FAQ

• What is The Ten Minute Tutor Program and how does it work?
• Will this program be suitable for my child?
• Can we go back and do previous lessons?
• What payment methods do you offer?
• How do we cancel our membership to the program?
• What are the benefits of this program?
• Please tell me more about the program.
• What are the computer system requirements to view the lessons?
• Can we pause the program if necessary?
• What if my son or daughter or the student has already covered some of the content in The Ten Minute Tutor? Can we jump forward to more advanced lessons?
• If my son or daughter or the student is flying through the lessons and would like to progress more quickly through the 12 levels of the program can I speed up the program?
• What is covered in the lessons?
• How do I pay the monthly subscription?
• How secure is your payment processing?
• How long do I have to sign up for?
• My child or student does not like to write. How are the worksheets structured?
• How was the content for The Ten Minute Tutor created?
• Why use video?
• How do we access and watch the lessons?
• Why are the lessons only 10 minutes?
• How is the course structured and conducted?
• Who is this course for?
• Who is Liz Dunoon?
• What does it cost?
• Why is it so cheap?
• How do I get started?

What is The Ten Minute Tutor Program and how does it work?

It is an internet video streamed tutorial program where a real person (that’s Liz) talks to your student and teaches them literacy and self confidence, over 7 key learning areas. There are 12 levels to the program and 28 tutorials in each level. There are also a read-along book library. Each tutorial consists of 10 minute video lessons (with a worksheet) that your child can do daily or as you decide. It follows a step by step logical sequence to ensure your child does not have any gaps in their learning of spelling and reading and will allow them to catch up at school. Five out every seven lessons are on learning to read and spell. Two out of every seven lessons are on tips, strategies and inspirational interviews with people who struggled at school and how they became successful.These 7 key learning areas are:

• Phonics
• Words and Spelling
• Punctuation and Grammar
• Read-along Stories
• Sing-along
• Tips For Life
• Inspirational Interviews

You can access the program from any computer with an internet connection, at any time.

Will this program be suitable for my child?

If your child knows the letters of the alphabet and has at least started to learn to read and spell, then this program will be good for your child. In general this program will be suited to children and teens from the age of 7 to 15, but is not limited to these age groups. The Ten Minute Tutor has been created for families and individuals who are seeking a progressive literacy program which is affordable, easily accessible and enjoyable.

If you find that during the first 30 days that it is not suitable in any way we will be happy to refund your money, just send me an email and I will ensure you get a full refund.

Can we go back and do previous lessons?

Yes. You can go back and view the lessons as many times as you need to.

What payment methods do you offer?

Whether you decide to make 12 monthly payments or one upfront payment for the program you can purchase the program using credit card or Paypal. We accept Visa card and Master card.

How do we cancel our membership to the program?

Before you cancel your membership, be aware that you only need to make 12 monthly payments to the program and then your payments will automatically stop and you will have continued access for a total of 6 years at no extra cost. To cancel your access and payments simply send us an email at info@thetenminutetutor.com. We will then send you an email to confirm the cancellation.

What are the benefits of this program?

• Liz is a real person, a teacher and a mother with a wealth of experience about learning difficulties. She will develop a relationship with your child or students of any age. She takes learning out of the classroom and makes it fun.
• Ten minutes goes fast – students won’t feel overloaded  – they will want to do it.
• Tutorials are short, sharp and time effective, and will fit in around school, work, homework, sport and life commitments.
• Each month students will receive video lessons on phonics, spelling, punctuation and grammar, reading, songs and singing, life skills and inspirational interviews to inspire them as to what is possible.
• You can access The Ten Minute Tutor from anywhere you can access a computer and the internet.
• A student can repeat a lesson as many times as they need to or want to until they get it.
• This program not only covers teaching the English Language, but more importantly empowers students by making them understand how valuable and capable they are. They will soon realise that a difficult school experience is not an indication of their true intelligence and it will not define them or their future happiness and success.
• The Ten Minute Tutor uses a variety of strategies
  • Visual
  • Auditory
  • Movement
  • Touch
  • Activities
  • Games
  • Real books
  • Popular songs and singing
  • Memorisation strategies
  • Demonstratons by experts and specialists
  • Life skills
  • Demonstrations of technology
  • Interviews with inspirational people
  • And is supported by a printout summary/worksheet for every lesson.
• Monitoring progress and feedback – Every seven lessons students will be provided with a checklist to monitor and assess their progress. Students can use this to set goals and self monitor and parents and teachers can also use this to check a student’s understanding and progress as they move through the program.
• It’s suitable for people with a language delay, a learning difficulty, a learning disability, dyslexia and those learning English as a second language.
• This video program alleviates the enormous financial pressure of employing a personal tutor.
• It saves valuable time because you can use it anywhere, at home, at work or in transit.
• The Ten Minute Tutor provides a monthly download of 28 lessons for each month of the year. It can be utilised in the way that best suits the student, however a daily tutorial is recommended.
• You will have access to a monthly webinar where you can chat with Liz, ask her any questions, tell her how you are going or just listen in.
• Affordability – we wanted to make this program accessible for everyone so parents can stop worrying, students can stop feeling anxious and teachers can have an effective tool to help them to support their students. See below for the cost and details on how to get started.
• This program is not age specific, it is skill specific, systematic, logical and progressive. It can be used by children, teens and adults – anyone from 7 – 107 years of age.

