Looking for a Tutor?

As an educator for 14 years,  I not only have an extensive background in helping children succeed in reading and writing I also have a passion for working with children and driving their passions.  Under my care I have seen children who have given up on their learning, reignite their passion with some of my strategies.  I have also seen gifted students be challenged like they have never been challenged before.

If you are looking for help in supporting your child on their educational journey you might find some of the below options a viable choice.

Upon reviewing the menu of options below, you will see an array of options ranging from group sessions for $10.00 an hour or monthly packages of $150 per child.  If you have any questions please email me at mdesousacmts2000@yahoo.com, use comments or contact form to sign up and I will email you a paypal order form for payment.

Monthly Tutoring Subscription Packages

 All Inclusive Tutor

• I will provide feedback for up to 10 2-page papers or 20 pages total a month, virtually or during private tutoring
• Provide strengths and weaknesses for each paper and suggestions for improvement, virtually or during private tutoring
• Weekly consultations on writing and reading progress and review of all writing and reading
• Participation in virtual or in person weekly Book Groups
• Participation in virtual or in person weekly Writing Circles

All Inclusive Tutor Package:  First Month $50.00, $150.00 each additional month

Supportive Monthly Tutoring

• Provide Feedback for up to 5 2 page papers or 10 pages total a month, virtually or during private tutoring
• Provide strengths and weakness for each paper and suggestions for improvement, virtually or during private tutoring
• Bi-Weekly consultations on writing and reading progress and review of all writing and reading
• Credit of $20.00 to virtual or in person weekly Book Groups
• Credit of $20.00 to virtual or in person weekly Writing Circles

Supportive Subscription Package:  First Month $35.00, Each Additional Month  $75.00

Book Groups

Readers as young as 6 years old and up to 18 years old can attend book groups organized by age.  Books will be selected by the members of the group.  New Jersey Residents can meet at their local library, and international students can meet virtually through Skype, upon registration.  Participants can join the group weekly, bi-weekly or monthly.  I will be facilitating all book groups, and will be in attendance for all New Jersey Book Groups.  While students will take the lead, I will keep the discussion flowing by encouraging questions that are stimulating, keeping discussions exciting and inclusive of all participants.  Each session will last 45 minutes and all students will be given a small weekly task in addition to having their weekly assigned reading will be expected to be completed.  If you are interested email me for details at mdesousacmts2000@yahoo.com or click on link:  http://www.meetup.com/NJ-Homeschooled-Readers-and-Writing-Groups/, click on schedule a meetup, add a suggested age group, town or specify virtual and time and date.

Cost per Book Group (virtual or New Jersey Residents):  $10.00

 Writing Circles

Writers as young as 6 years old, can share their writing with a small group of participants their own age.  Upon sharing their work, their peers will validate their writing, and provide feedback on the writing.  I, as the facilitator, will ensure all participants stay on track and keep their comments respectful and helpful.  Students will then decide what feedback they will use and write a second draft of their paper and share second draft with group.

Cost per Writing Circle (virtual or New Jersey Residents):  $10.00

Private Reading, Writing and Social Studies Tutoring:

For New Jersey Residents I can meet with you or your child personally and for those outside of New Jersey we can meet virtually.  My first goal will be to instill a love for learning, reading and writing.  My secondary purpose will be to improve and challenge your child on their skills.  I will also maintain dialogue with parents on learning and progress of their child’s growth.

Private Tutoring (virtual or New Jersey Residents):  $50.00 an hour

Parent Teacher Consultations

Need support in helping your child succeed?  In 45 minutes we can discuss you and your child’s goals, challenges and I will provide tips and suggestions in helping him or her succeed.  Any questions about your child’s educational experience can be discussed.

Parent Teacher Consultations:  $40.00 for 45 minutes

One Paper Consultation:

I can review, consult, and provide feedback for one writing paper.  My feedback will provide strengths and weaknesses and suggestions for improvement.

Consultation Fee:  $10.00 for every 2 pages or 1,000 words

Student Lead Tutoring

All Inclusive Tutoring $150.00 USD Supportive Tutoring $75.00 USD Book Group, Writing Circle, One Paper Cons $10.00 USD Parent Teaching Cons. $40.00 USD All Inc. Tutor. Trail $50.00 USD Support. Tut. Trial $35.00 USD

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Discovering with Art

One of their favorite sculptures.

In an effort to encourage kids to appreciate what is around them visually, I always try to instill in them some art appreciation. I don’t have an art background but I appreciate all forms of art; everything from the little label on a banana (someone had to design that) to a Rembrandt at the museum. We may not like it all, but it should be observed, evaluated or just discussed. I would always be shocked when I asked which art was my kid’s favorite when we visited museums. I would be surprised and enlightened with their choices and explanations. It provided insight into their soul.

Another favorite art “piece”

When we visited Philadelphia my favorite part of the trip would be taking a walking tour of the beautiful sculptures around town, taking pictures, discussing our favorites and why they felt the way they did. I always got to know my kids more by discussing what their opinions were. This exercise can also be done with virtual museum tours on line. It’s an opportunity to ask thought provoking questions like:
Which sculpture is your favorite? Why is it your favorite? What do you think it represents? What do you think the artist was trying to convey?

