“Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.” — John Dewey
Study and Self-Management Skills Tutoring in Portland

Study Skills tutoring for all students

You don’t have to be diagnosed with ADHD to benefit from tutoring in study, organization, and time management skills. Many adolescents, college age students, and adults in school trying to balance their family and work responsibilities can benefit from private tutors. Students diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Nonverbal Learning Disability (NLD) or another condition affecting executive function skills need to develop intentional strategies and self-management routines to help them work more efficiently. As private tutors in Portland, we have broad experience supporting a range of students at different stages of life so that they develop the study and self-management skills needed to meet their academic and life goals.

Private tutors for ADHD

As an experienced private tutor and scholar, David Wolf has his own practices and routines that enable him to advance his work on research projects and ensure he manages his teaching and family responsibilities efficiently. David has read widely about techniques for fostering executive function skills and learned by helping students diagnosed with special learning needs. He’s privately tutored high school students who have IEPs and advocated for them with teachers and school counselors to ensure the students he tutors have the information needed to manage their course work.

Our approach is shaped by our reading of many experts, including Edward Hallowell, a psychiatrist himself diagnosed with ADHD who has written extensively on how to cope and prosper with ADHD. Dr. Hallowell has opened several centers for treatment of ADHD, including the Hallowell Todaro ADHD Center in Seattle. To get a sense from him of what it’s like to live with ADHD, you can watch this video.

In our work with students as their private tutors, we’ve used online tools like google docs to maintain for students, their families and their teachers a shareable electronic record of goals, deadlines, and progress. As private tutors in Portland, we make sure that all parties are in communication about study schedules and the status of key assignments.

Study and Self-Management Skills Tutoring in Portland

Tenets of study and self-management

As private tutors, we stress these tenets in helping students develop their executive function skills and better manage their studies.

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Positivity

As Dr. Hallowell emphasizes, one of the biggest hurdles for people with ADHD to overcome is self-criticism. After setbacks, each of us needs to embrace self-acceptance and a relentlessly positive frame of mind. In the face of frustration and adversity, affirmation and perseverance will win the day, along with a sense of humor.

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Mental clarity

Mindfulness exercises and rational re-evaluation exercises, a tool from CBT therapy, help promote calm and steady focus, opening neural pathways for the self to thrive.

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Structure

As your private tutors in Portland, we are painstaking in helping you set long-term and short-term goals. As expert study skills tutors, we help you learn to create schedules and lists, to take effective notes, manage time on tasks, outline projects, and prepare for tests, so you can use these skills in all future study and life endeavors.

 

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Writing

As skilled writing tutors in Portland, we teach students to use writing as a structuring process. Students use short writing exercises and journal entries to plan, to prioritize, to think about an idea in their reading, to assess their progress on a task or assignment. They employ writing to become more reflective learners.

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Exercise

Research is definitive about how physical exercise benefits the brain, generating energy, balance, calm, and focus. If you struggle with executive function skills, physical exercise is a surefire way to support their development.

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Sense of play

Sure, studying is serious business, but, as Dr. Hallowell suggests, the process should be infused with a sense of play. Working collaboratively with friendly, supportive private tutors like David Wolf—enables students to cultivate a sense of play even as they work hard to reach their goals.

An English tutor for ADHD

Over twenty five years of teaching, David Wolf has taught, tutored, and supported students through many challenges, often making a difference in whether they stay in school to earn a high school diploma or a college degree.

As as a teacher, college professor, and private tutor, David has shown creativity and commitment in his extensive work with struggling students. He has devised alternative curricula to motivate high school students unable to engage with conventional coursework; has worked for hours after school helping an athlete meet the writing requirements of one last English class so he could graduate and benefit from a college scholarship; has supported academically and financially struggling students in ways that encouraged them to stay in college. Repeatedly, as both a classroom teacher and a private tutor, David has gone beyond what’s expected to support students who have needed more.

As a private tutor in Portland, David has kept in close touch with high school teachers to advocate for students in their classes struggling with ADHD. As a private tutor, David always takes a personal interest in helping his students develop the habits and skills needed to foster their academic growth.

 

Study and Self-Management Skills Tutoring in Portland

Useful online resources

If you’re looking for tools and information to help with study and self-management, here are some excellent resources.

Includes FAQs about ADHD, links to relevant brain research, information on related mental health conditions, and clinical resources.

With information for parents and educators, webinars, online trainings,  access to “Attention Magazine,” and daily postings of “ADHD in the news.”

Includes tables of important aspects of executive functioning, common problems, clickable links to deeper discussion of what’s going on, and strategies for both parents and teachers to support someone who is struggling with that specific issue.

Brain-based teaching strategies for supporting executive function

A certified speech pathologist, Ward and colleague Kristen Jacobson specialize in supporting students’ executive function skill development, offering webinars and innovative tools.

If you are in high school and looking for an excellent academic planner, one designed to truly guide your learning, I suggest you check out this one, which was created by Cognitive Connections.

Let's talk

Contact us to learn more or arrange one on one coaching in Portland.