Please tell me more about the program.

The Ten Minute Tutor is the first ever video streamed tutorial program that utilises a real person teaching the English language together with life skills and self belief. Most importantly it is provided in a fun, affordable and easily accessible format.

This program came about because there are many individuals who are struggling or have struggled with formal schooling who would benefit from some extra assistance. Unfortunately specialised personal tutoring is unaffordable and inaccessible for many people, families and schools.

According to research, somewhere between 10-20% of students find formal schooling difficult and learning to read, write and spell constantly challenging even though they are highly intelligent.

Individualised tutoring is often recommended by teachers, educational specialists and psychologists, to help an individual to catch up on schooling, however a personal tutor can cost between $40 and $150 per hour, making it unaffordable for many people. To add to this sometimes a student cannot concentrate for the entire hour making tutoring sessions wasteful of people’s precious time and money.

What are the computer system requirements to view the lessons?

Because it is an internet based program all you need is a computer with a connection to the internet to be able to view the lessons. If you only have a dial up connection you will need to wait a little while for the video to load before you start to watch it.

Can we pause the program if necessary?

You have a 12 months subscription to the program with a total of 6 years to complete the tutorials, at no additional cost. We have designed it like this so you don’t have to worry about pausing your subscription. If you get behind (and most people will) it does not matter, you have access to the program when you need it and you can complete the program when you want to. The Ten Minute Tutor has been designed using a membership website platform so that students can access it from anywhere in the world and at anytime of day as long as a computer and the internet are available. That’s because regular daily lessons have the most beneficial results for most students.

However, if for some reason you need to pause the program, contact us and we will help organise this for you.

What if my son or daughter or the student has already covered some of the content in The Ten Minute Tutor? Can we jump forward to more advanced lessons?

If you are of the understanding that your student is too advanced for the earlier tutorials and you wish to jump forwards, there is a list of tutorials on the members home page that you can print off and follow, which will tell you which tutorials in level A to do and which one you can miss.

Remember we want every tutorial to be seen by the students as easy, fun while also providing an effective learning experience.

Learning to read is a systematic process and individuals who find it difficult, need to start at the beginning to ensure all the parts of the process are covered, practiced and memorised. The student who has the ability to move quickly through the tutorials will not have to wait long before they reach their level and begin to make good gains. By completing all the material you ensure your child has not missed any part of the reading process.

If my son or daughter or the student is flying through the lessons and would like to progress more quickly through the 12 levels of the program can I speed up the program?

Yes you can accelerate the program. This may suit a motivated learner or somebody who is homeschooling and wants access to more lessons.

You have access to the whole program from the start of your send month in the program.

What is covered in the lessons?

The Ten Minute Tutor provides seven very important learning areas in 28 video streamed lessons each month. A link to these monthly lessons will arrive in your email inbox, every month.  Each lesson has a sequentially numbered video with an accompanying worksheet for students to fill out and for parents and teachers to use as feedback. Each month students will receive approximately 20 reading lessons and 8 lessons to provide strategies, tips and how to build self confidence and self esteem.

