From the time I was a seventh-grade peer tutor until today, I have enjoyed working with people of all ages (pre-school to geriatric) and abilities (people who learn differently to those who are highly gifted).

For more than 30 years I have taught in both public and private schools, and tutored children and adults. I also home schooled my two kids until they went to Hood around age 16. Throughout my career, I have taught and tutored hundreds of students. Although I do tutor many students who learn differently, there are no “typical” students.

For example, one teenage student I tutored was learning disabled in English, but brilliant in science. He was invited to the Nobel Prize in Physics Awards Ceremony in Stockholm, Sweden. He wasn’t a nominee for a prize, but the invitation was to recognize work he was doing to develop a ceramic cold fusion reactor!

An interesting fact about me is my love of music. I’m trained in classical music and sing in six to eight different languages. Using that experience, I have taught music and have used music therapy in my classrooms for people who learn differently.

I do speak some Hebrew, limited French, read some Spanish, and I teach Greek and Latin root/suffix/prefix vocabulary. I know a lot about syntax/semantics and that, combined with my knowledge of phonemes* from music, enables me to tutor in many languages.

For example, a student I am currently tutoring was taking a beginning German course at college, and I was able to assist him with that class.

Another thing that parents appreciate about my tutoring is that I understand HOW kids who are not neurotypical think and feel:

“…While I love my child, I don’t have the perspective and experience that Nancy has that allows her to be patient and understand exactly the way a (child with) dyslexic thinks and feels. That’s a very big advantage, in my opinion. And Alex responds so well to her teaching style! His dad and I feel truly blessed knowing that he’s getting the skills and confidence he needs from Nancy’s service!” Read more from Becky & Tony W. 

“Our son J was attending our local middle school where he experienced bullying. During that time, we decided to find an alternative way of educating our son.  A mutual friend suggested Nancy for help with tutoring. J was able to advance at a rapid rate and took courses at Frederick Community College and Hood College at age 14. He scored high marks on his GED for the state of Maryland.

“He moved forward to the University of Maryland Baltimore Campus at the age of 16. We believe Nancy was instrumental in a big way during those years. We have recommended her to other parents because of her ability to understand students’ different needs and ways of learning. J was always open to the different challenges that Nancy gave him, which prepared him for college. He graduated with a Physics degree.”      Liz L.

Professional Credentials:

Graduated with a BA degree in Special Education from Kean University in Union NJ, plus a Collateral degree in Developmental Disabilities through Kean, with teaching support from the W. Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.

Additionally, I have three teaching certificates:

• Nursery School

• Elementary Education

• Teacher of Handicapped (the term used at the time I received my degree)

* Wikipedia: A phoneme is the smallest unit of sound in speech. When we teach reading, we teach children which letters represent those sounds. For example – the word 'hat' has 3 phonemes – 'h' 'a' and 't'.