year of

preschool.)

I am really glad we spent the time, effort, and money on tutoring!

It worked! He is in the upper half of the class with reading (2nd

highest reading group out of 4), and has made the adjustment to

mainstream really well in all respects, social and academic.

I was lucky to find a tutor who actually had a former life as a

teacher of the deaf! She was in tune with language issues,

pragmatics, all kinds of stuff. She does not have many (any?) D/HH

students now. Her students are all different ages. Some have

specific learning disabilities, and really struggle to learn to read

(reading is her specialty -- she has a PhD in reading learning or

instruction, though also tutors other subjects) while others somehow

fell through the cracks, and due to whatever reason never learned to

read (ESL, other situations), and yet others are really bright prep

school students who may have one area of difficulty or are in such a

cut-throat environment that the parents feel they can't let anything

slip.

But getting back to the tutor, she was great, and really knew her

stuff. She worked in her home and I would either sit in the

adjoining room and wait, or take a walk around her neighborhood with

my older son and our dog. She had high expectations, but also an

elaborate reward system that worked with . She assigned a

fair bit of homework, both phonics workbook pages and sight words

Bingo and Go Fish. really looked forward to his sessions

with her. Overall, it was a good match of teacher and student.

(Tawnya -- a lot of tutors travel to their students' homes.)

If anyone is in the Boston area, I can really recommend our tutor.

She lives near where Cambridge, Arlington, and Somerville meet.

Lydia

Mom of , 1st grade, deaf with CI

and Colin, 5th grade, hearing

> Does anyone take their kids to a tutor?

>

> I was thinking of getting into this as a side kind of job. There

seems to

> be a shortage in our area. If you do have a tutor, do you know

what their

> qualifications are? Are there special D/HOH tutors?

>

> I'm trying to get as much info as I can.

>

> Thanks!

> Tawnya

> Ian, 1, mild/mod & SLEEPING!

> , 3, hearing & SLEEPING!

November 15, 2004

Just because they do NOT have a degree, though, doesn't mean they could not

do a very good job of tutoring. And, on the other hand, just because they

DO have a degree does not mean they will do a good job. One very important

thing, at least with our girls, is how much experience with the deaf have

they had. If they never socialize with the deaf, then they are not going to

understand what may be a " deaf thing " when the child does not understand.

We have found, even though both our girls are implanted with CI's, that they

really can not be taught the same way a hearing child is taught. The