Take pictures, if permitted, when not in a museum, and journal it or create a PowerPoint presentation. Below is a suggested PowerPoint assignment that can be completed with a virtual tour online, or after a walking tour or museum.

Some good sites for online art are posted on websites such as Teen Ink, Art section, http://www.teenink.com/art/. Teen Ink is a great website I like to use with my children and students, because all the submissions are from teenagers.

Google also has virtual tours if you follow the link: http://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/project/art-project.
Step by Step directions and some good thought provoking questions for a PowerPoint presentation you might want to use can be:

• Choose 5 favorite pictures that you would put in your home because they represent a part of who you are or a part of your past present or future.
• Cut and paste the picture into your PowerPoint presentation.
• For every favorite picture answer the below questions with a PowerPoint presentation:
o Describe the picture and artist.
o What feelings did it evoke for you?
o Why did you choose it?
o Would you change anything about the art?
o Is there anything in the art that is symbolic of something else?
o Write a pretend or real letter to the artist. What would you say to him or her?

As your child discusses his or her art picks other questions and discussion points might arise. The conversation is guaranteed to teach you something about your child, which is my favorite part of parenting!

Teach the Art of Writing with 10 Easy Steps

As our educational standards become higher and more competitive, creativity and free writing is becoming more and more extinct in our schools. As parents we need to make up for that missing link. We all know creativity is what our children need to grow into lifelong learners, so let’s not wait for someone else to instill the love of writing. The below steps might help us put the art back into writing.

1. Write, Write, Write! Like Malcolm Gladwell, author of the Outliers says, you need to spend 10,000 hours on a skill before you get really good at it. That especially applies to writing. Children should be writing as much as possible. It would be great if they had a choice over what to write. If they have hours of homework than encourage them to use the weekend to write something of their own choosing. If your homeschooling encourage them to write a lot throughout their days and weekends.

2. Freewriting should be most of their writing which means they should just write with no prompts or topics unless they ask; but it’s best if your child just writes without a prompt. Let their creativity take them wherever their mind wants to take it. They will surprise themselves with where their imagination goes.

3. Reading, reading and reading! A writer should be reading as much as they’re writing. They should be reading all genres and that will help them see all forms of writing, with different sentence structures, vocabulary with rich language and those crafts will than be absorbed in their own writing. I remember when my son said one day, “I read that metaphor and it was so beautiful I wanted to use it in my own writing.”

4. Borrow fascinating words or phrases they run into and keep them in a journal. They could make a section in a reading journal that’s just for “borrowed phrases”. As they’re reading they could add to that section. When it’s time to write they could use those words or phrases in their own writing. Eventually they will longer have to borrow and it will come natural for them to form their own fascinating words or phrases.

5. Describe a moment in depth instead of doing a long free write; some days they can carry the notebook and when they see something they could describe in depth, encourage them to stop and write about. For example, while at dentist’s office they might write a story about someone who is waiting in the waiting room, based on what they look like or how they’re acting; or something as simple as a ray of light shining through the window. That could be an entire paragraph that starts off a hopeful day.

6. Sign your child up for a Writing Group. Following is a link for groups mostly in New Jersey, meetup.com http://www.meetup.com/NJ-Homeschooled-Readers-and-Writing-Groups but if you’re outside of New Jersey click on suggest a Meetup with your suggested location and suggest your child’s friends sign up. Look for a local Writing Tutor to facilitate the group. Kids learn best from each other with an adult facilitating; the tutor can take a back seat while students help each other improve. The can read their writing to each other and make suggestions that are constructive.

7. Create an audience around your child’s writing. Organize a Poetry Slam where students can read and celebrate each other’s poems. Kids love to be validated by their peers and would respond positively to the attention. Publish their short stories or biographies with IlluStory company or other companies that publish books at a very low cost. You could also make their published books with construction paper or cardboard and than share them with family and friends. To have others admire ones work adds a purpose and excitement they will respond to.

8. Give your young writer a meaningful purpose with which they will receive a response. One of my proudest moments as when upon coming home from the park, my son was disappointed by the many deep potholes in the park where we rode bikes. This caused him so much distress he decided to write the town mayor. We also got into the habit of writing to people we admired. Everyone from the Tim Burton to Bill Gates. Many times we received letters back or signed autograph pictures. That showed that writing has a purpose beyond homework.

9. Post your child’s writing on websites where others, including other peers, can provide feedback. It’s been my experience the feedback is not only helpful, but encouraging to the writer. Websites like Teen Ink are very friendly to teen writers.

10. Praise before making suggestions for improvement. Point out what your child did well so they can feel good about their work. Leave grammar revisions for the end. Work on developing content before addressing spelling, capitalization and punctuation. This will encourage your child to write more and take risks using words they are not familiar with. If they are continuously reprimanded for their spelling they are less likely to use new words.

I hope these suggestions help; let me know how they worked out or if you have some other strategies that have worked for your family.