Experience Summary
I received my training from Cedarville University, Wright State University, Plymouth State College and Keene State College. I received my BA from Cedarville University in Elementary Education with an Emphasis in Special Education. I completed more training through a teacher mentor program through Plymouth State College to gain my Special Education certification in NH. I took 9 credits towards my masters at Keene State in the area of Special Education. I taught for 6 years in a rural school in NH, where I was a self-contained special ed. teacher for 4 years and a 4th grade teacher for 2 years. During that time, I was the Special Education Coordinator for my district as well as the volunteer Head Coach for a Special Olympics team I formed while there. I moved to Cleveland, OH, where I taught for a year in 5th grade and then got a different position as an LD tutor for two parochial schools for the next two years. When my husband was transferred to Fort Wayne, IN, in 1996, I finished my Special Ed. IEP meetings in OH and received my certification to teach in IN. However, our baby daughter was sick and I had such a great time being at home with her, I just decided to stay home. And then we decided to homeschool all four of our children. So, I've been occupied doing that for the past 18 years; homeschooling my daughters though 9th grade in all subjects, including Algebra I and II, Biology, Geometry, Integrated Chemistry and Physics, World and American History as well as Literature and Composition. When they transferred to the high school, they received extra credits for all the rigorous work I made them do. My daughter, who is a senior, will graduate with nearly 56 credits and a 3.86 GPA and receive an Academic Honors Diploma. I am currently still homeschooling our two boys, 5th and 9th grade, respectively. I love to teach. So, while my youngest son was going though the Sparks (K-2grade) of the Awana church program, I was the Director and taught the Bible lesson every Wednesday night to 60-75 Sparkies!
Teaching Style
My teaching style is very hands-on, involving pictures, manipulatives, and tactile modalities. I like to use a dry-erase board to demonstrated concepts as well as allow the student to practice. I take them step-by-step through a new concept, giving a lot of verbal positive reinforcement to praise effort as well as achievement.
Other Comments
Before beginning tutoring, I perform a thorough assessment to determine the gaps in education and the exact needs of the particular student. I treat each student as an individual, determining his/her learning style and adapting to that in the way I set up lesson plans and tutor to maximize potential learning achievement.
| Algebra |
Proficiency: Experienced
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| I scored a 100% on the NY Algebra Regents. I homeschooled my two daughters and they both passed the Algebra ECAalmost at the Pass Plus range. I am currently homeschholing my son in Algebra 1. I love math and love solving for the unknown quantity. I was certified in Elementary Education (K-8th grade) and Special Education (K-12th grade) and taught for 10 years for both regular and special ed. students up to 8th grade. |
| Algebra I |
Proficiency: Experienced
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| I scored a 100% on the NY Algebra Regents. I homeschooled my two daughters and they both passed the Algebra ECAalmost at the Pass Plus range. I am currently homeschholing my son in Algebra 1. I love math and love solving for the unknown quantity. I was certified in Elementary Education (K-8th grade) and Special Education (K-12th grade) and taught for 10 years for both regular and special ed. students up to 8th grade. |
| American History |
Proficiency: Experienced
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| I have homeschooled my children though 9th grade and have taught American history. I am currently teaching my son the Great Depression and World War II. I love history and enjoy teaching it through reading historical novels as well as watching historical documentaries and talking to people that lived during that time period. |
| Composition |
Proficiency: Expert
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| I have taught writing and composition to all three of my older children. I emphasized mastering writing simple, compoound and complex sentences, various styles of paragraphs with a good attention-grabbing sentence and conclusionary remarks. We used the book, Mastering the 5-Paragraph Essay and learned to write various types of essayd: narrative, compare-contrast, expositon, persuasive and literary analysis. |
| Creative Writing |
Proficiency: Experienced
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| I have alos taught my children to write creatively. I emphasize writing alsmost daily, using vivid descriptive language and including dialogue to make the story plot flow. Writing with passion and about topics that you're passionate about is something I also stress. |
| Earth Science |
Proficiency: Experienced
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| I have homeschooled my children in all science subjects up to 9th grade. I am currently teaching earth science to my 8th grade son. Of all the science subjects< I love teaching about geology, astroonomy, oceanography and meteorology. |
| Elementary |
Proficiency: Expert
