Lover of Learning Helping Early Readers + LSAT Prep

Manihi K.

Elementary (K-6th)

I have received extensive training in tutoring elementary students from my work as an America Reads tutor. I attended monthly seminars on techniques and strategies for tutoring elementary students in reading, writing and math for two-and-a-half years. Furthermore, I have been successfully tutoring elementary students for the past five years.

Elementary Math

I have ample academic and professional experience teaching and tutoring elementary math. I have taken college courses in teaching elementary math, and have also participated in professional development workshops focused on specific topics in elementary math such as effective use of manipulatives, applying math to the real world and addition and subtraction in a base 10 system. Professionally, I have worked in 1st and 2nd grade classrooms assisting with math activities. I have individually tutored students K-6 in topics ranging from counting to algebra. I try to make tutoring fun, make use of manipulatives and try to make connections to students' daily life. For example, a 4th grader I am currently working with was having difficulty with fractions. In order to help him understand adding, subtracting and multiplying fractions we made Play-Dough pizzas and then deciding how we would share our pizzas with our family and friends. We both had a lot of fun and he rocked his next test!

Elementary Science

I have been teaching and tutoring elementary science for 6 years. While I was a senior in high school, I taught a group of four forth graders science. We worked on topics including gravity, motion, friction, matter, states of matter and how they change, measurements (including height, width, weight and volume), the metric system, and electricity. I have experience explaining concepts and leading basic experiments. Most recently, as an environmental educator, I have lead field trips to ECE-5th grade classes, and planned and lead experiments and activities for summer campers. In environmental education we focused on topics like: animal characteristics, evolution and adaptations, ecosystems and food-webs, plants and plant parts, photosynthesis, native v. non-native species, water cycles, water testing, geology, rock types and formation, formation of various geologic features (such as mountains), natural disasters, erosion and properties of matter. I have expertise in identifying and describing adaptations of many local Denver plants and animals.

Philosophy

Philosophy is my passion. I graduated Summa Cum Laude in philosophy from Northern Arizona University. While concepts and certain philosophers' writing styles can be difficult to tackle, the wisdom you gain in wrestling with philosophy makes the hours of frustration worth it. The topics in philosophy I am most experienced with include: ethics, political philosophy, philosophy of education, aesthetics, ancient philosophy, epistemology, philosophy of science, informal logic/scientific reasoning, philosophy of mind. Some philosophers I enjoy and/or have spent extensive time studying include: Plato, Aristotle, Epicurus, Descartes, Hume, Kant, Kuhn, Hegel, Freud, Locke, Nozick, J.S. Mills, Rawls, Marx. This is not a comprehensive list of areas I am willing to tutor. Please feel free to contact me with classes or specific concepts you're grappling with, and I will let you know if my experience may be useful; philosophy is such a broad subject that I will be sincere and forthcoming if I am not familiar with the philosopher, concept or class you are wrestling with. Regardless of whether my tutoring help can be of service, feel free to send me a message, and I may be able to direct you to books and/or sources that could be helpful!

Phonics

I have received extensive training in teaching phonics from my work as an America Reads tutor. Furthermore, I have successfully been teaching phonics to elementary students for the past five years. I regularly work with students on phonetic skills including developing phonemic awareness, reviewing the long and short versions of vowels, practicing blends (e.g. ch, ph, sh).

Psychology

I hold a bachelor's of arts in psychology from Northern Arizona University. I graduated with a 4.0 GPA in psychology classes and consistently showed leadership abilities in my classes. I often lead study groups for my classmates in developmental psychology, cognitive psychology, neuroscience and sensation and perception, and was a supplemental instructor for statistics for the social and behavioral science. I also volunteered in a neuroscience lab and conducted my own research on creativity and music, which allowed me to put the research methods and theory I learned about in classes into practice.

Reading

As an avid reader, tutoring reading is a great joy. In my tutoring I hope to help my students become better readers, and to help open the door to the wonderful world of reading. Reading is a crucial skill in the world today. My approach to tutoring reading is to make reading fun. I combine a phonic and whole-world approach by playing games with my students that require them to practice phonics skills, vocabulary, reading and writing. I find that this keeps them engaged and makes the repetition less mundane. I think becoming a good reader is as much about simply reading as mastering any specific set of skills. Practice makes perfect, but practice doesn't have to be a struggle or boring!

Statistics

Statistics is one of my favorite subjects to tutor! I have plenty of experience tutoring in statistics for the social sciences. I was a supplemental instructor for statistics in undergraduate. I have also taken two graduate level courses in statistics: intermediate statistic and Analysis of Variance. I am familiar with the SPSS statistical package. I am most experienced with statistics for the social science, particularly psychology, but I have also took a philosophy of math class on statistics, which had a more mathematical focus.

Study Skills

I am qualified to tutor study skills, because I have received extensive training in utilizing them myself and in teaching them to others. Throughout my time in high school and college I was taught effective techniques for memorizing facts and integrating new material with my previous knowledge. Furthermore, I have taught study skills for the past three years. I have taught study skills, time management and test taking strategies to upper elementary students (grades 4-6), high schoolers and college students.

Vocabulary

I believe that vocabulary is a key component of becoming a competent reader and writer. Research suggests that it takes approximately 12 experiences with a word for most people for that word to become part of their vocabulary, so exposure to words is very important. Given the necessity of repeated exposure to words, I try to help students interact with new words in a variety of ways including reading the word in context, looking up the definition in the dictionary, practicing spelling the word, writing the word in an appropriate context and simply discussing the word and using it in conversation. For new verbs, I have had students act out the word and with nouns I often have students draw me a picture of the word. I tend to focus on new words encountered in books or pieces my student is reading, but I also use fun games which introduce age-appropriate words.

Writing

Writing is a skill that everyone must develop. Being a good writer will serve you in all aspects of life including (but not limited to): school, work, volunteering, becoming a better reader, becoming a better speaker and networking both socially and professionally. Given the importance of writing, this is a skill I love to tutor. I know if my students can write, they can succeed! I have over five years of experience tutoring and teaching writing in numerous settings including in the classroom, in private tutoring and through volunteer work. I have tutored students K- graduate students in writing, including working with ESL students and students' with learning and developmental disabilities. Many of the other subjects I am certified to tutor are integral to writing, so please take the time to explore specific areas of interest such as: English, grammar, phonics, proofreading, reading, spelling, and vocabulary. On a personal level I love to write! I write on a daily basis, and enjoy journaling, creative writing, poetry, persuasive writing, and writing letters. I have been published in Northern Arizona University's philosophy journal, and have experience with academic writing in philosophy, psychology, anthropology and other subjects. My approach to tutoring writing is tailored to each students needs and abilities, so please contact me with the details of your situation to see if I could be of help to you.