Seeking alternatives in education

By KIMBERLY M. WEYANDT

EQUINUNK, PA — When Lisa Hoffman lost her Sullivan West elementary teaching position and had to rethink her career, she found a silver lining that could teach a lesson in alternatives.

A true believer in the importance of firm reading, mathematical and writing concept bases, Hoffman decided early in her motherhood that the best way to give her children a positive head start was to teach them at home. It was the passion and ease she experienced while teaching her kids that encouraged her to go back to school.

She studied at SUNY Empire and Marywood University to earn a master’s degree in teaching, and she was immediately hired by the Sullivan West school district. Certified in both New York and Pennsylvania, Hoffman received her tenure after teaching first grade at Sullivan West for three years. Then, in the spring of this year, she was told she would not have a job come September.

“I was granted tenure because of my performance and what I have done. I was let go because they reduced staff,” Hoffman said. “My position was terminated.” The Sullivan West school board voted to close the Delaware Valley and Narrowsburg elementary campuses for the 2005 school year because of financial problems.

Fresh out of a job, but never ideas, Hoffman was not ready to give up her love of teaching. Although she remains on the preferred eligibility list for the next seven years, she decided that she’d rather not wait for things to get better. In a place where options seem to have become a dwindling few, Hoffman brings forth new possibilities in education.

Returning to her roots as a homeschooler, Hoffman learned that her certification as a teacher allows her the power to homeschool children that are not her own.

Parents who meet the requirements can choose to home school their children, but “because I have teaching certificates parents can choose to home school their children and then hire me as a tutor,” Hoffman said. “Home schooling is where my heart is. It’s where I started. I wanted to give my kids a firm foundation in reading, writing and math concepts. I want to give that to other kids as well.”

This past summer, Hoffman spent her time turning her refinished basement into a classroom, and this fall she plans to bring forth an educational program as unique in this day and age as a one-room schoolhouse, which will be known as Delaware River House Tutoring.

“What I’m offering,” said Hoffman, “is a way to get children out of the 20 to 22 student classrooms and give them the one-on-one instruction that five, six and seven-year-olds really need.

“When you’re teaching in a classroom you know not everyone is paying attention and you keep thinking, ‘Oh, I hope they got that.’ But this will be different. I’ll be right there to make sure they get it.

“The big thing is that parents have a choice. They aren’t just stuck with the local choice. They can home school, home school and hire someone like me or send their kids to a private school.”

Hoffman’s lesson plans will be individualized for each student. Her teaching techniques focus on the concepts of phonics, finger math and applied kinestheology or “brain gym.”

“It’s the work of Dr. Dennison, a special education therapist,” explained Hoffman. “It uses physical exercises to help make brain connections and make learning easier and more efficient.”

“Brain gym” uses physical movements to strengthen the connections between the body’s physical movement and the brain, making the process stronger and improving a student’s memory.

“By doing exercises that cross over the hemisphere of your body, you’re building connections between the two hemispheres of the brain,” she said.

“My basic philosophy is, give kids the tools to read and learn, make it easier by giving them stories and pictures for them to remember and then anchor it in their brain.”

Finger math, one of Hoffman’s learning concepts, uses fingers as an abacus to give students another tool to process information in their brains. Hoffman plans on using a lot of manipulative problem solving in her lessons.

Her reading plans include a good phonics base and kid writing.

“I really feel that children need to be given the tools to be able to enable them to unlock the codes of reading. If you give them the codes they are able to analyze and figure out a word and read on their own,” said Hoffman.

“Kid writing lets the kids use their own creativity. They write about what they want, draw a picture to go along with it and then sound out the letters in their words, I help them by doing the adult writing underneath theirs.”

Hoffman’s kid writing encourages children to personalize their writing.

Using the alternative learning styles of “brain gym,” “finger math” and “kid writing,” Hoffman plans to start her alternative one room school August 29 and teach from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., the required 180 days and 900 hours. Hoffman is located across from the former Delaware Valley Elementary School building.

For more information call 570/224-2786.