? 4 tutors or those that have their dc tutored

[suzziesnowflake]

My ds had his first tutoring session with a certified OG tutor this week. He did 1 two hour block with her. I have a few concerns and I hope that someone who tutors or has their child tutor can help me. First of all, she told me my son did not know the sound the letter u makes, does not know how to spell the word "what", and does not know when to use ck or k at the end of a word. She said he has gaps in his learning but it sounded like I was doing the right things with him. I told her that we went over and over and over these concepts. I also told her that with my son he can know some thing 1 min and the next not know it. I said if you ask him the same questions he can answer them right but he will get the other questions wrong (ie words, how to spell, sounds,ect). She commented to me (while the door to her office was open where my son was) that it was too bad that she had him "today because kids like this don't do well on stormy days", whether or not it was true I felt she should not have said it. My son was offended when we left. He wanted to know what she meant by "kids like us"! Ugh..not a good way to start as I am already having a difficult time with him! My son said the only difference between what I was doing and what she was doing was that she made him "talk it through and she had a sand tray". The tutor also informed me that they would be working on spelling and writing..When I hired her I specifically told her that she needed to work with him on reading and expanding his sentences. After testing him she said that is where she is going to start him. I understand that spelling and reading go hand in hand but...??

Ok, so here are my questions

1. Is this normal for a 1st session?

2. Am I interfering too much?

3. Does your child have things to work on between tutoring sessions?

4. Should she know that kids with dyslexia have a difficult time retrieving?

5. Should I give this more time?

I just hate paying two car payments a month for something that we have doing all along! I guess I had hoped for more....

[myboyluvsdinos]

Couple of questions:

 

What program is she certified in?

Is there a scope/sequence to the program she uses that you can look at, so that you know what to expect?

How did you find her? Did someone recommend her?

Does your son like her (aside from the storm comment)?

 

Before you bail (which might end up being the best thing), I would recommend sitting in on a session to observe.

 

The comment about the storm does seem odd to me.

 

It is not uncommon for dyslexics to have gaps in learning, and to seem to know a concept one day, and not the next.

 

While it doesn't sound like a spectacular start, I'd want more info before I stopped. Do you have some other options for a tutor?

[Heathermomster]

My ds had his first tutoring session with a certified OG tutor this week. He did 1 two hour block with her. I have a few concerns and I hope that someone who tutors or has their child tutor can help me. First of all, she told me my son did not know the sound the letter u makes, does not know how to spell the word "what", and does not know when to use ck or k at the end of a word. She said he has gaps in his learning but it sounded like I was doing the right things with him. I told her that we went over and over and over these concepts. I also told her that with my son he can know some thing 1 min and the next not know it. I said if you ask him the same questions he can answer them right but he will get the other questions wrong (ie words, how to spell, sounds,ect).

 

I'm reading this and believe this is normal. The tutor is giving you her initial, honest assessment, and it's hard to listen too. You hired her to help your son and all that she stated sounds typical for a dyslexic kiddo.

 

She commented to me (while the door to her office was open where my son was) that it was too bad that she had him "today because kids like this don't do well on stormy days", whether or not it was true I felt she should not have said it. My son was offended when we left. He wanted to know what she meant by "kids like us"! Ugh..not a good way to start as I am already having a difficult time with him! My son said the only difference between what I was doing and what she was doing was that she made him "talk it through and she had a sand tray".

 

Your son has dyslexia, and he knows he has dyslexia. Do not expect your son to enjoy tutoring because the work is difficult. DS was tutored for 5 years with Wilson and hated it. He feels the end result was worth the effort though.

 

If you are concerned that the tutoring isn't helpful, tell the tutor that you'd like to sit quietly through one hour of the tutoring to observe. This request should not be a problem and if it is, find another tutor.

 

The tutor also informed me that they would be working on spelling and writing..When I hired her I specifically told her that she needed to work with him on reading and expanding his sentences. After testing him she said that is where she is going to start him. I understand that spelling and reading go hand in hand but...??

