Tutoring - IEW Style

A question we often ask of children is ‘what do you want to do when you grow up’?  It’s one I’ve often pondered myself – and yet, I still haven’t made up my mind.  Actually, I sometimes think my own solution may simply be to not ‘grow up’ at all.  Yet, what to do, and where to focus my time and my energies always remained in question.  Certainly, I always loved to study, and found myself tackling several courses over the years, including a 'Certificate in Writing', and more recently, becoming a Certified Instructor with IEW.

Over the course of the past couple of years, I’ve had different people approach me to check their writing, or to look over their children’s essays.  Having used the IEW programme with all of my children and as a Certified Instructor, I felt I was able to offer advice, critiques and some helpful comments.  Each time, I began the task with some trepidation, however, as I marked each assignment I not only felt my confidence grow, but I discovered that it was something I truly enjoyed – in fact, I loved it! 

Every now and then, I’d experience a little ‘nudge’ somewhere deep in my soul, that ‘feeling’ one gets from time to time, as if to say that when our homeschooling journey is over, tutoring may be an option.  Then, as our new life began in NSW, so did the tutoring.  This year, I am very much enjoying the start of my official ‘tutoring’ role, taking on several students who submit their essays to me, which I mark, critique and then return to them.

Surprisingly, I am finally experiencing what it feels like to truly love your work!  And with ‘only’ four left at home to homeschool, I find that I now have time to commit to this endeavour.  Of course, I still have those moments of doubts, where I wonder if I’m ‘good enough’ to mark someone else’s writing, but when I sit down with the essays, I find that I can see the strong points and the weaker ones, and find I am indeed, well equipped to offer constructive advice.  It’s been a delightful, yet challenging, few months, and it’s been a wonderful privilege to work with our up and coming writers.  Who knows?  Maybe one day, these young people will be well-known authors.  

I still haven’t decided what I want to do when I grow up (if I ever do) – but tutoring, editing and marking essays is certainly an option – for now, I’m loving it.