Phonics

These lessons focus on letter sound/alphabet symbol relationships in words in the English language.  There are 26 letters in the English language that have 44 phonemes, the individual sounds these letters can make. In English words, letters can make up to 1200 different sound combinations. Now you know why English is so difficult to master for many people. The inconsistencies are almost endless. In this lesson we teach strategies to decode English words by learning strategies and rules associated with phonics.

Word Study and Spelling Skills

These lessons progressively teach strategies and skills to decode and spell words. Spelling is difficult for approximately 50% of the English speaking population and this is because there are so many words and spelling rules and then so many words that are exceptions to the rules. It can make reading, writing and spelling very frustrating. This lesson aims to make spelling easier, more logical and memorable.

Punctuation and Grammar

Punctuation and grammar often receive very little attention from a struggling reader and/or speller who is more focussed on trying to decode individual words to read them, rather than comprehending the whole text. This weekly lesson takes the emphasis off word decoding and teaches the importance of the little, but powerful punctuation mark and the correct use grammar.

Reading Day

Reading books increases a person’s vocabulary and provides them with increased literacy and language skills, yet it is uncommon to see a book in the hands of a struggling reader by choice. This lesson provides students with a read along experience, utilising popular books, where the student is encouraged to listen and read together with the audio/video. All book texts are provided on the downloadable printouts.

Singing

This weekly video tutorial uses popular songs, their lyrics and videos to allow students to practise reading skills. I hope you have good set of headphones and a sound proof room in your house or classroom. Get ready to rock.

Life Skills

Anyone who has struggled to learn at school or over a prolonged period of time has the potential to suffer from low self-confidence and reduced self-esteem. Experiencing feelings of low self worth on a daily basis, can impact on an individual’s feelings of self worth, which in turn can affect a person’s long term future prospects as secondary psychosocial issues arise.

This weekly session aims to rebuild self-confidence, by providing skills and strategies to encourage individuals to overcome adversity. We also include lessons on how to use technology to overcome learning difficulties and to provide strategies to allow students to demonstrate their knowledge in an educational or workplace setting.

Inspirational Interview Day

There are many amazing examples of individuals who have found formal schooling difficult or who have failed dismally, yet went on to achieve great happiness and life success. There are others who have overcome incredible adversity and life challenges to live a fulfilling life. In this session students will watch an inspirational interview with someone who falls into this category.

Interview candidates include people from all walks of life, including airline pilots, entrepreneurs, academics, sports stars and even children and teens. All have an amazing story to tell with an inspirational message to encourage confidence in those who like to listen and learn from great role models.

How do I pay the monthly subscription?

To begin the course you will set up a Paypal account. Paypal is like a secure third party that handles web site transactions, so you do not need to supply us with your credit card or banking details. Millions of people rely on Paypal for their website transactions. We use them because we believe they are the leaders in this industry. Your monthly subscription amount will be deducted automatically from your Paypal account, which in turn deducts it from your credit card or bank account or from money you have in your Paypal account. The other good thing about Paypal is that if you ever have a dispute over payment or regarding not receiving the goods you ordered, Paypal will mediate on your behalf and may refund your money.

How secure is your payment processing?

We use the world renowned completely secure third party payment processing gateway Paypal. This service is used by millions of online businesses to process payments.

How long does My Membership Last?

Your membership lasts for 6 years regardless of whether you pay 12 payments or one up front payment.

My child or student does not like to write. How are the worksheets structured?

The worksheets are designed as an add on to or summary of what they learn in the videos. They will suit students with dysgraphia (those who have trouble controlling a pen or pencil) and for those who just don’t like to write.

We do this by teaching students to learn using skills such as tracing and using implements such as highlighters and other activities that are movement based not pen and pencil based.

In many instances the worksheets are only used for reading practice and no writing is required.

How was the content for The Ten Minute Tutor created?

The Ten Minute Tutor is a culmination of seven years of research to develop the content and the structure of each and every ten minute tutorial.

This research has included training to be a classroom teacher, teaching over a period of years in the state and independent education system and also parenting three children with learning difficulties/ disabilities. As part of this process I have studied numerous scientifically proven reading programs, tried many and interviewed literacy experts such as speech and language pathologists, occupational therapists, educational psychologists, behavioural optometrists, Irlen assessors, dyslexia assessors and learning support teachers on what works when teaching struggling learners and why.

I have attended many educational seminars both as an attendee and also as a presenter. I have also researched and written four books and many articles specifically on the topics of learning difficulties/disabilities and teaching children to read, write, spell and do math from home.

