KidsQuest Parent & Tutor, Tanisha Smith
Laverne reading to his mom, Tanisha
As a child, Tanisha Smith had many obstacles to overcome on her educational journey. Her timid and shy personality prevented her from asking for help and led to struggling in all of her classes. Despite Tanisha’s desire to succeed, she felt lost. Many years later, she found her voice and stayed determined enough to earn a bachelor’s degree in accounting at CSU, Stanislaus.
That feeling of struggle and achievement motivated Tanisha when roles reversed and she went from student to teacher while homeschooling her two sons for eight years. Wanting to forge a better start for them, she encouraged them to always seek help and ask her questions. Since she had that personal teaching time with them, Tanisha began to notice that her eldest son was struggling with reading and he was soon diagnosed with a language disorder. She tried many programs and school resources, but her son just wasn’t progressing as expected.
Tanisha found KidsQuest, LearningQuest’s one-on-one tutoring for children with dyslexia and other language disorders, and began to quickly see her son’s reading levels improve using the Barton Reading and Spelling program. With how the program approaches learning, she also found a new understanding of reading and writing herself. When her son had questions, Tanisha was relieved to no longer have to tell him, “Oh, that’s just our crazy English language.” She was so moved by her son’s improvement and learning she experienced as a parent that she became a tutor. Now, Tanisha is able to find even better ways to support her son’s learning and help many other KidsQuest students reach their own milestones of reading success.
“I am motivated, focused, and determine to watch each of my students grow confident in their abilities. I want to make a difference, hoping to make learning fun, so they will have a passion to learn.” – Tanisha Smith
Tanisha stays dedicated to creating a space for students to reach new levels of learning and find their own voice while she tutors. To those who support LearningQuest programs, like KidsQuest, Tanisha says, “I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for your dedication and compassion to help increase the confidence in our children, so they can shine when they are ready to enter the world and stand independently as proud individuals.”
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