Private Tutor - Florida

Student

The student is the youngest of three children, but as her two brothers are significantly older, she is essentially an only child. The family are delightful – the parents are hard-working, calm and intelligent, and together with her brothers they have created a very loving and stable environment.

The young lady was adopted at two days old. Signs of foetal alcohol syndrome and exposure to drugs in vitro were not evident until she was 7 or 8, when her US private school diagnosed her with dyslexia, dyscalculia, dysgraphia and ADD. To mitigate these syndromes, her family placed her in a specialist school for 2 years. This school helped her overcome some of her dyslexic traits, but the focus on reading and writing has significantly outweighed any attention paid to the student's mathematics ability. As a result, she is severely behind her peers in terms of numeracy.

When she was 11, the student transferred out of the specialist school and now attends a school which is structured similarly to Montessori classes in that it is very student-led. In some respects this has been good for the girl, but it has also allowed her to shy away from her mathematics problems, and this has compounded her trouble with the subject.

Unsurprisingly, the student's least favourite teacher taught maths. The girl reports her as being quite ‘shouty’ and unclear in her instructions and explanations.  She also lapsed into Spanish when frustrated with her students. 

The girl cites two tour guides as her favourite teachers. These guides were specialists in penguins – a topic about which the girl is obsessed and very knowledgeable. These guides modified their presentations, adjusted their pitch to acknowledge the girl’s level of expertise and made her feel valued and special. Penguins are an enduring love of hers, and the family have travelled to some exotic locations including Patagonia and Japan specifically to see penguins.

Aside from school and penguin research, she swims, rides horses and does Aikido. There is room to expand her activities – for example, she has shown an interest in paddle boarding and kayaking as well as being open to learning a musical instrument. She still has some relatively immature interests, and is known to be a fussy eater. Introducing her to new experiences should help to develop more sophistication in her passions and expand her dietary range.

Earlier in the year, the girl was the victim of online grooming in January and as a result her online freedoms have been curtailed. 

Role of the Tutor

This role calls for an enthusiastic and creative Tutor who has experience working with SEND. Candidates experienced in the Davis model would be at an advantage. 

The family would like the young lady to be home-schooled for 3-4 days per week and to continue attending school for the remaining time. The Tutor must therefore build strong working relationships with the school to ensure the student is on track with her peers and that the curriculum is being followed.  A creative Tutor with experience in project-based learning will find the young lady to be a diligent and attentive student.

While there are certain curricular constraints at this stage of the contract, it is possible that the role will become a full-time home-schooling placement – a development that would give the Tutor complete control of the curricula and lesson planning. This would allow the student to follow a different mathematics pathway which may suit her skills and abilities better. For example, the GCSE mathematics syllabus in the UK curriculum might be preferable to the usual US pathway.

Home-schooling also allows for greater flexibility in terms of travel. Once the family are secure with the tutoring, they may undertake more extensive travel to help expose the girl to a range of experiences and learning opportunities. The Tutor will need to be highly organized and able to prepare the full range of lessons for high school subjects, wherever their tutoring is scheduled to take place. They must be an excellent record-keeper and ensure that all reports are accurate and that any requirements for enrolment on future academic courses is met. 

The family have no academic goals in mind for the girl, but they do want her to be equipped with the skills and knowledge that she needs to pursue her own passions. This could be anything from helping her find a career in zoology as a specialist in penguins, to working in a creative field as an artist. The key is to ensure that the student has solid foundations in place that mean she can cope with the demands of her daily life – and for that, she will certainly need math and some of its business applications to a reasonable level.

The successful candidate will be able to bring the best out of the student both academically and in her wider, extracurricular life. The role is ‘Tutor’, but there will be elements of mentorship; the successful applicant will need to improve the girl’s confidence and change her mindset where math and numeracy are concerned. The ideal Tutor will have experience working with SEND students, and hold a deep understanding of the difficulties faced by children with the young lady's range of diagnoses. They will be patient and kind, encouraging and inspiring. Projects and lessons will be well-planned, creative, and memorable. The Tutor’s natural enthusiasm for any given topic should be infectious.

Hours and Holidays, Accommodation and Miscellaneous

The Tutor will typically work on 5 days and have 2 consecutive days off each week as their ‘weekend’ but should not expect these to be Saturdays or Sundays. The Tutor will work with the student for an average of 35 hours each week with preparation time in addition. The Tutor will be entitled to at least nine weeks off per annum of the contract, per the Standard Terms.

The Tutor should follow a structured timetable as much as possible, but adjust it to fit with the student's needs. The Tutor should collaborate with the school in terms of curricula decisions.

The Tutor will need to arrange their own accommodation and transport from their compensation. Accommodation while travelling will be a short term furnished let, AirBnB, or hotel, and will be covered by the Client.

The successful candidate will offer more than the minimum requirements of this position. They will be an excellent educator and a good role model: educated and polished, with excellent manners and personal values.

The Tutor should be fit and healthy, a non-smoker. They should enjoy staying active and should embrace opportunities to try new sports and activities with the student. 

The family have two small dogs, so the Tutor must be comfortable working in an environment with domestic animals. 

The Tutor must have permission to work in the USA.  The role starts in September 2023.

For more information and instructions on how to apply, please visit: 

tijobs.net/553