My name is Kelly, and I have been teaching elementary and special education (grades k-8) in Ohio and New Hampshire for over 27 years. I am currently certified in elementary, general special education and specific learning disabilities in NH. Kent State University is where I received my bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education with an English Literature minor. I graduated summa cum laude. I also attended The University of Akron where I became certified in special education with a focus on...
My name is Kelly, and I have been teaching elementary and special education (grades k-8) in Ohio and New Hampshire for over 27 years. I am currently certified in elementary, general special education and specific learning disabilities in NH. Kent State University is where I received my bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education with an English Literature minor. I graduated summa cum laude. I also attended The University of Akron where I became certified in special education with a focus on specific learning disabilities. My teaching experience includes being a classroom teacher as well as being a special education teacher in various elementary and middle schools.
During the past 7 years I have worked as a remedial reading teacher in 2 elementary schools, and as a literacy tutor in 7th grade. I especially love teaching reading, writing and spelling to children who have dyslexia. Working with kids of any age on any level of reading is extremely rewarding for me. Applying my training and experience in the Orton Gillingham Method, Wilson Reading Program and the Haggerty Phonological Reading Program is the basis for my instruction. These are programs which use systematic, structured sequential personalized lessons. In addition, for written expression skills I use previous work samples and current topics and skills kids are learning about in school to make lessons relevant. I usually start my tutoring session with an informal diagnostic tool to measure the child’s present level of performance. I take this, as well as parent and teacher information or any previous report cards, school work samples and IEP’s to determine goals for my students.
My lessons are motivating with structured instruction that changes during the session in style depending upon the student learning style and attention span. I use flash cards, games, dry erase boards, letter tiles and, of course, both phonics based and authentic children’s literature. My experience, empathy and patience make me an outstanding tutor!
