Karen Herman has tutored my daughter in the summers to help her learn to become a better reader and a better writer. Thanks to Karen's tutoring the middle school rigor of enriched English is easily digested due to the helpful tips and tricks of how to take notes, write meaningful book reports and learn to extract the most pertinent information. Karen has paved the way for my daughter to become confident in her ability to tackle the assignments now given in 7th grade. Thank you Karen for all you do to foster the love of learning.

-Mom of 7th Grade Girl

As a tutor for our 13-year-old dyslexic son, Karen provides tremendous support. Her tutoring sessions provide a “safe haven” for him whereby he gains confidence in his reading abilities and develops study skills. Karen understands that not all kids are meant to sit still and learn, so she incorporates movement into the learning process. She not only helps kids unlock their ability to read, but teaches them that their own way of learning, although it may not be “conventional,” works well for them because each child is unique. Once our son began to accept that being dyslexic meant that his way of learning to read was simply unique, but not “wrong,” he gained confidence. In two years, his reading abilities and lexile score have quickly grown and he averaged a 3.4 GPA during his 6th grade school year. Our family values Karen’s assistance and support not only as a tutor but also as a friend. I know that our son will continue to grow and improve under her tutelage. 

-Parents of 13-year-old dyslexic son

My boys always struggled with reading, spelling and writing, and never enjoyed any of it.   After both were diagnosed as dyslexic, I spent some time calling Orton-Gillingham tutors, and found most were appalled that my boys were in Chinese immersion, and that we were thinking of keeping them there (my kids enjoy it).  I was very discouraged.  Then someone suggested I call Karen.  Karen is a wizard at working with children like my boys (dyslexic, ADHD and hard to teach): her personality (caring, fun, energetic, and playful, while still getting down to business), the way she applies O-G methods, her incentive system, her appreciation for immersion education, and her positive, encouraging approach just work for our family.  After one year of tutoring, my 6th grader, who was always dishearteningly below standards on the reading MCA, fell mid-range into "meets standards" this year and now reads at grade level; he went from getting 2 or 3 spelling words out of 20 after a week of work at the beginning of the year, to getting 15 out of 20 on the pre-test by the end; most importantly, he now enjoys reading a book. My 3rd grader still has a long way to go, but he has still made amazing progress: fairly severely dyslexic, when he started with Karen at the end of 2nd grade he had trouble distinguishing a "b" from a "p" from a "d"--and now he can read.  Previously he just ignored the written world around him, but now he reads signs and labels to me, is happy to read a book, and is making solid, obvious progress every month.  Quite literally, Karen has changed their lives.

Kids with dyslexia aren't really disabled, they just experience words differently, and need someone to explain all the rules explicitly. Lucky for us, Karen has the user manual.

- Laura, Mother of Two Boys

“Karen is very organized and methodical in her approach to helping our daughters and she has been able to pinpoint the weak areas along the way and determine a plan to tackle them. The progress and improvement… in reading skills has been tremendous. [My daughter’s] self confidence has gone up as well… [My daughter] truly enjoys her time with Karen… Karen is competent as well as upbeat, loving and encouraging.”

- Mother of Two Daughters with Dysylexia

"Karen tutored my daughter Diana when she was in elementary school.  Karen’s energy and active style of teaching helped her stay focused and got her whole body involved in learning. This was so helpful, especially for my very energetic daughter! Karen helped her build a strong foundation of reading skills that helped her gain proficiency and confidence.  She made it fun and I’m so grateful for the progress she made! She just completed her first year of college, and I can definitely say that Karen helped her to get there!"

- Karen, Mom of Current College student

“Karen is an enthusiastic, goal-oriented, hard working teacher and leader… Her enthusiasm and realistic expectations encourage her students to put forth their best efforts.”

- Arlene Sonday, Educational Consultant

“Ms. Herman is one of the most energetic people I have ever met... Her students loved this about her. They would invite her to participate in ball games on the playground and skating parties on the weekend because they knew she would come and be totally involved. The amazing thing was that she used these occasions as instructional time just as if she was in her classroom… [She] remains one of the best teachers and staff members with whom I have ever worked.”

- Diana Ohman, Director of DoDDS - Europe