Sit down and have a private meeting with the tutor. Ask her to explain her ultimate goal, explain your concerns, and decide whether the tutor is taking your child in a direction that you want to go. You two are a team and you may want to consider listening to her. You hired her and pay the big bucks because she is a professional with years of experience teaching kids to read. After speaking with her, decide afterwards if the cost is worth it.

 

 

Ok, so here are my questions

1. Is this normal for a 1st session? probably

2. Am I interfering too much? probably

3. Does your child have things to work on between tutoring sessions? usually, but not always...

4. Should she know that kids with dyslexia have a difficult time retrieving? she knows that

5. Should I give this more time? probably

I just hate paying two car payments a month for something that we have doing all along! I guess I had hoped for more....Honey, I don't blame you and understand your concerns over cost. Don't expect miracles overnight. If she just makes you crazy, find another tutor. They are people and have distinct personalities like every body else. My son's tutor of 4 years was awesome. She pushed DS very hard, and he responded very well. I knew another family that used her and they disliked her for the very reason that I loved her. They told me she was too hard.

Edited July 5, 2012 by Heathermomster
I wasn't homeschooled and can't spell...

[herekittykitty]

I haven't had a tutor for my son, but hopefully it's okay if I chime in. I would probably have similar thoughts about her comments, especially the one she said in front of him. That said, I would probably give it more time - several more sessions - to see how it goes. If you continue to get a bad vibe, I wouldn't ignore it. I'd find someone else.

 

I think part of being a good teacher/tutor is knowing your stuff about what you are teaching, but another big chunk is relating well with parents. Some people are excellent at teaching/tutoring but not great at the parent relationship stuff. For me the biggest thing would be how does my child relate to and feel about her. A good relationship will foster learning, so if he really doesn't like her (after giving it a bit more time), that would also be a deal breaker for me.

[suzziesnowflake]

Thanks everyone for responding! I have decided that we will give it till the end of the month. I am going to ask her what the scope and sequence is.I want her to tell me specifically what her goals are for him. She is certified as an O-G tutor. She is the closest one I could find. I really do not care if my son does not like the tutoring and is having to work hard. THIS IS WHAT I WANT! Too bad for him, he doesn't want to work for me he can work for someone else. I just hoped that that person was someone he wouldn't mind working for. I am not offended that she told me the things he couldn't do but I am confounded that she did it in front of him and she doesn't feel the need to send anything home for him. I don't know if I crossing the line by working with him on these things?..I just don't want her to spend 6 weeks on learning how to spell the word "what" when I spent all of last year working on who,what, where, when, how, ect. I guess I need to just back off! You know us homeschool moms like to be in control!:lol:

[laundrycrisis]

Our son's tutor was really wonderful. She did completely different things with him than I did, so working with her was a source of variety that he really enjoyed. She used the Reading A to Z books with him to find his struggles and helped him with each level of those books. She also was very receptive to listening and making changes to go along with what he was doing in vision therapy, what I was doing with him at home, and what specifics he was struggling with when I worked with him, and also found problem areas that I had not uncovered yet. She also helped him some with getting words on paper (he is dysgraphic) and thinking of the words he would use to express ideas. She made it fun, and really pushed him along to stretch himself in reading. She had O-G training but blended that approach with her own years of experience, so she wasn't following a strictly prescribed program. I felt her flexibility was a great benefit for him.

[Dobela]

We used an OG tutor for 18 months with our son and it was fabulous. He did not always like it, but he did well. Our tutor used a particular program - The Scottish Rite program for dyslexics. It had a definate beginning and ending. After he reached a certain point she introduced Winston Grammar and another program. When we signed a contract we knew how many lessons per week, how much to pay, how long she anticipated it would take him to move thru the program, and why she was going to do every single step. She also had a masters degree in reading instruction and had worked in public schools as a reading specialist. And we went 4 days a week for $25 an hour, this was her reduced rate. After she saw we were serious she gave us a break of $365 a month if paid in advance.

