Kate

Certified Tutor

I am a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania (Bachelor of Arts degree in, Linguistics) which I attended on a National Merit Scholarship, and Long Island University (Master's degree in Library Science). Over the years, I have studied French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish, with varying degrees of success.

While I tutor a broad range of subjects, I am most passionate about handwriting, which is the subject I tutor most often.
My passion for handwriting comes from the fact that I had great difficulties with this skill throughout my youth and young adulthood. My handwriting was illegible, painful, and extremely slow further, I could not even read cursive because of a variety of neurological difficulties which were later diagnosed as including dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyspraxia, and autism spectrum issues.
During graduate school, I resolved to address my handwriting issues, which I did by independently researching the history and science of handwriting. I learned why so many people (with and without disabilities) have huge difficulties with conventional handwriting instruction, and developed competency as a calligrapher and as a user and teacher of better, simpler handwriting: employing techniques drawn from the italic method of handwriting, which was the method used in the earliest published handwriting textbooks.
Ever since then, for the past several decades I have been teaching students of all ages and abilities how to improve their handwriting. Usually, I teach individually and in small groups; I have also taught large groups. (My largest class was a group of 250 MDs at a hospital which had me present a handwriting class at their annual meeting instead of the usual keynote speech.)
The people to whom I teach handwriting include doctors, occupational therapists, students at the kindergarten through university levels (including special education students), and teachers and administrators at the elementary through university levels (including special education teachers and administrators).
I am also the author of the book READ CURSIVE FAST, which teaches people to read cursive handwriting even if they do not write in cursive.
Additionally. I tutor basic math and English (including English as a Second Language), as well as helping students of the various languages which I know.

In my spare time, I enjoy reading science fiction and informative nonfiction, as well as a variety of crafts including calligraphy and loom knitting.