As the owner of I Tutor Virtually, Carolyn Haines offers over 15 years of experience and training, specializing in working with children who have dyslexia and other language-based disorders. Carolyn is a qualified Orton-Gillingham Reading Specialist and she brings to the table her personal experience as the parent of children struggling to learn and her proven skills as a tutor and a business leader.
Our tutors are teachers and educators with enthusiasm and drive, offering a diverse skill-set to meet the needs of your students. Many of our reading intervention teachers have been raised in the science of reading and use multi-sensory reading methods that are in line with Orton Gillingham methodology. They provide fun, interactive and relevant tutoring for their students, building self-esteem and restoring lost confidence. Students are encouraged to aim high and to believe that they can achieve their best. Every small step forward is celebrated. A setback is treated as a learning opportunity and never as a failure.
Our tutors are here to work with your students in these areas:
1. Help with English, reading intervention and reading comprehension
2. Written expression, writing, Executive Function skills.
3. A focus on Phonological Awareness, including helping students recognize rhyming words, identifying beginning and ending sounds of words, discovering how to create new words from sounds and learning how to separate words into individual sounds. Studies show that poor phonological awareness in preschool/kindergarten is a predictor of later reading problems. This is therefore one of the most important areas we address.
4. Our math tutors work with students from Kindergarten to pre-college level. 5. We offer science, chemistry and an introduction to physics.
6. We can help prepare your students for the SAT and ACT.
7. Occupational and Speech Therapy is available for students with a diagnosed need.
8. We are pleased to teach specialized reading instruction for students who are struggling, particularly those with dyslexia/dysgraphia/ADHD/ADD.
Our approach is to help students learn and to apply strong problem-solving skills for their present and future needs, rather than on simply helping students to complete specific pieces of work. We offer children and parents the support they need by evaluating each child’s specific areas of difficulty, developing a tutoring plan to strengthen those weak areas and implementing the plan. We see tutoring as a holistic approach which allows students to grow in confidence and to succeed academically. We believe that we should work in close collaboration with the student’s teachers and advisers so that planning and teaching go hand-in-hand and ensures progress and success.
Family engagement is very important to us. We operate an open-door policy, encouraging our tutors to share information with the student’s teachers and family. Parents/Guardians are welcome to contact Carolyn by telephone, email or to meet face-to-face. We work in close co-operation with each family and with others who are involved in the child’s learning experience; teachers, school leaders, psychologists and other therapists. Our tutors will provide feedback and they welcome input from everyone involved in the student’s learning journey. When requested to do so, we are pleased to offer guidance into IEP and other academic plans and we are able to advise and guide parents seeking help and accommodations within the classroom.
We offer year-round tutoring as we know that students benefit enormously from academic support and encouragement during school vacation time as well as during the school semester.
In addition to regular tutoring, our summer camps give students a fun-filled environment in which to learn and remain engaged. For summer 2022 we plan a book study for students offering STEM activities combined with outside active play and interactions. Each day will focus on a different book and discuss themes in literature such as The Very Hungry Caterpillar; a book which lends itself well to a memory exercise about healthy eating and a math component involving too much food vs too little.
Please get in touch for more information about our services. We are proud to partner with CMS in this ground-breaking initiative to help our students through the disruptions of Covid-19 and look forward to contributing to their academic success.
www.itutorvirtually.com
itvirtually@gmail.com
704-578-6716