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| I have a BA in Elementary Education form Cedarville University. I taught for 10 years in various poasitions : as a special education teacher (1-4th grade) in self-contained classroom, a regular ed. classroom teaccher in both 4th and 5th grade, and a s LD tutor for 1st-8th grade students. I have also taught my own children form preschool all the way through 9th grade. I am currently still homeschooling a 4th and an 8th grade., |
| Grammar |
Proficiency: Experienced
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| I have taught grammar while teaching at schools as well as with my own children. This is one area I think has evolved in my own life. I used to hate grammar when I was in school. I never understood alll the terms- what is a gerund anyway and what do I need to know it for? But when I took Latin, understanding grammar at least had a purpose and made sense to me. I have been teaching my children Latin for the past 5-6 years and have learned al lot about grammar and finally how to diagram a sentence! |
| Language Arts |
Proficiency: Experienced
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| I have taught Language Arts to my children for the past 17 years, including English, grammar, composition, expositiry writing, creative writing, spelling, vocabulary development using Latin and Greek roots, and listening skills. |
| Life Science |
Proficiency: Experienced
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| i have taught my daughters 9th grade Biology and Life sciences while homeschooling. My daughters are currently taking Advanced Biology II Honors and I am helping them study and prep for tests and quizzes. So, I am currectly refreshed on the material. |
| Pre-Algebra |
Proficiency: Expert
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| I taught math to both regular and special ed. students for 10 years up to 8th grade and have taught my own children for the past 17 years, including pre-algebra. |
| Reading |
Proficiency: Expert
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| I took Special Education courses to especially help with people struggling with reading skills. Since reading is such a necessary skill, I learned different techniques, such as Orton-Gillingham Phonetic Approach, Reading Recovery, and Whole Language Approach. I learned to incorporate not only phonics, but also 250 must-know sight words, context clues, and colr-codded words to help with reading difficulties. Everyone of my children learned to read in a slighly different way. So, I know learning to read is a personal individual response bsed on learning styles nad strengths and weaknesses. |
| Reading Comprehension |
Proficiency: Expert
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| I have taugth reading comprehension in conjunction with reading skills. It is not enough to be able to just decode words, you have to know what the message is that the passage or story is trying to convey. To that end, I stop during reading to periodically check to see if they can summarize the events, the mood or the feelings of the characters,predict what may happen next. When answering comprehension questions on paper, I insist they answer in complete sentences and give multiple word answers. We read multiple books in a year, reading full, not abridged classics and quality chapter books, so you can explore themes. I require my older children to keep an Reading Response Journal on every book they read. I just don't want a regurgitation of the events in the chapter, but how did what happened to the character evoke anything in them. |
| Special Education |
Proficiency: Experienced
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| I have worked with special needs students and persons for more than 30 years. I attended Cedarville University and Wright State University to receive training in teaching MR and LD. I taught in a self-contained classroom with 25 MR, EH, LD, and S&L special needs students for 4 years. I was also the Special Ed. Coordinator for my district for 5 years, administering academic testing as well as writing the full evaluations on prospective special needs students. I was also an LD tutor for several yers in two different schools, working with students from 1st-8th grade. I learned to use a number of different teaching strategies, including Orton-Gillingham Phoetic Approach, and teaching math via color coding and working on lines from left to right. |
| Spelling |
Proficiency: Expert
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| I have taugth spelling all the years I have tuaght as well. This is another subject that I think has gone through some changes over the years in my own thinking. Spelling, what they call encoding, naturally follows decoding. You have to be able to read a word before you can spell it. And for many of our sight words, you really have to have seen it a long time or just commit its abnormal spelling to memory. I do not use a spelling book per se, because I think spelling development is individual as reading. So, I teach a phonetic sound, and then develop a list of words with that particular phonetic sound in them. We practice sentences, abc order, definitions (for the older children), sorting by phonetic rules, and writing the word in triangles. I include sight words and words that that particular child is struggling on in his daily writing journal. |
| World History |
Proficiency: Experienced
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| I taught my daughters world history that took two years to complete. We especially loved covering ancient civilizations and medieval times. We also deloved into all the changes that the Renaissance brought to the world. I am currectly teaching my 4th grader ancient civilzations for the first time. |