My philosophy in education is that all students are smart. It is my job as an educator to meet each student where they are and to guide them in the achievement of their educational goals. Learning should be personalized and fun.

A student's comfort level is very important when learning. I would begin a first session by sharing about myself and asking about my student - in educational matters and also in personal interests. I would then have the student perform basic diagnostic exercises to assess where he/she is and determine what goals to set.

A student can become an independent learner when executive functions are taught concurrently with content. Mastery of executive functions and understanding of how he/she learns will help each student to become the independent learner they are.

Praise is important in motivation. The type of praise a student prefers will differ greatly based on age and personality, so the way to best praise a student will be learned over time. Short study breaks with fun activities throughout long sessions are good as well.

If a student has difficulty learning a skill or concept, it is important to point it out, talk about it, and include it in a goal for the student as soon as possible. The goal should be set by both student and tutor.

Students who struggle with reading comprehension need to read at their own level, to start with. Once it is ensured that a student is reading at his/her own reading level, it might help for the student to read aloud with another person or to stop frequently throughout reading in order to ask questions.

A strategy that works well when first working with a student is setting specific, measurable goals right away and ensuring that the student knows how close he/she is to achieving those goals at all times.

Setting achievable goals can do wonders for a student's interest in working. He/she might not enjoy the content any more than before, but he/she will feel gratified in the achievement of goals and in seeing improvement.