 

We actually had another OG tutor we could have chosen that was a Barton certified tutor. A darling lady really, but she didn't have a clue beyond what was in the Barton books. She had no background in reading, no teaching experience other than Barton, and so on. She had learned Barton and gone thru the training with Susan Barton so she could teach her dyslexic granddaughters to read and then decided to pay for her training by tutoring other kids. When I would ask questions, she had no idea or would tell me a bunch of stuff that really didn't make sense. Her price was actually more than the tutor we ended up hiring at $35 an hour and up depending on the level.

 

I say this because while your tutor may be certified in a OG program, she may not really be a great choice or very qualified to teach reading beyond that program. Just because she is OG certified doesn't mean she is prepared to teach the complex needs of *your* child.

 

Using the Scottish Rite program, we had homework every night. Some simple, some complex. It was built into the program. The Barton tutor told me that she would also send passages home for practice. As far as reteaching, sometimes I believe that is necessary. Our tutor began with making absolutely certain that my son actually recognized every letter of the alphabet and restarted phonics with him to find gaps and make sure he really had a good grasp on them before moving forward.

 

I also say give it more time. Your son and the tutor just need to get familiar with each other as well. That takes a few visits.

[RamonaQ]

Here's what I would do:

1- email prior to the next session and ask that 15 or so minutes be devoted to having a goal setting conversation.

 

2-In that conversation, I would share what your concerns about reading are, and see what she says. Perhaps she doesn't share those as areas of greatest concerns, and she is trying to be strategic.

 

As far as writing, perhaps her sense is that your ds's spelling is what is limiting his sentence complexity. Perhaps, she feels that working too much on phonemes (for reading) will not be as helpful for reading at this stage, but perhaps she can catch that up through spelling. When she says writing, is that HANDwriting? or composition? If this is about HANDwriting, and that is currently not a huge goal, I would be very clear that this is NOT your goal and you have alternative strategies. However, perhaps your ds's HANDwriting is impaired enough that it is really getting in the way of tutoring/ practicing phoneme/ graphemes. In fact, I read about the remediation program developed at Boys Town that specifically went after spelling to remediate reading because it was easier to get older kids to be goal oriented around spelling.

 

3-Next, you are just starting. The first few sessions can be tough because you all are getting to know each other.

 

4-I would discuss the matter of homework, and that you are more than willing to do homework with your ds. You are willing to sit in on sessions to see what needs to be done, and then re-inforced at home. Frankly, I would think she would WELCOME that. And, so that you know, that is the manner ds tutor worked. (I sat in on all sessions---he went once a week--- then I would spend the rest of the week practicing and re-inforcing through homework the tutor assigned. This was HIGHLY effective and we were finished in 10 months).

 

PS-I would also mention that comment about the "storm" in your one-on-one conversation because that seems odd, and also letting her know how your son took that kind of a statement.

 

OK-I will now answer your questions.....

1. Is this normal for a 1st session?

First sessions are awkward.

 

2. Am I interfering too much?

I can not make that call. If the work she is doing is not helping to meet your own goals, then I would say you are not interfering too much, but instead making sure that you all are aligned.

 

3. Does your child have things to work on between tutoring sessions?

Yes, he worked about 30 minutes of homework, with the expectation that he read 1 hour for pleasure each day.

 

4. Should she know that kids with dyslexia have a difficult time retrieving?

Yes. Absolutely.

 

5. Should I give this more time?

I would talk first before I decided on that.

 

I just hate paying two car payments a month for something that we have doing all along! I guess I had hoped for more....

 

I would ask what her expectation for a time frame for the work she is planning. I know for us I was more than willing to fork over $300/ month for 10 months (if it was 2 years, I would have been a bit more reticent).

