Linda Derman - Tutor Extraordinaire

Children are unique individuals with unique minds and they all learn in their own unique way. Finding someone with a proven ability to discover your child's learning uniqueness and then using it to teach the child how to succeed in school is an educational opportunity not to be missed.

Figuring out how/when/where a student is "blocked" and turning it around by using the student's intrinsic means of thinking to teach in a way that is understandable by the student.

Understanding the problems of creative, right-brain thinkers in a left-brained world ... and knowing how to overcome the issues and use their giftedness to enable them to help themselves.

Subject Areas

Kindergarten to grade three: basic math facts, basic spelling and reading skills.

Grade four to grade eight: assure basic math facts and reading skills; teach skills needed to answer homework questions in social studies and science; teach study skills

ESL: All levels and ages. Speaking, listening, writing, and conversation.

Operational Information

• Teach in my home (nice tutoring area)
• One-hour sessions (2 or 3 sessions per week is preferable.)
• $25/hour (payment with each session)
• Contact me via email

• over 25 years working with students as a classroom teacher and as a tutor
  
  
• background in industrial education, business education and ESL (English as a second language)
  
  
• University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta - Honors Degree in Education, 1973
  
  
• Alberta Department of Education - Permanent Professional Certificate
  
  
• Cooperative Learning Completion of Training Certificate - Alameda County, Superintendent of Schools, Hayward, CA
  
  
• TESL-CALL Certificate - PNIC, Vancouver, BC, 2003

Recent School/College Teaching experience

June 2003 - Aug 2004 Pacific NorthWest International College, Vancouver, BC

As an ESL teacher, I worked with foreign students of all ages and all levels from beginners to advanced. I coordinated the teachers, developing curriculum and organizing daily lesson plans I taught a variety of classes including TESL, business writing, public speaking, speaking, grammar, computer listening, and conversation.

Sept 2003 - Feb 2004 Arbutus College, Vancouver, BC

Arbutus College is a communications arts, business, and technology college. As a teacher, I taught three levels of office-procedures courses and beginner's grammar course.

My Story

Well, he was a premature baby perhaps he just needed time to catch up. When his kindergarten teacher wrote in his November report card that he might fail the year, not only was I distraught but also I was angry! How could she "write off" my child so early in the year?

I was fortunate that we lived in an area at the time that had lots of testing facilities. I had him tested at Stanford and other educational facilities for IQ (which was, as I thought, quite high), for hearing, for sequencing, etc. Our son was smart, very smart ... so what was wrong and why couldn't anyone help us.

I started going to conventions that dealt with learning abilities. If I couldn't get to a convention, I ordered their tapes. I read over 200 books on the subject. In short, I turned myself into an expert. I then turned learning into a fun time spend with our son. He didn't fail that year!

As our son got older and I had to help him in so many areas, I decided to first concentrate most of our time on just one. I had witnessed too many cases of "self-fulfilling prophecy" with teachers and other children ("that one's too stupid so I won't try to hard with him/her") so I decided that if he was good in one subject area, the teacher's couldn't "write him off" as being stupid. I chose math as it was a subject that was concrete, the answer was either right or wrong, no "interpretation confusion" possible.

I mixed some of the ideas I had picked up from others and I added a few of my own. To make a long story shorter, our son quickly began to excel in school. By grade 6, he had won a Presidential academic award (we still lived in California at that time). Eventually, he entered university on a scholarship and was constantly on the Dean's list. All during this time, I also worked with various friends' children who were either having problems in school or just wanted to improve. There was always a marked improvement ... and in a fairly short time.

For years and years, people have told me to share this gift and so I am starting to do just that. I would love to change the future of your family - and take what the school system deems "a failure" and turn him or her into a scholar who loves school and loves to learn.