Most importantly I speak to many parents and teachers who are seeking help for a child, a teen or an individual who is struggling at school, to read or learn English where extra educational support is required. Many families and schools cannot afford specialised tutoring and tutors and if this describes your situation this program is especially for you. It is my desire to provide you with an affordable and effective program to help others to learn and to gain confidence at school and in life.

Why use video?

Video provides an excellent communication tool. The rise of YouTube is testament to that. It suits both visual and auditory learners and is immediate in nature.

Every Ten Minute Tutor video features real people in real places, doing real things and having very real conversations. Students will very quickly come to look forward to their daily fix to see what Liz is up to today and who she is talking to as she teaches real skills and real strategies for life, learning and ongoing school success.

How do we access and watch the lessons?

To join the program you pay with Paypal or credit card and then you register for the program, then you have instant access to the members area of the program. You will receive a email receipt and a email with your registration details to the program.

Because the videos will be streamed via the internet to your computer you do not need to download them taking up the memory on your personal computer hard drive. Instead they are hosted on an independent website that you access, meaning that there will be no delay as you watch the videos and the streaming will be continuous. You will be also able to go back and watch each video as many times as you wish, whenever you need to.

Why are the lessons only 10 minutes?

Brain research tells us as educators that practising a skill for 10 minutes everyday is far more beneficial than practising a skill for just one hour every week. If you want to learn how to shoot a basket in basketball or knit a jumper you will achieve your goal much faster by practising everyday. The same is true for acquiring language skills. Every day practise and exposure is more beneficial when you want to become good at something quickly.

There are also practical reasons for making these tutorials 10 minutes long. After school or working all day individuals are generally mentally exhausted. After hours tutoring is not effective or enjoyable when a hardworking brain has been operating for long hours already. A ten minute session is fast, effective and allows individuals to get on with life, chores, sport, relaxing and activities of their own choosing. Tutorials can be completed in the morning before school or work, or afterschool or in the evening. In fact they can be completed in any location as long as the internet is accessible.

Reduced attention span is also another very good reason to make these tutorials only ten minutes long. Today’s world is fast paced, noisy and demanding on our time and energy. It is better for a student to be fully engaged in an activity for ten minutes than drifting off to sleep in a longer session. Students will have less hesitation, fewer grumbles and more flexibility in their day when only ten minutes of their time per day is required.

It is also important to remember that this program has been created in 7 ten minute sessions per week, but if a student chooses to complete two or three ten minute tutorials at a time because is suits them, the way they like to learn and their lifestyle then this is OK too. We recommend everyday lessons, but this program has been designed to be flexible and suit each student’s personality and learning style.

Some students may also be engaged in extra learning support or outside education and work courses. This ten minute program has been designed to work alongside other personal commitments.

How is the course structured and conducted?

The Ten Minute Tutor course is progressive in that it builds literacy skill with each lesson. It starts at the beginning of the reading process and moves forward logically and systematically. Individuals who struggle to read and spell often have gaps in their learning and understanding because they have been unable to keep up with the speed of instruction at school or the formal teaching style has not suited the way in which they like to learn.

Learning to read and spell follows exactly the same process whether a person struggles to learn to read or not. Some individuals just need more steps, more time, more repetition and more practise. This program provides just that in a logical and sequential format.

As learners every individual also has a preference for how they like to learn, whether it be by seeing, hearing, touching and doing, or a combination of sensory methods. In this program we explore many types of multi-sensory learning strategies and memorisation methods. Students will learn what works for them and how to remember what they have learnt.

The life skills component of this course has been developed to cover three key areas;

Understanding, Empowerment and Education

Just because someone struggles with formal schooling this is not an indicator of low levels of intelligence. In fact struggling to read and write is a completely separate issue. Struggling readers are often highly intelligent, verbally capable, creative and innovative thinkers with incredible potential. Being a struggling reader is also not an indicator of an individual’s future work and career potential or the life happiness and success they can achieve. Yet they are often made to feel this way by an outdated educational system based on a one size fits all, model that does not cater to their learning style.

