Hi,
I have a son who just finished 2nd grade today. We found out in the fall that he was ADD/LD/ Aniexty Disorder. We have an IEP and he was in pull out reading for 1/2 hour a day - 4x a week. The group had 7 other students, and I don’t think much progress was made. (finished reading at a 2.2 level). I would like to hire a tutor for next year, and maybe not do the SLD classes. My real question is we are moving to Tampa next month. How can I find a good tutor for the fall in a new city? With his anixety disorder (afraid of any change) I’m not going to start the tutoring this summer. I’m gonig to let him have time to adjust to the new neighborhood, etc… Any good places to start would be great.
Thanks,
Kelly
Re: tutor help
I work as a professional tutor. In my experience, asking the school for help is rarely productive. In the rare cases where the school is truly dedicated to teaching you can get a good referral, but in the more common situation where the school’s misteaching and negativity are a large part of the problem, their recomendation for tutoring is likely to be more of the same of what has failed already.
Places to look:
iser.com
International Dyslexia Association (IDA) local branch — often slow and annoying, volunteers, but you may get a good person in time.
Local newspaper advertisements
Local bulletin boards (physical, ie in libraries and shopping centers)
Local internet bulletin boards
Local colleges and universities (careful of the teaching philosophy taught there however)
word of mouth from neighbours and coworkers
Good luck
Tutor available
Hi Kelly,
I recently relocated to Tampa myself and am looking for students. I just put up a website (it is still under construction, so please be patient), and invite you to view it at www.kpalomino.com.
Please let us know how your child is adapting to the change and how is he progressing if you’ve already found help.
Best of luck!
Kathy
Okay, I admit, I’m a tutor and my advice may be skewed but….I’d highly recommend you talk to his new school about tutors they recommend for chidren with your child’s profile and begin tutoring ASAP in your new hometown. Needless to say, a tutor with experience with one of the researched-based reading programs (O-G, LMB, or PGX) would be preferred over a tutor who “tried to help kids catch up over the summer”.
With effective tutoring your son will not enter his new school at as much as a disadvantage as he ended second grade and therefore may not present as a special ed student to his new peers. Entering third grade, this is not a bad thing! In my experience, that is the year that resource stops being cool and has the beginnings of being embarrasing.
I have found that many students with ADHD/anxiety disorder appear to be LD in school due to the type of small group instruction that you describe. I am in no way faulting the child or the teacher, just stating that it is virtually impossible to be an effective early intervention reading instructor in a “small group” of seven.
You might want to investigate either Lindamood-Bell or ReadAmerica tutoring centers in Tampa, or ask the local LDA/IDA for referrals.
Either way, I’d like to reiterate….don’t wait until fall! This is a terrific opportunity for you child to enter third grade believing he CAN be successful, rather than anticipating failure.
Karyn
P.S. I was an elementary sped teacher for years before I got frustrated with the “small groups” I was expected to teach….