As We Now Know, We Can Successfully Tutor From Anywhere!
And Everyone Still Loves Tutoring!
A couple of months ago, an older eight-year-old brother (whom I also tutor) came along with Mom to pick up his younger six-year-old brother.
“Hi “Steven”, it’s good to see you!” I called out.
He returned a, “You too, Mrs. Jones!” accompanied by his bright happy smile.
“I bet you came along just to get one of my delicious chocolate chip cookies. That’s why everyone comes to tutoring,” I kidded him. I always give them a chocolate chip cookie at the end of our tutoring sessions.
“Oh, no, Mrs. Jones. We come to tutoring because we love you!”
Talk about melting my heart!
“Oh!” I exclaimed as I gave him a big bear hug. “That makes me feel so good! I love you with all of my heart too!”
I thought of Steven as I was virtually hugging one of my kiddos this last week at the end of our tutoring session on Zoom.
I truly miss physically hugging all of them, but the children and I still feel the love! I can see it in their eyes at the end of each session; I know they can see it in mine.
Last weekend a parent texted me to say that her husband had been furloughed from his job for a year, so regrettably they would need to end tutoring. I called her right away.
As soon as “Amy” answered, I exclaimed, “I love tutoring “Maggie”! I want to keep tutoring her. She’s making so much progress and is feeling so good about herself.”
I could hear and feel the conflict in Amy’s voice as she shared, “Yes, she is feeling so much better about herself! Just yesterday when she had Zoom time with her teacher and classmates, her teacher asked the children to share what they were doing that was making them proud of themselves.
“Maggie told everyone she had just finished learning 700 words (the Fry List) in tutoring, and two weeks ago, she finished the caterpillar and train games that helped her to learn to hear ALL of the SOUNDS in WORDS!”
I was so proud of Maggie for being so confident that she shared her success with her teacher and classmates. She had just passed Phonemic Awareness Assessments Part 1 and Part 2 with 100% accuracy! There’s no question that she now hears every sound in every word.
Amy continued, “Maggie went on to tell her teacher and classmates that her tutor said she was going to BLAZE through phonics now even faster than she was learning it before!
“She is so proud of herself!”
I said, “Amy, that’s exactly why we cannot end tutoring. We can’t stop just when Maggie is feeling her success and is poised to become a strong reader. You do not need to pay me. Just please let me keep tutoring Maggie.”
I could hear Amy take a long deep breath and relax, “Oh, Linda, I cannot thank you enough! We’ll pay you just as soon as we can.”
“Please, don’t worry about paying me,” I replied. “It’s my honor and privilege to teach Maggie! I’m so excited about her progress. I can’t bear the thought of her not getting to continue on in her success.
I love all of you, and I’m sending you all BIG HUGS. I’ll see you Monday.”
This is one way I can help my kiddos and their families at this time.
My students’ successful future is very important to them and to me.
I can’t bear the feeling of them not succeeding because they aren’t able to pay for tutoring at this time.
If you are questioning whether Silent Elephant “e” is the comprehensive reading, writing and spelling program you’d like to purchase, feel free to contact us.