 

Good luck!

Edited July 7, 2012 by RamonaQ

[suzziesnowflake]

Thanks RamonaQ! You have been helpful!

[suzziesnowflake]

I just wanted to give an update on the tutoring. I talked to the tutor about my son's retrival issues and she kinda got an attitude with me ( I did it nicely) and she said she "has tutored for several years and if they can not answer the question then they do not know it", I very sweetly said "ok". Then I asked about time/measuring progress, ect. and she said "that there is no time frame on how long it takes a kid to get something", (ok I knew this). I expressed to her that he needs to be ready to move to the closer tutor by December at least (we can have really bad winters here) and that I would be willing to drive for extra sessions or work with him if she wanted. She said she was unsure about the time it would take. That I feel was a fair statement but I am trying to be realistic. So, I left my son there for the tutoring session. I came back and she said "that she retested him and he knew more today then he did a week ago and although he has a few things he needs to work on, they would work on more difficult things instead. She agreed that it is in there but he has slow retrieval. :tongue_smilie:

 

Long story short I will keep taking him as long as I can and just hope he is ready by winter to move to the other tutor.

[Heathermomster]

I just wanted to give an update on the tutoring. I talked to the tutor about my son's retrival issues and she kinda got an attitude with me ( I did it nicely) and she said she "has tutored for several years and if they can not answer the question then they do not know it", I very sweetly said "ok". Then I asked about time/measuring progress, ect. and she said "that there is no time frame on how long it takes a kid to get something", (ok I knew this). I expressed to her that he needs to be ready to move to the closer tutor by December at least (we can have really bad winters here) and that I would be willing to drive for extra sessions or work with him if she wanted. She said she was unsure about the time it would take. That I feel was a fair statement but I am trying to be realistic. So, I left my son there for the tutoring session. I came back and she said "that she retested him and he knew more today then he did a week ago and although he has a few things he needs to work on, they would work on more difficult things instead. She agreed that it is in there but he has slow retrieval. :tongue_smilie:

 

Long story short I will keep taking him as long as I can and just hope he is ready by winter to move to the other tutor.

 

Thanks for the update. I've was just wondering how you and your family were doing with the tutor.

 

Have you read Overcoming Dyslexia by Shaywitz, and did the tutor ever assign homework?

[suzziesnowflake]

LOL! I am reading that book right now! It's pretty good. The book recommends Language! and a good tutor. Have you used this program? No, the tutor has not assigned any homework yet.

[Splash]

DD is dyslexic and we went to tutor for 2 1/2 years. When we began dd tested in 1% for a 8.5 yr old. We went down to mouth shapes and sounds and worked our way up from there. No reading at all until maybe 9 months of tutoring. I sat in on tutoring sessions and took notes. Tutor gave us homework to do daily for an hour. We were very lucky/blessed to have a wonderful and creative tutor for dd. Now at 13 she reads everything she can get her hands on. Spelling still needs work but she is doing great and is also a good writer if you can look past spelling and grammar.

[Heathermomster]

LOL! I am reading that book right now! It's pretty good. The book recommends Language! and a good tutor. Have you used this program? No, the tutor has not assigned any homework yet.

I have read the book several times and then loaned it out, never to be seen again. No, I have not looked at Language! but will look it up when I have more time.

[DyslexicParent]

I am also starting to read Overcoming Dyslexia. Is Language! or other recommended program available for home tutoring?

LOL! I am reading that book right now! It's pretty good. The book recommends Language! and a good tutor. Have you used this program?

[simplyme99]

My DD is in her second year of O-G tutoring. She didn't really start the writing part until the end of the first book. She is in book two now (there are only three books our tutor use) and starting more writing.

 

We NEVER had homework. My DD is tutored 4 times a week 50 min. a day (after school).

 

If your child is doing well with the tutor and she just rubs you the wrong way, I'd stay with her.