Blase Sands Tutoring

I love tutoring. I have 5 years of experience teaching in public schools and over 10 years teaching developmental reading, ESL, and job skills including resume preparation, job search, interviewing techniques, and job success methods in community colleges. I have co-authored one book and edited two others. I can help with elementary to high school reading, writing, math, GED, ESL, computer literacy, Microsoft Word, Outlook, PowerPoint or Excel. My rates are flexible.

My training includes a B.A. in sociology from Duke University. I received a Master of Divinity in counseling also from Duke. For 15 years I worked with the Institute of Cultural Affairs setting up pre-schools, teaching ESL, and training teachers. In 1993 I decided to become a public school teacher and have taken a total of 24 semester hours of undergraduate and graduate education related classes.

I am certified for elementary (self-contained) pre-kindergarten to 6th Grade by the Texas Education Association and taught in public school for 5 years and private school for three. I have also taught developmental reading and ESL for the Bi-Lingual Education Institute, Houston Community College, Mayland Community College and AB Tech in Asheville.

My teaching skills include the following:

I believe in providing a thorough assessment including determining the student’s strengths, goals, learning style, and what is blocking achievement.

I design interactive lesson plans using a variety of approaches based on multiple learning styles, learning objectives and a thorough analysis and understanding of student abilities.

I believe in using a participatory, multi-modal approach to keep students involved, constant monitoring to insure students are learning objectives, employing multiple forms of evaluation.

I have found very important to teach students study skills, including reading, writing, note taking and time management, so that they can become independent learners.

I have 25 years experience in excellent communication skills including active listening, an eagerness to learn new approaches and share in curriculum design and lesson preparation. I am able to establish good rapport with students and parents.

I am an expert organizer of time, information, and materials, have knowledge of how to prioritize tasks, excellent computer capabilities, pay close attention to detail and aware of the need for completing tasks on time.

I am very energetic and personable. I am conscientious, reliable, and have a great sense of humor. I am patient and able to with all kinds of people.

My most recent position was as a Family Centered Support Specialist for North Carolina Mentor in Burnsville, NC. Over my eight years with Mentor, I was able to significantly refine my curriculum design skills to assess, motivate, and teach children, youth, and family members a variety of skills including parenting methods, communication, anger management and problem solving.

My wife, 3 cats, and our dog recently re-located to Chehalis. We both wanted to be closer to family and friends and enjoy the incredible natural beauty of this area.

My life has been dedicated to helping students advance and reach their full potential. I would love to continue this pursuit and use my depth of experience to help you/your child develop learning confidence and skills.