During school students are expected to learn to read, write and spell in their early years in a formal learning environment and then use these skills to access knowledge and demonstrate what they know in tests and exams. So what happens when an intelligent student has difficulty learning to read and write over many years of compulsory formal schooling? I’m sure you already know the answer. They begin to feel flawed, uncertain, worried and anxious and the conclusion they often arrive at, is they are dumb and their self-esteem and confidence takes a battering.

This program seeks to break that cycle of negative self-belief and it begins with encouraging students to develop an Understanding of themselves. It will make them more insightful as to how they like to learn and how to overcome their weaknesses and find their strengths, utilising them in an educational setting.

Empowerment is the next step where students are given strategies to overcome adversity, deal with negative influences and start to feel strong and capable and valuable once more.

The final component of this area of the program is Education. There is new technology all around us and the advances are incredibly valuable to students who do not favour reading and spelling and handwriting as their preferred choice to learn and demonstrate what they know. In this area of the program we focus on helping students become more educated. It won’t be long before they are helping others and instructing teachers as to what is possible when using technology, to learn about the world and to demonstrate what they know.

Who is this course for?

This program has been designed for any individual who is finding school or has found past schooling difficult and wants to improve on their literacy skills. This could include a student who wants to catch up at school or an older individual who would like to return to further education or change career. Many people find formal schooling difficult, even though they are intelligent.10-20% according to the research, but with extra support and an injection of self-belief in the form of personal tutoring, this can be life changing and that is what this course provides.

Who is Liz Dunoon?

Liz Dunoon is an Australian teacher and a mother to three children who have all struggled to learn to read, write and spell. All three of her children have been diagnosed with dyslexia. In 2003 when she discovered the lack of educational support being offered to her oldest son, she began a journey to find out how to help him. In subsequent years she has been helping 1000’s of others families.

In 2010 she released her first book Helping Children with dyslexia and wrote 3 more books to assist parents to offer educational support to their children at home. She also started an enormous free resource website of the same name as her book, to provide parents teachers and professionals with information when they need it. She updates this website on a constant basis and sends out regular newsletters with the latest news on education and learning difficulties. Liz also continues to write, with another book on the way and numerous articles on the topic of learning difficulties and disabilities. She is in demand to speak at parents groups, schools and to present at conferences and seminars. Her most important role however is providing personalised support to 1000’s of families when they need it.

It has been during the past years of research and speaking to parents and teachers that Liz discovered the ongoing stress caused to families because of the huge financial cost of having family members assessed and tested to determine a struggling learners difficulties and then the added cost of paying for ongoing, tutoring, therapy and psychological costs. Many families just cannot afford it and it can be heartbreaking.

It is for this reason she has spent the last three years developing The Ten Minute Tutor. A program that is affordable, effective, easily accessible and enjoyable to assist all individuals and families.

What does it cost?

Membership to The Ten Minute Tutor Payment Plan is $97.00 per month for 12 months. Your membership lasts for a total of 6 years.

We believe that you or your child will gain so much knowledge, skill and enjoyment from this program and at this very reasonable monthly cost the impact on your household budget will be much less than if you had to hire a specialised tutor.

You can make this monthly fee via credit card, or using PayPal.

Why is it so cheap?

Liz Dunoon is determined to provide support to people who are struggling or have struggled at school. She understands only too well how ineffective the formal education system can be for the many intelligent individuals who just learn differently.

Learning to read and spell in the first few years of school and then having to use reading to access knowledge from approximately Grade 3 onwards and writing to show what students know in tests and exams is limiting for the 10-20% of intelligent students who struggle with literacy. These people can be put into the same category as individuals including Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Richard Branson, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Walt Disney, Agatha Christie and too many more to mention here.

Liz understands that intelligence is not based on a person’s academic results, but on creative, innovative thinking styles. A recent study by the Cass Business school in the UK, indicated that a large percentage of entrepreneurs struggled at school.

After speaking to literally hundreds of parents, students and teachers over the past 8 years she has come across many who are seeking an affordable and effective option for tutoring and supporting a student. After listening to their needs Liz created this program based on the criteria that it had to use a real person, it had to suit people’s lifestyle and most importantly it had to be affordable.

How do I get started?

Simply click in the yellow box where it says ‘click here’ to Start The Program Now. From here you will be guided through a series of steps to register your name, email address, create a password and put your payment details into our secure payment system. You will then have instant access to the program.

If you have a question that has not been answered, please ask us from the contact us page by clicking here.