Any tips for hiring a tutor?

I don't know what to ask or look for when hiring a tutor but was gonna suggest talking to his teacher and maybe upcoming teacher for suggestions. Or even ask if they would be interested in tutoring him over the summer.

Do they have a specialization in Readingor have htey done work with reading disorders? How long have they been teaching/tutoring? Ask for references, maybe.

We are looking at tutors for Drew, as well. I think we are probably going to go with the Charles Schwab Learning Centers because they specialize in kids with LD's (Charles Schwab has ADD and is dyslexic). They ain't cheap, but they don't seem to be any more expensive than any of the others around here, either. I want to use them because of Drew's ADD and Dysgraphia because they know exactly how to deal with those disorders. It might be worth seeing if you can find someone who deals specifically with Cody's type of problems. From all the specialists I have talked to this year, they are all telling me that finding someone who specializes in his problems will make all the difference in the world!

I know, Dawn! I need a tutoring student and I would love to work with Cody.
I wouldn't worry so much about how long they have been teaching. I wouldn't hire someone that has ZERO experience, though. Keep in mind that some teachers who have taught for a long time are not very creative or dynamic, and in my opinion, Cody needs someone who is sharp and on their toes and who has many creative ways to help him learn so that it doesn't seem rote or dull. Because he struggles so much, it's easy for him to become frustrated and shut down, you don't need him getting bored or overwhelmed and shutting down because of that, too.
A GOOD tutoring company is Club Z tutoring. Club Z requires that every tutor have at least a college degree and their preference is that they are certified teachers. I would also call a few people from the list you received and just talk to them about Cody. If you hire a private tutor, I would make sure that they are certified teachers. I would look for a Language Arts teacher. L.A. encompasses reading, writing, speaking, and listening. You will be hard pressed to find a reading specialist, and lots of peopel (at least here) are hired to be reading teachers. I don't know of any undergrad degrees in reading, so there is no telling what type of degree they would have or how much of an expert they truly are. In my opinion, Cody doesn't need a lot of fluff, but he does need someone who can keep him interested and who isn't "old school" and hard core. Club Z is a private tutoring company, and I am pretty sure you can negotiate the rates somewhat. For private tutoring, at least here in the Atlanta area, the going rate is about $35 an hour. (If I were there, I wouldn't charge you that much.) Whatever you do, DO NOT take him to Sylvan Learning Center or Kaplan or any of those places. You will pay at least $35 an hour and IT IS NOT one on one tutoring.
Do you still have my phone number? If so, feel free to call me and let me know what or who you find. If you don't have my number pm or email me, and I'll send it to you.
Here's a link to Club Z
http://www.clubztutoring.com/home.php
And a phone number to a franchise in your area (I think)
301-831-8810 (It's a Winston-Salem franchise)

Okay, I see that I misspelled people, but I am too tired to edit it. Sorry!

That is cool that Cody likes being on the computer, just like Mommy. Hope you find all you need Dawn.

Dawn,

A couple more free computer reading programs are

www.starfall.com

studydog

Starfall you play on-line. Studydog you download. There are three levels of studydog. A couple of good phonics books (that aren't expensive) if you were to work with him yourself are Phonics Pathways and AlphaPhonics. I've taught 2 kids to read using them so far. I've also used workbooks called Explode the Code with Anna.

Well, I actually do a lot of shopping at the NC Homeschoolers Conference which was this weekend. However, here's Phonics Pathways on Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/078...Fencoding=UTF8

Here's Alphaphonics.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/094...lance&n=283155

The Explode the Code books might be at the teacher supply store. I know I saw them years ago at the teacher's supply store that was in High Point. Kaplan's may have them too. I don't go to Kaplan's very often even though it's probably 2 minutes from my house. I try to hit the tent sale and that's about it.

Dawn,

I just went on the Studydog website and found out it's not free anymore. Sorry I didn't realize that had changed. It is still free for low-income families though if that applies to anyone who might be reading. It looks like you had to qualify on reduced lunch or something. I didn't look too closely.