The student is a lovely, polite, intelligent and kind young man. However, despite being very socially capable – he frequently mixes with very high profile individuals – like many teenagers, he also has painfully low self-confidence. He is unusual in that his non-verbal IQ score is well above 130, but he suffers from ADD and dysgraphia, which mean that his written IQ score is in the mid 60s. This has historically confused schools and made it hard for him to succeed in a classroom setting. He has tried various medication to help him deal with his learning differences and associated anxieties, but is not currently taking anything due to the side effects.

The student is heavily involved in a local Community Television Network as a peer facilitator in their teen video program. Through this work, he has been introduced to a well-known filmmaker from New York. This filmmaker often mentors children of high school age, and it is expected that he will be one of his protégés over the next year. In addition to his creative efforts in film, he has had a degree of success with his own voice-over endeavours through the website Fiverr. He also runs a political blog with a following of over 37,000. Combined with his experiences of mixing with high profile adults, he sometimes has an unduly harsh view of his peers. He is a resourceful, mature individual who clearly has technical and creative skills which can be explored.

Balancing his extracurricular success against his lacklustre academic performance has been hard for him. Many of his friends are performing very well at high school, but his ADD and dysgraphia have meant that he has struggled in lectures, and traditional classroom teaching simply doesn’t work for his specific learning needs. As a direct result of this, the family have decided to remove him from school, and he is currently enrolled in WAY, a blended, project based learning, online environment which seeks proof of subject mastery in ways which don’t necessarily require writing essays or sitting exams.

At the moment, the student has no plans to attend college, and his parents are supportive of his life choices. However, they do wish him to have a full high school education in order that he keeps his options open – although college isn’t on his horizon now, there may well come a time when it is, and high school graduation will be very important at that point. Having said that, he has yet to decide on a career path for himself. Although clearly talented in the field of film, he has enough proven experience and connections of his own to get a foot in the door should he decide he wants to be a filmmaker. He can’t see that a degree in film will be of much additional benefit. His other passion currently lies in horticulture, and it may well be that this is the route any post high school studies take.

The student comes from a warm, supportive family background. They are open-minded, balanced and well travelled. The family is very close – they are kind and care deeply for each other. He is a very intelligent, funny, articulate student who is very excited about the idea of working one-on-one with his own Tutor. For the right Tutor, he will undoubtedly be a delight to work with, and it will be a pleasure to see him flourish.

The student is an intelligent boy who will benefit enormously from one-to-one tuition from a caring and compassionate educator who will take the time to find the best way to help him continue and succeed with his studies. This short-term position aims to build solid foundations for a longer term tutoring role starting in January 2016.

This role calls for a broadly able, calm and well-qualified educator who has experience working within a project based learning environment. They should have an in-depth knowledge of the American high school curriculum, and be able to incorporate the subject knowledge required into projects and practical assignments. His current online courses will be an excellent resource for the Tutor, enabling them to plan exciting subject combinations, such as the current geometry and photography module. It would also be helpful if the Tutor had some experience of the British GCSE qualifications – there is no reason why they cannot incorporate the requirements of these examinations into their daily teaching, giving the opportunity to sit these exams if and when the student is ready to do so.

As with many students who present with learning differences, the student is a bright young man – indeed, he has a recorded non-verbal IQ of over 130. Rather, it is his learning pathways that require additional, focused support, within an established routine. While his current online learning platform is accommodating in that it does not rely on large amounts of text for assessment, there are certain areas where reading and writing are necessary. This is also true of life outside the classroom, and with this in mind, the Tutor should be someone who is comfortable introducing study techniques and ‘tricks’ such as mind mapping, which will help the student to study more effectively right through his education and beyond. Tutor should be able to explain concepts simply and effectively, targeting his weak areas and helping to consolidate knowledge. The aim is to put solid foundations in place that will allow him to foster greater ambitions as he goes through life, as well as giving him the tools he needs to succeed in his chosen path.

Given the flexibility of home schooling, the Tutor should aim to incorporate as much of the surroundings as possible into the lessons of the day, taking advantage of the location to bring alive a history, geology or even mathematics lesson as appropriate, and inspiring and enthusing the student with the pursuit of knowledge for its own sake. In addition, the parents are also keen that the Tutor teach the lessons through practical applications as much as possible so that the student explores the subject rather than being spoon-fed answers. The Tutor should be able to direct his questions in a way that he is able to arrive at the answers himself, applying context to the learning experience where necessary, or to devise experiments or investigations to allow him to find his way to the answers. Debate and discussion will likely form a large part of his learning, and the Tutor must be very adept in this area. However, this conversational approach, while certainly being one of the student’s accommodations, is not the only one that needs continuous practice. The use of speech-to-text software should also be employed together with maintenance and improvement in keyboarding skills (the student is currently around only 35 wpm.)

The Tutor will need to be highly organised and an excellent record keeper, able to provide evidence of the work covered and to what level, partly to enable a smooth handover in December, but also in case subsequent college applications require additional assurance that standards have been maintained. He or she will not only be an excellent educator, but also a good role model: educated and polished, with excellent manners and personal values. Although achieving solid academic foundations is the main aim of this role, the Tutor is also expected to act as a mentor and friend for the student, helping him to improve his self-esteem and ambitions, as well as ensuring that his confidence improves as the role progresses. It would be a bonus to find Tutors who can bring extracurricular activities or skills that can be shared and enjoyed by the whole family, such as drawing. The student and his family are very keen on debate, and the Tutor should be prepared to join in. The Tutor should be an interesting and erudite individual, open minded, well-travelled and well versed in pedagogic theory. There may also be occasional travel with this role, and it would be useful if the Tutor could either ski or scuba dive, or be willing to learn.

This role requires a very high level of discretion on the part of the Tutor. The family often mix with prominent individuals – from academics to politicians, astronauts to those in the film industry – and the Tutor must remain professional at all times. The family have both dogs and cats, so the Tutor must be comfortable working in an environment where they will come into contact with the family pets.

The Tutor is expected to work with the student up to a maximum of 40 contact hours a week, with preparation time in addition. The student currently attends a number of extra classes (French, Film and Debate) and it may be that the Tutor is required to take him to these classes during the week. Time spent doing this will count towards the 40-hour total contact time for each week.

The Tutor is entitled to two consecutive days off per week which will usually fall over the weekend. The Tutor may need to be flexible in this regard as there may be the odd occasion when the Tutor is required to work either on a Saturday or Sunday, but in these cases, the Client will try to give the Tutor at least a week’s notice of when their ‘weekend’ break will be. Untaken weekend days that have accrued will also be compensated by a pro-rated payment in lieu.

The Tutor will be entitled to a minimum of 9 weeks (45 working days) paid vacation per annum at times convenient to the Client. On contracts of less than one year this is pro-rated.

The Client will provide accommodation in all locations and will cover all bills on this accommodation, except for the Tutor’s personal phone bills. It is unlikely that this position will entail lots of travel, but there may be the odd occasion where the Tutor is invited to spend the weekend with the family, or travel with them to another location. The Client will cover any travel expenses associated with this role, as well as meals and food during these rare periods of travel.

If required, the Tutor will be provided with a car for personal use.

The Tutor must be fit and healthy, a non-smoker.

The Tutor must ensure that he or she has the requisite travel and health insurance, has received the required vaccinations, and has the necessary visas.

It may not always be the case that the extracurricular classes that the student attends will remain available to him. Debating is the most at risk at the time of writing this Specification. Should this become unavailable through the current pathway it will be essential for the Tutor to develop new avenues for this, including, if need be, creating a new Debating Club in Ann Arbor and recruiting other students to join it.