Tutor Training

We welcome volunteers from all walks of life. No previous teaching experience is necessary. We provide a training workshop to cover the basic theories, techniques, exercises, and resources we have found most beneficial to both our students and their tutor.

Standards for Tutors

• Is able to read, write, and speak English.
• Holds at least a high school diploma or equivalent.
• Displays an enthusiasm for reading.
• Is willing to attend a tutor-training workshop and be open-minded in accepting new teaching concepts.
• Is able to fulfill commitment to tutor training and make a commitment to tutor for one year.
• Keeps a record of tutoring sessions and files a brief monthly or quarterly report with the VRP office.
• Maintains confidentiality.

Tutor Training Workshop

In this module, we will introduce our organization and our programs. Through interactive teaching, we will cover the standards for tutors and their responsibilities, as well as the types of students we services, both children and adults. Next, we will discuss the theory behind our tutoring strategy, the Collaborative Approach. We will finish with discussions on the importance of long and short term goals and using real-life materials in our lessons.

This module will focus on how to teach reading to help our students become more successful and independent readers. We will discuss and demonstrate techniques covering reading skills that will include word decoding, fluency, and comprehension strategies. We will finish the module discussing Lesson Plans and how to customize your own Lesson Plan for you and your student.

This module covers how to encourage reluctant writers to begin writing through the Language Experience Approach. As your student progresses, he/she will transition to the Writing Process. We will finish with a presentation of a lesson that integrates both reading and writing skills.

Our final module will focus on listening and speaking skills and the verbal and nonverbal elements of language. We will emphasis conversational English as we endorse the Communicative Approach to teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. We will conclude our session with a panel discussion on the details of our Adult Basic/ESOL Program and our School Program. We will allow time for questions as well as a visit to our office.

After completion of our workshop, all trainees will be qualified to tutor an Adult Basic student, an Adult ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) student, and a child in our School Program. The choice will be yours.